Story by Todd Goade | Photos by Tanner & Travis Lyons
If you’re on the water as much as I am, you pick up on trends. One of the trends I’ve seen over the last few years has been an increase in fishing pressure. I think a lot of it had to do with COVID, because lots of people had more time to fish during the pandemic. But it’s also something we cope with every year when the weather warms and people get outside to enjoy the water with their buddies and family. Also, high school fishing has exploded across the country and any given weekend there will be tournaments that have more than 200 boats. It’s great that so many young people are enjoying the sport that we love.
Not so many years ago, an increase in fishing pressure wasn’t such a big deal. There’s usually plenty of room to spread out and plenty of fish to catch. But with all the technological advancements we’ve seen recently, added fishing pressure can get very noticeable very fast.
When I was a kid and getting serious about fishing, I read that 20% of the fishermen caught 90% of the fish. I wanted to be in that 20%!
Who knows if those numbers were accurate, but I can tell you they’re definitely not accurate today. With modern technology and all the tools available these days, such as YouTube and social media, anglers—even relatively new anglers—are a lot better than they used to be. That includes the pros. We’re watching some of the same stuff everyone else is watching in our effort to keep up with new developments. As a result, it can seem like we’re all fishing for the very same fish in the very same way.
Of course, that’s not all bad. I’m sure that fishing license sales are up because most boat ramps that I go to are staying busy. It means good things for our sport and our industry. It’s up to me and you to find ways to catch bass that other anglers aren’t catching. That’s always been a part of the sport. It’s just that it’s a bigger part of the sport today than it ever has been before.
When I know I’ll be fishing for highly pressured bass, there are a few things I do to adjust my fishing and to catch the bass that other anglers don’t.
The first is to show the fish something different, something they probably haven’t seen before. Usually, that means a new (or very old) lure or an unusual color, but it can also mean a different rig or even a different angle of presentation.
The Pulse Fish Lures Pulse Jig is a scrounger type bait that was very popular several years ago and it’s a lure that fish don’t see a lot of anymore. Paired with a minnow-like trailer, I have fished behind anglers in places and caught fish that didn’t take their offerings. The bait is known as an offshore ledge type bait, but it’s also great to throw in places that you would normally throw a bladed jig, crankbait, etc., and it’s an all-around bass catcher. Because it’s considered an old-style bait, the fish haven’t been conditioned to it like they once were, and it appeals to their curiosity. Because it’s pretty weedless and has a single hook, you can fish it anywhere and even skip it under docks and other cover, where bass seldom see a lure like it. It comes in sizes from 1/8- to 1-ounce to cover any depth, and I’ve had a ton of success just slow-rolling it on the bottom or speeding it up to cover the middle of the water column.
But a new old look isn’t the only thing you can do to catch pressured fish. My other favorite tactic is to focus on nothing-looking areas that get little attention from other anglers. If I’m in a creek or pocket and one bank has a bunch of stumps or grass while the opposite bank looks barren, I’m going to give that ugly bank a closer look.
You can bet that every angler who’s ever gone into that area has cast to the stumps and grass … and they’ve probably caught fish there too, at least until it got pounded nearly to death.
Sometimes, if you focus your attention on the ugly spots, you can find something that other anglers have missed. When you do, the results can be amazing.
Try these couple of tips the next time you’re out on the water and I bet you’ll put a few more fish in the boat!
Todd Goade – Angler Profile
