"Pressured" Ponds/Lakes 2025
PhenoM reply :
I tried to quickly google this yesterday but really didn't find anything. What does it mean if a pond or lake is pressurized/highly pressurized?
BareHook reply :
Fishing pressure, many anglers fishing a small body of water can make it extremely difficult to get the bass to bite.
Preytorien reply :
On 6/3/2016 at 10:13 PM, BareHook said:Fishing pressure, many anglers fishing a small body of water can make it extremely difficult to get the bass to bite.
This
For example, here in Central IN, we have maybe 6-7 large-ish bodies of water, for thousands of local anglers and their boats to hit. One particular lake near my house can have as many as 4 tournaments on a Saturday morning at once, and it's only a 1900 acre lake. Talk about pressure. It's downright awful. I try to find back road ponds, streams, or private properties people will let me fish with permission
Chance_Taker4 reply :
On 6/3/2016 at 10:19 PM, Preytorien said:This
For example, here in Central IN, we have maybe 6-7 large-ish bodies of water, for thousands of local anglers and their boats to hit. One particular lake near my house can have as many as 4 tournaments on a Saturday morning at once, and it's only a 1900 acre lake. Talk about pressure. It's downright awful. I try to find back road ponds, streams, or private properties people will let me fish with permission
x2 here in northern ohio. There arent many bodies of water that are not pressured.
nosdog2 reply :
Throw the non-popular baits that isn't "cool" right now like the senkos are. See if you can trick the fish with something "new".
idabass reply :
Last weekend I fished a 40 acre lake/pond. It was like playing bumper boats out there with all the other fishermen. Caught some dinks on a war eagle spinner bait. Decided to try some new shakey heads and put a strike king super finesse elastek worm on. Caught 5 fish in the 3 lb. range along with a few smaller ones within 3 hours.
Don't be afraid to try something new for awhile. I am now a huge shakey head fan to say the least.
crazyjoeclemens reply :
I literally just logged in to make a post about pressured lakes, myself! I'm planning on hitting the local lake this weekend, but I just found out there's a bass tournament going on (College Midwestern Regional). Anyway, With 93 teams on a fairly small lake, how bad will post-tournament fishing be? Will the fish be inactive, or do I just need to figure out what the most popular bait was for the tournament and use something completely different?
Brew City Bass reply :
On 6/4/2016 at 10:18 AM, crazyjoeclemens said:I literally just logged in to make a post about pressured lakes, myself! I'm planning on hitting the local lake this weekend, but I just found out there's a bass tournament going on (College Midwestern Regional). Anyway, With 93 teams on a fairly small lake, how bad will post-tournament fishing be? Will the fish be inactive, or do I just need to figure out what the most popular bait was for the tournament and use something completely different?
Bass still need to eat. I'd find out where they release the tournament caught fish and fish in that area the day after.
frosty reply :
Put a nightcrawler on, you'd be amazed how much a bass like a natural diet. That's what works for me on pressured waters, and I'll usually catch a lot more bass than the guys that are bombarding them with the same lures they've seen time and time again. I use two hooks, 3"-4" apart, a whole 'crawler, and no weight. Let it sink and sit on the bottom for about a minute, pick it up slow, and let it fall. Works like a charm.
Wileyw reply :
On 6/5/2016 at 6:21 AM, frosty said:Put a nightcrawler on, you'd be amazed how much a bass like a natural diet. That's what works for me on pressured waters, and I'll usually catch a lot more bass than the guys that are bombarding them with the same lures they've seen time and time again. I use two hooks, 3"-4" apart, a whole 'crawler, and no weight. Let it sink and sit on the bottom for about a minute, pick it up slow, and let it fall. Works like a charm.
We do this quite often, too. If you can keep the bluegill away it is a lot of fun.
Robert Riley reply :
On 6/4/2016 at 10:18 AM, crazyjoeclemens said:I literally just logged in to make a post about pressured lakes, myself! I'm planning on hitting the local lake this weekend, but I just found out there's a bass tournament going on (College Midwestern Regional). Anyway, With 93 teams on a fairly small lake, how bad will post-tournament fishing be? Will the fish be inactive, or do I just need to figure out what the most popular bait was for the tournament and use something completely different?
