Dealing with bait fishing pressure 2024
BareHook reply :
So here's the situation, we enjoy bass fishing using artificial lures on the small lake we live near and the fishing has been really good until recently when other anglers started using live bait such as shiners and bluegill. Now its extremely difficult to get a single bite while in the past we would be releasing several fish each time we went. On top of that its very frustrating watching them catch and release several bass while we're exercising our casting arms to no avail. There has also been a recent flooding of the lake by about 3 or 4 feet, so the shoreline has expanded, but this doesn't seem to have affected the bait bite.
So is this likely a temporary condition and the fish will eventually become lure aggressive again? We've been trying just about everything in the box, big-small, fast-slow, colors ...
We're going to try night fishing this weekend to see what happens with that.
Thanks!
Ken
BassinLou reply :
On 2/4/2016 at 9:25 PM, BareHook said:So here's the situation, we enjoy bass fishing using artificial lures on the small lake we live near and the fishing has been really good until recently when other anglers started using live bait such as shiners and bluegill. Now its extremely difficult to get a single bite while in the past we would be releasing several fish each time we went. On top of that its very frustrating watching them catch and release several bass while we're exercising our casting arms to no avail. There has also been a recent flooding of the lake by about 3 or 4 feet, so the shoreline has expanded, but this doesn't seem to have affected the bait bite.
So is this likely a temporary condition and the fish will eventually become lure aggressive again? We've been trying just about everything in the box, big-small, fast-slow, colors ...
We're going to try night fishing this weekend to see what happens with that.
Thanks!
Ken
I have been experiencing this problem at local fishing spot of mine for several years now. The fishing has become harder and harder where in years past the fish quality was pretty good. If you have what I call the "meat hunters" coming in, keeping all the fish they catch, and fishing a relatively small body of water at that. Then imho, you're spot may have been fished out. My advice is to find another spot.
BareHook reply :
No "meat hunters" they are all catch n release, but they're catching lots and big ones up to 10 pound class so the released fish are not biting or becoming very shy, just cant seem to compete with the bait.
Dwight Hottle reply :
You have got two choices. Either keep trying by thinking outside the box regarding your lure selection/presentation or try some live bait.
soflabasser reply :
On 2/4/2016 at 11:35 PM, Dwight Hottle said:You have got two choices. Either keep trying by thinking outside the box regarding your lure selection/presentation or try some live bait.
Well said Dwight!
A good bass fisherman learns how to adapt to any situation they are faced with.I fish a lot of highly pressured lakes where hundreds of people fish every month,yet I still do very well since I put in my time in to learn how to catch these finicky bass.
BareHook reply :
Yep more trips to the tackle store, colors, sizes ...
The trick is getting the finicky BIG ones, kills me to see a 9 pounder on bait while I get a 15" tossing lures, OK enough crying
Going to try the night bite tonight
Ken
N Florida Mike reply :
I fish live bait and lures in the small lake I live on and don't see that at all.Sometimes they get used to the same lures so I use multiple artificials,and try new things constantly,so they don't get used to anything.
soflabasser reply :
On 2/5/2016 at 6:32 AM, N Florida Mike said:I fish live bait and lures in the small lake I live on and don't see that at all.Sometimes they get used to the same lures so I use multiple artificials,and try new things constantly,so they don't get used to anything.
I do the same thing in the places I fish.If the bass are not biting you can change the presentation until you find what makes them bite.
WRB reply :
When Florida strain LMB were introduced in San Diego city lakes back in the 60's anglers used to catching northern strain LMB believed the FLMB wouldn't strike artificial lures for several years. FLMB prefer bait fish like golden shiners to eat, soft scaled long and slender. Bluegill however are not good prey compared to shiners, however during pre spawn to spawn any egg eating critter like bluegill are natural enemies to bass and fare game.
Lessons learned, yes FLMB are easier to catch using live bait. If you want to compete with artificial lures use lures that mimic the live bait the bass are targeting. Swimbaits that are similar size, shape and coloration. Big hand poured soft plastic worms 9" to 13" long. Keep quite, slow down your presentation.
Huddlestion Bluegill and 68 swimbaits both work, 316 Mission fish is a good weedless soft swimbait. Hand poured big worm; Upton's Customs dragon tail or straight tails are excellent.
