WHEN THE BITE IS HOT 2025

Muddy reply :

Hey Fellas: We all have experienced days when it seems no matter what you throw , you are catching large quantities of fish. For me this means a lot of LMB between 14 and 17 inches, very few over 3 pounds. When the bite is great like this, and you not fishing competitively , do you leave that spot in search of bigger fish? In your experience are the bigger fish also on a hot bite at the same time?

If you are already over lets say 12 to 16 ft of water, do you go deeper in search of larger fish?

I know this is very generic , just looking for how you would approach similar conditions.

Wayne P. reply :

I never leave fish to find fish.

NitroMan reply :

When I find situations like this I like to keep the boat moving around everywhere. The day is still fun none the less but just the thought of moving around to a different part of the lake and trying to catch a bigger fish. But I'm glad you put the part in there about it not being a tournament because when there is a tournament I can't find a lot of fish. ;D ;D ;D

Muddy reply :

Then if you should happen to see me on that body of water, keep going the bigger fish have an aversion to my boat!

ilovefooffur reply :

Leave the spot where you're catching fish? BITE YOUR TONGUE!!! No Way, Jose.

Catt reply :

I have participated in all out feeding frenzies occurring on individual pieces of structure and in areas as big as 4-5 squire miles. Sometimes it would be smaller bass, sometimes larger bass, and sometimes a mixture of both.

As far leaving bass that are aggressively feeding it would depend on the body of water, if I know the body of water contains only small to medium size bass then changing areas would be useless so I would enjoy the ride. If the body of water is known far big bass but the structure I'm fishing is not conducive to holding big bass I would likely leave. But thank you God for the times when all the conditions are right and the big girls come out to play because this is when momma gets a call saying the truck broke down so I'll have to spend another night.

Branuss04 reply :

Here is my take on this.

If i'm fishing a spot that seems to be producing lots of decent size fish, lets say 3-6 pounders. I firmly beleive that there are bigger fish stacked on this spot as well. So instead of pounding this spot for hours and possibly ruining any chance I have of catching these larger fish, I'll fish another spot for an hour or so and let the original spot take a break. I might go to another spot that has the same characteristics in hopes of more big fish. I wont necessarily leave to find bigger fish, but I leave to let the original spot die down, even if it is producing fish. I guess this is the downside to fishing for quality, not quantity.

Me and 4bizz got on a bite like this one day. We fished every spot on a lake that had certain characteristics. We would fish it hard for an hour, catch 3-6 quality fish. Then go to another spot with the same characteristics and catch more. We fished each spot 4 times that day and everytime the spots kicked out fish. 90% of those spots kicked out fish over 5#.

Muddy reply :

Thanks, different view points , I appreciate all of your your experience and input 8-)

whitwolf reply :

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I never leave fish to find fish.

Exactly. Time Is always at a premium so If I'm on the fish I stay right where I am at.

Muddy reply :

I fish a lot of long days, when you are not fishing against the clock, it really is not an issue for me. I have all the time in the world.

Fishing Rhino reply :

I've been told the first rule of fishing is, never leave biting fish.

cart7t reply :

I thought for sure this was going to be a question about Elaine trying to give you a hickey after eating jalapeno's.

Muddy reply :

Nay!1 Unfortunately I am in PA with 10 inches of snow on the ground and she is back in Brooklyn. I can't wait for this year to be over so we can plan on living in the same city again

Bassn Blvd reply :

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I fish a lot of long days, when you are not fishing against the clock, it really is not an issue for me. I have all the time in the world.

If I'm under no time restrictions and all I'm catching are 1-2 pound fish then I have no problem exploring other areas. Chances are the fish will be biting there too. If it's a tournament then I'll stay put.

SirSnookalot reply :

No challenge in catching small fish, I always search for larger ones.

Many species school up and all will be the same size. A 200' walk down the beach may produce a school of larger fish, it hapens all the time.

Muddy reply :

Except this is not salt water, the fish act differently.

zbass reply :

If your just fun fishing, tay put and enjoy the frenzy. When it starts to die down, scoot to another area. No reason to move and risk not catching anything when they are biting and you can do no wrong.

bigfruits reply :

id grab the lightest rod i had with me and hang out till it stopped.

SirSnookalot reply :

Quote
Except this is not salt water, the fish act differently.

Not as different as you may think. I fished freshwater 50 years before moving to Florida and I apply many of the same techniques to saltwater as I did to fresh. If you opt to sit in one spot you're chances of catching larger ones are greatly reduced. Whether it's fresh or salt you need to cover a lot of water to produce.

Muddy reply :

Hey Stu, pretty cool I grew up in Brooklyn and first fished saltwater. From the shores of Plum Beach,behind Korvetts on Bay Parkway and Breezy Point, the old adage Follow The Birds is what worked there!

Some shorelines in fresh water are just a waste of time, when walking a pond or a lake I try to avoid the crowds, it's worth getting scratched up by brush and reeds.