It was an awful tournament for us college anglers. I got skunked the first day, found a 3.5# on her bed in 80 degree water.
the reel ess reply :
On 6/4/2016 at 10:18 AM, crazyjoeclemens said:I literally just logged in to make a post about pressured lakes, myself! I'm planning on hitting the local lake this weekend, but I just found out there's a bass tournament going on (College Midwestern Regional). Anyway, With 93 teams on a fairly small lake, how bad will post-tournament fishing be? Will the fish be inactive, or do I just need to figure out what the most popular bait was for the tournament and use something completely different?
nm
frosty reply :
On 6/15/2016 at 5:44 AM, Wileyw said:We do this quite often, too. If you can keep the bluegill away it is a lot of fun.
Very true, and I know how to get bass only. Take an ultralight setup with 4 pound test. You'll catch nothing but bass, but if you take a medium with 10 pound test its all bluegills 
I do enjoy a nice bluegill though, they are full of tick and vinegar when they get big!
soflabasser reply :
On 6/3/2016 at 10:02 PM, PhenoM said:I tried to quickly google this yesterday but really didn't find anything. What does it mean if a pond or lake is pressurized/highly pressurized?
It means that a certain body of water is fished hard by many fishermen.Lakes in public parks are a good example .You can catch big bass in public parks by thinking outside the box and using tactics most fishermen don't use.No guarantees though since catching big bass from the shore in public parks is significantly much more challenging than catching a big bass from a boat.
crazyjoeclemens reply :
On 6/15/2016 at 6:08 AM, Robert Riley said:It was an awful tournament for us college anglers. I got skunked the first day, found a 3.5# on her bed in 80 degree water.
I can only imagine. With the power plant running, that lake warms up fast - especially the east side. Once it gets that hot, it seems like the only fish biting are the carp and an occasional catfish. I always wondered if the bass just head down deep and lay low or if there's a mass migration to the west side. I was just out there last weekend, and there was almost a 10 degree difference in water temperature, just between DeWitt bridge and the point.
Its a tough lake to fish, no matter what. Its pretty heavily pressured, even without tournament traffic. I kinda feel bad for the high school kids that had to fish their tournament on Sunday.
Robert Riley reply :
I had two buddies qualify, I think 2nd and 9th (?), can't believe someone caught fish that weekend hahaha
Dpatt402 reply :
I get it mixed up a lot. If they mean high pressure as in a lot of anglers fishing a lake or high barometric pressure. Which I think they both shut the bite down a little bit. I look for lower dropping pressure across the board haha!
fish devil reply :
Most South Jersey bodies of water fall into this category. Too many anglers with too little water.
WestBranch reply :
I guess I'll quit my bitchin about sharing a 600 acre lake with 2 other boats. 
northern Maine doesn't have that problem, as long as you stay off the larger lakes and major rivers.
I stick to small lakes /ponds and small streams and brooks. it's pretty common for me to drive 10 miles down a dirt road or logging trail to get to where I want to fish. I recently switched to an old town predator 13 kayak for this reason.
BassB8Caster reply :
On 6/21/2016 at 7:31 PM, UpTheHill said:I guess I'll quit my bitchin about sharing a 600 acre lake with 2 other boats.
northern Maine doesn't have that problem, as long as you stay off the larger lakes and major rivers.
I stick to small lakes /ponds and small streams and brooks. it's pretty common for me to drive 10 miles down a dirt road or logging trail to get to where I want to fish. I recently switched to an old town predator 13 kayak for this reason.
I agree. While I would love to have a boat, being able to hit small unpressured ponds with the kayak is great. I'm in western maine and really at most I may see 2 or 3 other boats on the more popular ponds/lakes. Having said that, I did go out on kezar lake once and it was crazy busy. Being in a kayak around alot of boat traffic is not fun.
Off subject, are you seeing bass up there in northern maine?
crazyjoeclemens reply :
On 6/21/2016 at 8:42 AM, fish devil said:Most South Jersey bodies of water fall into this category. Too many anglers with too little water.