Tom
fishnkamp reply :
Try a Yumbrella rig with a group of swim baits on it to look like a school of fish. I like the Berkley Ripple shads for this. There are large swimbaits that look like trout, perch bluegill, sunfish etc that can be fished individually. Also companies like Big Hammer make shad swimbaits that you can vary the weighted heads on. They really work well in clearer bodies of water with big schools of bait. What may have happened is your fish have changed their eating habit due to changes in forage. Also with the extra water they may be spread out more.
scaleface reply :
Step back , think about it , try something else , repeat .
Jake the Cake reply :
I don't go out on the lake without lures AND bait. I don't do tournaments, I fish because I like to eat and it's a fun activity. Sometimes lures work best and sometimes baits work best, and sometimes both work equally well. Personally I've found lures to work more times than bait on big bass, and bait will work well on crappie, little bass, walleye, gar, catfish, etc.
Word of advice, don't hate the bait. Embrace it. Throw a bobber and a large shiner out in the water then go about fishing your lure. I've been called all the names in the book by catch and release fisherman, but at the end of the day what they don't see is a guy enjoying his time on the lake bringing home dinner for his family. Bait fisherman can't be that bad, right?
soflabasser reply :
On 2/5/2016 at 10:40 PM, Jake the Cake said:I don't go out on the lake without lures AND bait. I don't do tournaments, I fish because I like to eat and it's a fun activity. Sometimes lures work best and sometimes baits work best, and sometimes both work equally well. Personally I've found lures to work more times than bait on big bass, and bait will work well on crappie, little bass, walleye, gar, catfish, etc.
Word of advice, don't hate the bait. Embrace it. Throw a bobber and a large shiner out in the water then go about fishing your lure. I've been called all the names in the book by catch and release fisherman, but at the end of the day what they don't see is a guy enjoying his time on the lake bringing home dinner for his family. Bait fisherman can't be that bad, right?
In the end what matters most is that you are having a good time catching bass. Live bait fishing is an art in itself and I have had several trips where lures out fished live bait for me since the bass were swiping the bait,yet getting hooked on the lure.
K_Mac reply :
I am not a fan of live bait for bass. I would either figure out what artificial baits work, target another species or find another lake.
N Florida Mike reply :
On 2/6/2016 at 3:51 AM, soflabasser said:Exactly!!!In the end what matters most is that you are having a good time catching bass. Live bait fishing is an art in itself and I have had several trips where lures out fished live bait for me since the bass were swiping the bait,yet getting hooked on the lure.
Exactly!!!
soflabasser reply :
I have noticed that those who do well in saltwater fishing(both bait and lures) tend to be more accepting of using livebait in freshwater,at least here in Florida.Many of these saltwater fishermen also use lures and bait in freshwater and tend to do very well.What matters most in fishing is what you catch,not how you catch it.Ask someone who doesn't fish and they will tell you that a successful fishing trip is one where you catch lots of fish, especially big ones.
roadwarrior reply :
http://www.bassresource.com/hank-parker-fishing/big-bass.html
WRB reply :
From the mid 70's to late 90's about a 30 year period I crusaded against using live bait to target big female bass during the time period in California ( Feb through Apl) when these bass were vulnerable to being caught using live bait like big bait fish, crawdads and salamanders. Our lakes are small and so is the big bass population. Anglers from all over the world came to fish with live bait and guides services used the bait to catch the big bass.
I finally gave up my crusade realizing few anglers care, any method that puts a big bass in the boat that is legal is OK with them. The result was a lot of big bass ended up being killed for someone's trophy, the lakes no longer produce numbers of giant bass, those days are over in California, no need to worry anymore.
Thr myth with catch and release is a high percentage of big bass survive, this may be true if skilled anglers catch p, handle, take photos and release a big bass in good condition....most big bass are handle poorly and don't survive being caught.
As a result of being caught, lures or live bait, these rare big bass end up not surviving and the population crashes. In most California lakes we over harvested our big bass populations, live bait has a big impact on over harvesting.
Tom
soflabasser reply :
Good post Tom,I agree with you that trophy bass can suffer from post release mortality,regardless if the bass was caught on a live bait or lure.I read some post that you said you used crawfish and waterdogs with good success to get bass, but the biggest bass you caught was on a lure.
