Leaving Fish to Find Fish. When to stay/go? 2025
pcakes55 reply :
After a tournament this weekend I'm curious to see what some of your takes would be on this topic. We started in a cove Saturday and caught fish right off the bat, also saw a lot of fish, but they were all small (1-1.5lb keepers), and shallow ~6ft or less. After about an hour we filled a small limit, and decided to go out deep. First cast I had a 4lb follower and decided we made the right choice. After that, we had no more action deep and went spot to spot, mostly shallow, catching the same 1-1.5lbers.
At weigh-in, we find out the guys who had done well caught their fish in the same location as we were in the morning, but not until the wind picked up in the afternoon. What would you guys have done? Stayed in the original spot weeding through small bites? I think we made good decisions, but based it off bad information.
Discuss
jhoffman reply :
How long did you stay to decide the fish were small? Heck, I was weeding through crappies saturday to hook bass on a road bed with a drop shot. I couldve prob went to a bigger bait to do that too but they were chewing. After I hooked about ten crappies I hooked the first bass.
I think I wouldve pulled out onto the first break line from where you were and tried that. If I didnt get on big fish I wouldve been right back in it.
What were your water conditions? Really need more information here. Ill tell you, ive left winning fish in downtime and it cost me money.
pcakes55 reply :
Water was 57 degrees, 3-4ft visibility (roughly), the area we were at was a huge grass flat ~6-7ft. We stayed for about 2 hours in the general area before we moved to try deep. It was slow. We caught our fish on jigs + wacky senko, wouldn't touch jerkbait, lipless, etc.
All smallmouth. Our theory was that the smaller smallmouth moved up to start spawning, bigger smallmouth & largemouth were out in deeper water.
jhoffman reply :
I think I wouldve been on the same page. The smallmouth do move up sooner to spawn but in the right water clarity they will spawn 10' too no problem. Sounds to me as if youre about a week or two behind us in temps. The largemouths here for the most part are still carrying eggs. Most of them dont have any signs of beat up tails. I caught my two nice fish saturday on a tree on a jig and on the main lake in 8' on a spinnerbait. Some smaller lakes have beds but the bigger ones we arent really seeing those yet. Im getting a shell shock this weekend as my second event is on the potomac which is ahead of here.
Im surprised you didnt fish a chatterbait?
pcakes55 reply :
I threw a chatterbait for maybe 20 minutes. The grass wasn't really filled in enough and i didn't feel very confident in it so I switched it up. I'll add, the fish we saw were over shallow hard surface, the general area was a grass flat though (if that makes sense).
WTnPuddleJumper reply :
I did the same thing at a Pickwick Tournament last week. We pulled up on a shallow point, and probably caught about 30 14" or less on cranks and one knockers. I knew we probably should have left earlier but catching is the name of the game. We later moved to our deep spots and filled the livewell with a 15# sack. I knew the bigger fish were deeper all along but it was too much fun catching them dinks. I have in the past "camped out" on certain areas and the fish bite got bigger as the day got longer. Other times they stayed the same size all day long. I think somedays you luck up and find the big uns and other days you don't.
Catt reply :
The most difficult pattern to establish on tournament day is are the fish on a morning bite or afternoon bite.
I do not fish for tighteyes... Ever! 
WRB reply :
Smallmouth and largemouth don't usually spawn in the same areas, smallmouth like rocky areas with gravel, largemouth prefer flatter areas with some type of cover like wood and more wind protected.
Based solely on water temps, time of year I would have fished deeper breaks for pre spawn females all day.
Tom
Catt reply :
To me winning a tournament is all about that kicker fish!
The bigger the kicker fish the smaller my next 4 can be which is why I don't target tighteyes!
WRB reply :
Most tournament bass anglers like to have a limit of keepers before targeting a kicker. I target kickers all day knowing keepers are easier to catch whenever you need a few.
When to stay and when to go is the question that only you can answer and the difference between winning and losing!
Tom
Mike L reply :
If you target small fish to fill a limit thats what you can end up with.
You'll be chasing the rest of the day for that one bite and more times than not you won't find it, and all you did was waste hours running all over to areas that "look good" checking your watch every 10 minutes.
Then what happens?...You start to press and junk fish, and before you know it you're kicking yourself as you head in wondering what could have been.
I learned a long time ago that when money is on the line NEVER leave fish to find fish...ever
Mike
Catt reply :
If you fish to be a middle of the pack angler you will be a middle of the pack angler!
I have trouble understanding why people get their limit then change their mindset to, "lets go get a kicker and win this thing!" Why in the world is your mindset not like that from the get go?