BARON49_Northern NY reply :

When I hit a school of smaller fish I will work a heavier bait to get underneith the school or work around the outside edge of the school in search of bigger fish. The school is there for a reason, usually forage fish and big fish being lazy will usually pick a place to ambush the the wounded bait fish as they fall.

I would never say leave fish to find fish, but take the time to pick apart the area where you found the smaller fish. There might be one or two big gals hanging around for an easy meal too.

SirSnookalot reply :

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Follow The Birds

It works here too. 99.999% of time the birds are right and the fish are there. Both the fish and the birds are vieing for the same baitfish.

I do much less freshwater fishing these days as I love the ICW and the ocean, just so many different options and species, not to mention the "shoulders" on those saltwater fish. Did you know there are places down here that in one spot you can catch bass, peacocks, snook and tarpon, the latter 2 being saltwater species that can exist in fresh or brackish water (they cannot reproduce there).

Gave up my boat up north as prefer hoofing and packing light now.

SirSnookalot reply :

BTW, this time of the year the birds sometimes LIE, lol. I fished 20 miles of the ICW at various spots and 10 miles of beaches the last 2 days, all with out a strike. It seems to happen this time of year. The strong bite is the freshwater one now.

Come on down, I'll take ya to some great places.

Muddy reply :

Thanks; the general consensus seems to be stay with the fish.

Low_Budget_Hooker reply :

I agree with Baron but think like Stu.

It's the old salt in me.

I would look under the fish you are catching. Get to the bottom quicker. Big=lazy

If no luck,......go find 'em elsewhere.

NitroMan reply :

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I agree with Baron but think like Stu.
It's the old salt in me.

I would look under the fish you are catching. Get to the bottom quicker. Big=lazy

If no luck,......go find 'em elsewhere.

Well put LBH, that is what I meant to say... :-[

Garnet reply :

If I'm fishing a worm or jig and get a instant bite or if a fish swims up an take the bait aggressive my first instinct is crankbait,spinnerbait or buzzbait. Mostly whats close at hand and goes fast. The hope is to wear them out and then switch back to what ever the first bite came on.

Then it's what I know about the body of water if they are 2's and you need 4's after 5 cast I move. If some bigger fish are mix I beat on them to death.

Garnet

BassNub reply :

First off I'm a shore fishermen and whenever I do find feeding frenzy's like this I usually go bigger on my lure size. Since I'm limited to moving around and finding other spots. Usually the bigger lure does it.

Bass Dude reply :

When I'm fun fishing and get on a good school of fish----that's when I pull out some new lures or practice a technique I'm too strong at. This is a perfect time to gain confidence in a new lure or technique.

J Francho reply :

For largemouth, it doesn't matter to me whether its a competition or not, I live and die by the big ones. Similar to what Baron and LBH were saying, I think sometimes you nave to "fish through" the smaller fish. In fact, I've found you may have to fish through the smaller species. Many times, working a particular spot, first cast will be a Rockie, next one a small bass, then a few casts later with a slower bait gets bit by a larger fish.

In a totally different realm, if I'm fishing deep clear water for smallmouth in summer, I will leave an area after four or five smaller fish in quick succession. I believe smallmouth "school up" in similar sizes, but the truly big fish seem to take up any prime real estate rather than wander.

Raul reply :

When the bite is hot I don 't waste my time pursuing bigger fish, not because I 'm catching lots of fish, it 's because the bite is hot and there will be hundreds of fish ready to pounce on whatever I throw that will get to the bait a lot before a bigger fish has a chance of even sniffing at the bait.

The bite is hot right now, been 4 Sundays to the same lake and have caught a little over 300 fish, all of them between 8" and a pound, have thrown big worms, jigs with monster sized trailers, spinnerbaits with blades the size of a hub cap, swimbaits and they still manage to get hooked on them.

Benn serously thinking about changing my screen name to "DINKMASTER".

Muddy reply :

You shoud change it to Burley

SirSnookalot reply :

I fish alot, 4 hours or so in salt most mornings and a few more in freshwater in the afternoon, everyday, so if I miss a few small ones I'm not too upset.

I do mostly canal fishing from shore for bass and peacocks and I seem to think the larger bass are protecting their own turf, so I keep moving.

I have only noticed the bass boiling in the ponds not in the canals down here and when they do they will hit anything, size seems to be quite irrevelent.

MALTESE FALCON reply :

When I find fish I'll never leave, because here on St. Clair, the big girls are not prejudice. If you are catching one to three pound fish, stay there, because the fives and sixes are there too.

Every six pound plus smallie I've caught, was caught while landing a boatload of smaller fish.

Falcon

fishinfiend reply :

You would have to drag me off that spot ;D

Mottfia reply :

guess it all depends for me. If my buddies or GF is going with me, I'll probably sit on that hole until the cows come home. It does my heart good to see them get into it. If I'm studying for a tournament or looking to learn something new, I'll spend a few minutes to get dailed in or focused better but then I start my search for the big uns. I enjoy catching a few hawgs more than a hundred dinks but have no problem taking a few notes on what all the bass are doing.

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WHEN THE BITE IS HOT 2025

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