WRB reply :
I stopped using live bait for bass back in 1971 because it was too easy and felt it was also unsporting. You put a big live baitfish or live water dog in front of a hungry big bass during the pre spawn the chances of catching that bass is very high. With the sonar equipment we had back then it was easy to locate big bass, anchor quietly and present a crawdad, big shiner or water dog and weight it out a few hours. Not a lot of skill involved in that type of bass fishing. When those big females showed up near a bed, a live bait instantly triggers a reaction strike, not much skill in that presentation either. Find the bass and catch it! So I stopped and started using lures and caught them, just fewer and worked a lot harder.
Tom
roadwarrior reply :
Well, although I think you are probably right, Fish Chris wou7ld beg to differ. He doesn't come around anymore, but back in the day he was our "Big Bass" guy. I don't know whether he ever made it to 100, but the last count I recall was 83 double digit, pictured and weighed. At any rate, he argued that catching BID G bass on artificial lures was MUCH easier than using live bait. Go figure.
WRB reply :
The only seasonal period where crawdads and water dogs out fish lures in general is during the pre spawn-spawn cycle, about a 3-4 month time period. Bass key on Shad following post spawn and the live Shad bait guides / anglers out fish everything else, not necessarily big bass. In California the trout plants stop around mid May when the Shad bite starts.
I didn't mention trout as a live bait because it's illegal in California, that doesn't mean trout were not used as live bait. I knew F & G wardens that looked the other way when selected trophy bass anglers were using live trout. The argument was the giant bass had already spawned many times and would live only live a year longer at max weight. As long as the well known trophy anglers were discrete about using live trout, no harm no foul, meaning they wouldn't write them up, these guys knew each other.
The number of giant bass over 15 lbs are caught on live bait, can't argue with statistics.
Chris liked to use live bait on light line and is an expert doing it, wonder how he is doing?
Tom
N Florida Mike reply :
I kind of see your point if the fish is kept.But if the fish is released I dont agree.The mortality rate is no different with live bait as opposed to artificials.Back when bass fishing got popular nobody I knew practiced catch and release because we felt like that if we spent all the time and money that we ought to keep the fish.You almost felt guilty NOT keeping them.My dad taught me to keep whatever was edible .We meat fished and had fun doing it.It put supplemental meat on our table.I think it would have been a sustainable resource in the south( always had been ) but so many people came down here bass were not as easy to catch due to low numbers.Anyway,we eventually got on board with catch and release( for most bass anyway) but who should judge what someone else does with the fish THEY catch.Or HOW they catch it.
janeandsteve60@yahoo.com reply :
Keep the smaller ones they taste better and there's more of them. The larger ones like the 4-8 lb ones which are in the prime of there reproductive cycle should be released in smaller bodies of water it can take years to recover after the larger females have been removed. Here in Tennessee there's fishing pressure like any place else but the big problem is boat traffic just a steady flow of boats water skiers and the fisherman's best friend the jet skiers.
N Florida Mike reply :
I release most of the bass I catch nowadays but especially anything over 3.My dad would not understand.
everythingthatswims reply :
You think they have ever seen a hudd, glide, or wakebait?
BareHook reply :
Thank you for all the response and feedback! I'm getting a much better understanding of what's going on in the lake. We're seeing a pre spawn pattern. I'm going to look into some various soft baits such as "baby alligator", Frogs, and Craws that I haven't seen used.
Bare Hook Jr. had good luck night fishing and landed a 19.5" (4 lb.?) and a decent 16.5" then the weather turned, so we'll be hitting the evenings this week. I couldn't get a bite 
I had the same color/size worm, only difference was he used a curly tail, so its on this week, I gotta catch up, he's kickin my butt (5 fish 86.75" so far)
frogflogger reply :
My personal mantra is to not give a hoot what some other folks are doing but to try and figure things out in my own way and time - much more satisfying - and it will make you a better angler.
BareHook reply :
I tend to agree with you, but at the same time its difficult for my son, being new to fishing, to see "hawgs" being easily caught while we're pounding away with lures. We'll be doing a bit of bait fishing as well, its more about ensuring my kids have a good time. When they get older and more experienced they'll learn to enjoy the challenge of lure fishing, although I must admit he has been out-fishing me on lures.
Ken
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