Mike L reply :
My point exactly!
Mike
WTnPuddleJumper reply :
In fishing a club tournament scenario where AOY points are a factor, I think consistency is more valuable than fishing all day for that "kicker fish". A sack full of quality 16" to 20" bass will benefit me more than a 6# kicker and 4 barely keepers. Now there are those super special days when all of your stars line up and you show up to the scales looking like you are toting a 31 class marine battery, but most of the time if you show up with 15-17lbs you are most likely going to go home smiling and a little richer.
Catt reply :
On 5/2/2017 at 2:57 AM, WTnPuddleJumper said:In fishing a club tournament scenario where AOY points are a factor, I think consistency is more valuable than fishing all day for that "kicker fish". A sack full of quality 16" to 20" bass will benefit me more than a 6# kicker and 4 barely keepers. Now there are those super special days when all of your stars line up and you show up to the scales looking like you are toting a 31 class marine battery, but most of the time if you show up with 15-17lbs you are most likely going to go home smiling and a little richer.
What ya get for AOY?
Sure way to get AOY is to win & win consistently!
If ya target bigger bass you're more likely to have that 20#+ sack!
scaleface reply :
On 5/2/2017 at 2:31 AM, Catt said:
I have trouble understanding why people get their limit then change their mindset to, "lets go get a kicker and win this thing!" Why in the world is your mindset not like that from the get go?
Pros do it all the time , Every fishery isnt Toledo Bend .
WRB reply :
Tournament fishing is usually about catching 3 lb+ bass, not 1 1/2 lb bass. If you don't fish for adult size bass you will never be AOL or collecting a winners check. Like Catt is telling you fish for big bass all the time, then you don't need to go looking for them because you know where they located.
If you are always casting towards the shoreline you are missing out on catching big bass.
Tom
lo n slo reply :
good stuff
Quarry Man reply :
never leave biting fish
Catt reply :
On 5/2/2017 at 5:40 AM, scaleface said:Pros do it all the time , Every fishery isnt Toledo Bend .
No they don't!
There aint a Pro out there that fishes for tighteyes!
J._Bricker reply :
IMO, one of the Golden Rules- "Never Leave Fish to Find Fish". Quite a few times after a successful day, you'll hear how 'caught all my fish on one bank", "stayed there all day", "just had to wait for the bigger fish to move up". Granted, the decision to leave is easier said than done. And in my experience, if you do leave you're counting on that next area to produce quality fish. And when it does you made a wise decision, and when it doesn't....
scaleface reply :
On 5/2/2017 at 7:27 PM, Catt said:
No they don't!
There aint a Pro out there that fishes for tighteyes!
So you're saying pros "never " go for a quick limit and then go after kicker fish . Seems to me its a strategy they often use .
sully420 reply :
Theres plenty of pros that fish for limits nobody knows there names. Fish for biggins small fish seem to hang around small fish leave them find better ones if you think biggins might pull into a spot later go fish the spot later.
Catt reply :
On 5/3/2017 at 1:10 AM, scaleface said:
So you're saying pros "never " go for a quick limit and then go after kicker fish . Seems to me its a strategy they often use .
They fish areas they know holds the winning stringers!
They do not leave the launch in hopes of catching tighteyes!
WTnPuddleJumper reply :
On 5/2/2017 at 4:43 AM, Catt said:
What ya get for AOY?
Sure way to get AOY is to win & win consistently!
If ya target bigger bass you're more likely to have that 20#+ sack!
first place I think this year will be 900 -1000. I target big bass, but sometimes they wont cooperate. We also fish 3 slot lakes in our trail where only 1 bass over slot allowed per boat. (state law). So targeting the larger "unders" really determines the winner in 90% of the time. I don't disagree with what your preaching Im just hitting it from a different angle
RoLo reply :
Without a crystal ball, I might've done what you boys done.
Rick Clunn coined the phrase: "Never leave fish, to find fish", but there's a few holes in that premise.
It's a known fact, when fish are active on one holding site, the odds are high they're active at many sites.
Sometimes I'll regret leaving a productive spot, but other times I'm real happy I did.
In your particular case, it seems that a wind event threw a curve ball.
Roger
Catt reply :
On 5/3/2017 at 5:04 AM, WTnPuddleJumper said:first place I think this year will be 900 -1000. I target big bass, but sometimes they wont cooperate. We also fish 3 slot lakes in our trail where only 1 bass over slot allowed per boat. (state law). So targeting the larger "unders" really determines the winner in 90% of the time. I don't disagree with what your preaching Im just hitting it from a different angle
But ya aint targeting tighteyes
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