Well, as far as the lake we're talking about is concerned, too many anglers is the least of my concerns. That particular lake is extremely popular with the powerboat/jet ski/party-on-the-lake crowd. On weekends, it gets so cut up with powerboat wake, there's no practical way to fish deeper structure on the main body of the lake. Even if you can handle the constant wake, you just about have to keep your head on a swivel to make sure one of those yahoos doesn't run you over. If I go there on a weekend, I much rather get out there by first light and be pulling the boat out of the water by 10:30 at the latest. Either that or do some night fishing, since the whole lake is a no-wake zone after dark.
WestBranch reply :
On 6/21/2016 at 7:39 PM, BassB8Caster said:Off subject, are you seeing bass up there in northern maine?
I get a couple SMB each trip to smaller <500 acre ponds/lakes. most are in the 6-11" range. my PB this year was 16".
I get an equal amount of chain pickerel between 12 - 24"
BassB8Caster reply :
On 6/22/2016 at 12:55 AM, UpTheHill said:I get a couple SMB each trip to smaller <500 acre ponds/lakes. most are in the 6-11" range. my PB this year was 16".
I get an equal amount of chain pickerel between 12 - 24"
good to know. I use the state of maine pdf of any lake or pond i fish for depth info and species info. Most of them are out dated and inaccurate. Keoka Lake for example is listed as only having smallmouth. I caught 3 largemouth there. Im starting to assume many many ponds and lakes have both smallmouth and largemouth, mostly due to people introducing them if they were not originally in that body of water.
YoTone reply :
is there any real proof that fishing pressure effects bass?
i mean, dont bass only have 15 minutes of memory?
i believe theres some truth to it but are there any real facts?
frosty reply :
On 6/22/2016 at 3:58 AM, YoTone said:is there any real proof that fishing pressure effects bass?
i mean, dont bass only have 15 minutes of memory?
i believe theres some truth to it but are there any real facts?
http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1986-09-29/sports/8602270802_1_fish-behavior-plastic-worm-bass
Seems legit to me
blckshirt98 reply :
I think some of better evidence I've heard of how pressure/conditioning affects fish are those that have ever fished remote lakes where the fish have never seen a lure, or, how people recall when a technique first started being used where they could catch fish nonstop before it became widespread and the fish became accustomed to the presentation (i.e. dropshotting).
frosty reply :
On 6/23/2016 at 12:57 AM, blckshirt98 said:I think some of better evidence I've heard of how pressure/conditioning affects fish are those that have ever fished remote lakes where the fish have never seen a lure, or, how people recall when a technique first started being used where they could catch fish nonstop before it became widespread and the fish became accustomed to the presentation (i.e. dropshotting).
The fish have never seen a lure and they will bite anything in any color... no matter how bad you screw up the technique!
iiTzChunky reply :
On 6/23/2016 at 3:24 AM, frosty said:The fish have never seen a lure and they will bite anything in any color... no matter how bad you screw up the technique!
Sounds like I need a private Lake lol
HeavyTwenty reply :
I drag my kayak through this tunnel to get to an unpressured pond, 10 mins away from my house. Its worth it for the easy fishing.
frosty reply :
On 6/23/2016 at 6:41 AM, iiTzChunky said:Sounds like I need a private Lake lol
After fishing a pressured lake, a pond like that is to easy, it almost doesn't feel like fishing, you'd almost feel guilty because it's so easy!
iiTzChunky reply :
On 6/23/2016 at 5:21 PM, frosty said:After fishing a pressured lake, a pond like that is to easy, it almost doesn't feel like fishing, you'd almost feel guilty because it's so easy!
The lake near me is under heavy pressure I'm honestly surprised I catch anything since my presentation is so bad, but senkos do wonders
But the local pond is under heavy pressure as well, but they still constantly hammer my yum worms.
WestBranch reply :
On 6/23/2016 at 11:23 AM, HeavyTwenty said:I drag my kayak through this tunnel to get to an unpressured pond, 10 mins away from my house. Its worth it for the easy fishing.
I'm not sure I'd want to meet up with whatever might live in a tunnel in FL.
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