How Long Do You Fish A Spot Before Moving? 2024
Joedodge reply :
So me and a co worker fish alot of ponds and canals. I'll work a spot a long time. He will make 2-3 casts and move along. How do you guys approach this?
fishinphilly reply :
well if I'm trying to find fish i might take 5 casts to try and get a reaction bite, but if i know theres fish there I might stay for 15 minutes but if its during the spawn, I've spent 45 minutes trying to catch one fish
Sir Real reply :
It depends. I'll sometimes go out during my lunch hour to a nearby pond. In this case I want to cover as much water as possible in the short time I have, so I'll be more like your coworker. On the weekends, I'm more like you and spend more time working certain areas with multiple baits before moving on.
Glenn reply :
Here's a great article on the topic: http://www.bassresource.com/fishing/bass_tournament_strategies.html
Joedodge reply :
Thanks for the replys! And thanks for the great article. I guess maybe I should move a lil more instead of aimlessly working a particular area
scaleface reply :
Sounds like me and my uncle. He will fish a spot forever and I move on down the bank. I have a lot more success than him . Unless I'm targeting a specific target I'll often take a couple of steps or more after every cast.
Joedodge reply :
Hmmm maybe there is something to this lol
geo g reply :
It all depends if I have had success at that spot before. Before leaving a spot I like, I will try changing up the presentation by speeding up, slowing down, dead sticking, jerking the bait, or slow steady crawl. I use a bait I have total faith in, as a constant producer under most conditions. Then I will move on. They don't always want the bait the same way every day, so don't be afraid to radically change up. Sometimes they want their eggs scrambled, and sometimes over easy!!!!!
Catch and Grease reply :
I tried catching a big one I saw yesterday for like 3 hours... I got a little obsessed haha never did catch her...
lmbfisherman reply :
On 3/26/2015 at 9:36 PM, geo g said:It all depends if I have had success at that spot before. Before leaving a spot I like, I will try changing up the presentation by speeding up, slowing down, dead sticking, jerking the bait, or slow steady crawl. I use a bait I have total faith in, as a constant producer under most conditions. Then I will move on. They don't always want the bait the same way every day, so don't be afraid to radically change up. Sometimes they want their eggs scrambled, and sometimes over easy!!!!!
This.
If it's a new place that I never fished before I will move more normally. However if the place screams BASS! (Cover, structure, laydowns, pads..etc) I will work it pretty thoroughly 20-30.
DocNsanE reply :
On 3/26/2015 at 11:04 PM, lmbfisherman said:This.
If it's a new place that I never fished before I will move more normally. However if the place screams BASS! (Cover, structure, laydowns, pads..etc) I will work it pretty thoroughly 20-30.
sounds about right to me.
Mccallister25 reply :
On 3/26/2015 at 9:36 PM, geo g said:It all depends if I have had success at that spot before. Before leaving a spot I like, I will try changing up the presentation by speeding up, slowing down, dead sticking, jerking the bait, or slow steady crawl. I use a bait I have total faith in, as a constant producer under most conditions. Then I will move on. They don't always want the bait the same way every day, so don't be afraid to radically change up. Sometimes they want their eggs scrambled, and sometimes over easy!!!!!
Yep
Senko lover reply :
The two different ponds I fish are both very different in that one of them is open the whole way around and the other, there's only two spots where I can fish.
So with the first, I am more of a run-and-gunner, trying to fancast and move on. With the second, I stay in the two spots the whole time.
Mike L reply :
On 3/26/2015 at 9:36 PM, geo g said:It all depends if I have had success at that spot before. Before leaving a spot I like, I will try changing up the presentation by speeding up, slowing down, dead sticking, jerking the bait, or slow steady crawl. I use a bait I have total faith in, as a constant producer under most conditions. Then I will move on. They don't always want the bait the same way every day, so don't be afraid to radically change up. Sometimes they want their eggs scrambled, and sometimes over easy!!!!!
This pretty much covers that!
Mike
gardnerjigman reply :
I tend to fish fairly quickly, covering water picking up the aggressive fish, regardless if I'm fun fishing or in a tournament. I've been known to double back on a cove I just went through and dissect it thoroughly looking for a bigger bite or finicky fish.
a1712 reply :
On 3/27/2015 at 3:47 AM, gardnerjigman said:I tend to fish fairly quickly, covering water picking up the aggressive fish, regardless if I'm fun fishing or in a tournament. I've been known to double back on a cove I just went through and dissect it thoroughly looking for a bigger bite or finicky fish.
What he said. Brian.
Paul Roberts reply :
I'll respond with a quote from one of my past trip reports:
QuoteYou know, I watched a number of other anglers over the course of the day. I often do that, even with binocs sometimes -not to ferret out a secret lure but bc other people’s fishing is just more information to plug into my mental computer -I can’t be everywhere.
A couple of older guys picked a spot and stayed put, just “fishing” -one I could see was repeatedly casting a Senko. There was another, a young guy fishing a large popper aggressively, moving (too) quickly around the pond. Despite the difference in the speed of their approaches, these three anglers reminded me of the guy I used to see here every now and then fishing his "GoTo". He fished a small buzzbait before or after work all through the open water season, saying with a shrug, “Sometimes they bite, and sometimes they don’t.”
A group of four other anglers, fishing together, jumped around to seemingly random locations around the pond, probably fishing spots they had previous experience with -but not necessarily timely experience that jived with the current conditions; a “last summer I got a nice one right here” sort of thing. I too feel that pull as many spots hold magic in my mind. But you have to get trained out of it. Inexperienced hunting dogs will do that too. Let ‘em out of the truck in a familiar spot and the fools will hightail it to the spot they got that last pheasant or grouse from -leaving the gunner behind! Eventually they get savvy, understand the partnership, and expend energy appropriately.
What each of the anglers I watched today appeared to be doing was “fishing history” -fishing what they “knew”. There is nothing wrong with that -in fact we all do that- unless your history -what you "know"- doesn’t include inputs that jive with current conditions, or allow you to read and interpret conditions. They are like young hunting dogs, lots of energy, and all nose and no brain, so to speak. The reason to understand bass, water, weather, land, and other critters, at a more basic biological / physiological / ecological level is bc that type of “knowing”, that information, is adaptive and exportable. I’m fishing history too. I’m certainly not randomly casting. But my history weighs the parameters in front of me that day, that hour, that moment, and I choose locations, tactics, techniques, lures, and casts that fit. Sometimes that requires hoofing, other times my boots will wear a hole in the bank.
bassin' 4 life reply :
If I fish from a dock I will fish the place pretty thoroughly, if I'm in a boat I won't stay in one place very long.
SirSnookalot reply :
I don't follow a script, I let my surroundings dictate my course of action. Inshore, bass, peacocks it's all the same to me, I'm gonna sight cast where I think the fish are gonna be.
Catt reply :
Doesn't matter if your on the bank or in a boat
To be consistent sometimes requires running & gunning to several locations while other times it requires staying & playing on a couple locations!
WRB reply :
This question comes up several times a year and answered on several different threads.On 3/26/2015 at 8:07 PM, Joedodge said:So me and a co worker fish alot of ponds and canals. I'll work a spot a long time. He will make 2-3 casts and move along. How do you guys approach this?
It's simple to answer if you are catching bass, never leave active fish to find more.
It gets a little more complicated fishing from shore, you are not as mobile and restricted to shoreline areas.
Shore fishing from the bank slows you down, so you should pick where you start fish and what you plan to use carefully because your ability to cover water fast with a variety of lure types is limited to what you carry and the terrain. Those issues are not a problem with boat anglers.
I tend to fish slower than most, spend time determing where the bass are located, then what depth, speed and lure color and type that works. If there is a pattern, locate the same conditions and fish those areas. This is difficult from the bank because of the limited lure selection and restricted locations.
Tom
ClackerBuzz reply :
you first cast to an area has the greatest possibility of catching a bass (big mama or an aggressive dink).
i'll fan cast a reaction lure/spinnerbait 6 times from 9-3 o'clock. the only time i will continually retrieve of the same area is if there are weeds or stumps. like Tom said shoreline real estate is limited so if no taker on the spinnerbait I am quick to so silent reaction/swim jig. then i'll try weighless senkos and/or jigs on bottom. if you relocate 3 times and nothing make sure to try topwater and something that suspends like jerkbaits. cover the water column top to bottom, fast to slow and after relocating a few times you should see some activity. if i go through 8 relocation's and still nothing i'm going to reallllly slow down my retrieve.
Ratherbfishing reply :
I can SAY I do one thing but compared to others, perhaps i don't. It's all relative, I suppose. Anyway, I try to fish according to conditions and the fishes mood. Generally I'll start fairly "aggressively"- moving fairly quickly and trying different baits to see if the fish are, likewise, fairly aggressive. But if that doesn't pan out (all too often), I'll slow down and fish an area much more slowly-sometimes casting to the same piece of cover a dozen times if it looks desireable. I'll also fish from memory-FOR AWHILE. But if the bass don't seem to be there anymore or simply refuse to bite whatever techniques I try, I'll pause, regroup, and try something new. I am not one of those guys who will stay in the same spot or use the same technique all day long just because that's what worked last time. On one of my local ponds I was near a kid who, I believe, fancied himself a pro (and maybe he was pretty good, I don't know) who easily whipped out three casts to my one. On days when fast is key, I'm sure he could do well but in my experience, those days are the exception. I'm glad I didn't have to share a boat with him as eventually one of us would have had to go swimming.
papajoe222 reply :
If I know an area has good fish holding potential, I'll give the area half an hour to an hour to check out top to bottom. If I contact fish, I'll give it more. If you're talking a specific target, I'll hit it with multiple casts from different angles and possibly different baits before moving on. This is what I really like about not fishing tournaments any more. You'd be surprised at the targets you give a few casts to only to move on and have the guy with the winning bag get his kicker or biggest fish off of one of those he hit a little differently or with a totally different bait.
Alonerankin2 reply :
Sorta reminds me of when Denny Brauer won the classic in 98, he stayed on that brush pile
all day, flipping a tube from different sides & angles.. Caught I believe 4, 4pound fish to seal the deal... He knew the fish were there, and worked all day to catch them..
Don't Tell The Wife reply :
This is something I want to try to get better at. I would like to quit fishing history and use conditions and let the structure and breaks under water guide me more than what I see visually.
Khan of the Res reply :
i make a point to thoroughly fish every spot. I start a few feet from the edge of the water and then work my way forward until I am wading about balls deep in the water before giving up on the spot.
EvanT123 reply :
On 3/26/2015 at 8:07 PM, Joedodge said:So me and a co worker fish alot of ponds and canals. I'll work a spot a long time. He will make 2-3 casts and move along. How do you guys approach this?
Easy. He's already working out another pattern for you.
Sam reply :
Joedodge, let me add my two cents.
There are many philosophies about the time factor in bass fishing and they are split into two parts.
The first is tournament fishing where sometimes you want to cover a lot of water and other times when you want to throw to a target 15 to 20 times before moving along.
The second is fun fishing, along the bank or in a boat.
So what do guys do when fishing canals, streams, lakes and ponds from the shore? A lot of different things of which all are correct.
If........
1. you feel some structure on the bottom you stay and fish that structure from three or four angles with two or three different baits.
2. you feel nothing when bringing your search bait to you then you can move on looking for better spots where the bass should be.
3. you feel something on the retrieve you fish that area as in 1 above.
4. you see a stickup or some structure in the water you fish it hard from a lot of angles and with different baits, casting to the target at least 15 times with the same bait.
5. you want to be different, throw a topwater at every target you see. Hit it with a Cavitron, frog, toad, unweighted Zoom trick worm, wacky rigged Senko or YUM stick bait.
6. you want to be patient.
One of the secrets to successful pond and bank fishing is to be quiet. This means walking as far from the bank as you can when changing spots. And standing back from the bank so the bass cannot see or sense you are there. Plus don't throw your shadow on the water you are fishing.
Be cognizant of your surroundings at all time and look for creatures that may crawl or slither where you are walking or stopping to fish.
Don't think you have to bring 100 crankbaits and 50 pounds of plastics with you. Learn the waters and scale down in colors and baits that you know work best.
Always have a flipping and pitching stick with you rigged and ready to go at all times so you can flip and pitch from 10 to 15 feet from the bank. Any finesse bait or jig and pig you want to throw has to be ready just in case you spot a bass sunning themselves or just swimming along the bank, enjoying the day.
As in most of my posts, I like to remind guys and gals to leave a note at home as to where you will be and when you are to return. Wear your PFD if the bank is steep or rocky. Don't forget your needle nose pliers. Wear the highest level of sun block you can. And have some fun trying to figure out what those little green devils want to eat.
Good luck. Post some pics and let us know how you do.
WRB reply :
Your buddy is willing to be alligator bait, let him lead the way. If your buddy sticks a bass and moves on, follow up, there is usually more than one bass in a good area.
Tom
matuka reply :
Unfortunately too long.......
Khan of the Res reply :
On 3/29/2015 at 2:58 AM, matuka said:Unfortunately too long.......
Just one more cast and then i'll go home... we've all been there haha
Big C reply :
I leave after I'm done fishing it.
Crank Bait Nut reply :
If I'm Fishing From My Boat , I Pay A Lot Of Attention To My SI / DI Depending To The Depth Of Water , If I See Something I'll Fish That Place A Little Longer.
If I'm Fishing From The Shore , I Just Wing It.
Mike
J McRae reply :
I'll make three to five casts and then move along. I've had great success by doing this at different ponds. Had a guy ask me where I was going as he stayed in the same spot with no results... I caught the first fish and he decided it was time to relocate as well.
BasshunterJGH reply :
Depends on whether or not I'm getting bites. If I don't get bit on something that should be working after about a dozen casts I move on.
Paul Roberts reply :
Sometimes changing lures can buy more bites from a spot. Sometimes changing angles on a spot can open things up. Sometimes you have to fiddle with retrieves before you start getting bit. Sometimes just getting one bite can trigger more fish in the group to start biting. Sometimes I decide to fish a certain way and go find water that will support that. If no go, I'll start adjusting. I'll usually have several rods rigged with GoTo's waiting for conditions to favor them. In the warmer months I often have a buzzbait rigged and ready. All that's needed is a breeze. Typical summer rigs will often include a buzzbait (or tandem SB) and a jigworm, ready to fly. Exactly what's rigged and ready varies with season and water, with a range that covers expected conditions.
It's nice when the bass are just there and biting what you throw. I call those 51%er days -when the fish meet you more than half way. A 100%er day is when the bass jump out of the water and rummage through your box. I've not seen that -yet.
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