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Would you fish only one spot over and over? As a bank angle I have limited area to fish for crappies. I have tried a few spots but those are not as produce as the one I mostly fish. I know we all want some excitements and challenges, wanna learn the new locations and all, but would you give up this convenient and look for new spots all the time?
To answer my own question, I would say “yes” for bass but crappie I am not sure.
Sorry, I can't relate to bank anglers seeing as how much I use my fish finder to locate the presence of any fish at any depth. Various structure types many times are key to fish holding areas - even those close to shore. Recently my partner and I found that rocks were key fish holding areas in water less than 4'. 80 % of the lake I recently fished held no fish that bit - 20 % that did and especially shallow areas that had islands of weeds. Those fish were excitable - fish which anglers should try and discover by finding locations that hold them - the more the better. Fish don't come to us / we go to them!Quote:
would you give up this convenient and look for new spots all the time?
While I own a boat I have bank fished for years. It has served me well fishing the same spots. I have a couple of bank spots for crappie that they have continued to show up for the past 10 years. In October and November I will spend a lot of time at one bank spot in particular. In that spot I will in all likelihood catch around 1000 crappie during that period. It is rare for me to keep fish. I am an avid UL angler and will just sit on the bank and catch fish until I have had enough fun and leave....and in all likelihood come back to the same spot for many days in a row. The challenge for me was to find the spot in the first place. Once I find a spot I will fish it as long as it produces fish. It is the same when fishing in my boat. I have spots that continuously produce and I see no need to try and find other spots. Now if a spot quits producing I will go hunting again.
Regards
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A wise man once said that you don't leave fish to find fish.
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I fish from the bank, as well as from a boat, depending on time constraints. I do find that if you locate crappie in a particular spot, that they will replenish regularly. I do not believe in the theory that you can "fish out" a spot, although I would never keep everything I catch from that spot.
Even Buck Perry (Spoonplugging Fame) didn't think this was possible. That game fish tend to follow the forage, more than a specific location. If the spot you are fishing holds bait, then it will hold game fish as well and when taken from that spot, more will replace them - as long as the bait is still frequenting that spot. I believe that too. JMO. :)
If you could wear out a spot a lot of us are wasting a lot of time building our slips into honey holes with brush and fish attractors. I prefer to fish from my boat but on bad weather days I fish my slip. And usually at the end of a boat trip I fish my slip for the white bass I attract there with a green underwater light.
I’m not really worry about wearing out the spot and I know for certain that crappies would come back to this spot over and over all year round because of the shad, the wind, the depth of this lake (close to the deepest) and structure (rocks and docks) and most important this is area where two lakes connect with 3 medium size tunnels.
My real question is “am I or are you gonna get tired of catching them from same area over and over and doesn’t seem like it challenge enough.
I normally don’t keep any fish I caught, but I will make a few trips each year just for the fish that I would take home for my wife (catfish and crappie).
And I totally agree..... If it ain't broke don't fix it....Quote:
Originally Posted by slowhand
I can't speak for you, but I sure wouldn't. If you get bored, there are lots of ways to increase the challenge.Quote:
Originally Posted by Just_Bass
I can't catch that many fish in a year's time !Quote:
In October and November I will spend a lot of time at one bank spot in particular. In that spot I will in all likelihood catch around 1000 crappie during that period.
Well when you are retired and fishing is all you do it’s not too difficult. I found that spot by chance using google maps. In the fall...and spring, it is not uncommon to catch a 100 crappie a day there. It is a spawning hi-way for crappie. I have stood in a spot there with 5 of us fishing shoulder to shoulder and all of us catch a crappie on nearly every cast. When my fishing buddies get their limit they beat feet...me....I’m subject to stay there the whole day. What is odd though in the winter...December-February....they are not there. As to getting bored catching fish.....that don’t happen with me.Quote:
Originally Posted by Spoonminnow
Regards
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If it keeps producing, I'd happily keep fishing it. Nothing wrong with looking for other spots too though. Your main spot isn't going anywhere.
Never leave fish to find fish...
I'll bank fish right at ice out for about 3 weeks than the boat. If I find a spot that has fish I might fish it one day aweek but I will move to a different spot that mimics that spot and fish that. If I start to catch a lot of fish I move to another spot and try that. Don't like to get locked into one spot. Since the local lakes are small you might not fish out a spot but you sure as heck can hurt the population in that spot. If I was a one or two day a week fisherman I would set up camp on a spot but I fish to many days a year to be tied to one spot.
I hit the same bank spots over and over and learn from every trip . that said I know that what is is and what was was and nothing lasts forever . many times from past experiences I know when and where is likely the best place to ketch crappie .so if a spot is good its likely only for a while . to be sure if you find them don't leave them until they depart . ketchn crappie is about finding them and once located you best stay after them because they will surely move to other locations before you get tired of ketchn them .
so in the end I don't really have one spot I frequent and or a "best" spot .
p.s. I keep a giant archive of crappie photos and use the embedded information to give me ideas on when and where I should possibly visit .
we have boats but on my home lake rarely use them. have one public dock that everyone fishes not just me and it will produce or not. Nice thing is it's 5 minute drive from lake house and I know to dip certain spots around it, if bite is on you have a ball, when they arn't there go back to house to do chores, nap or have a cold beverage on deck. Come back in few hours and often a covey of crappie move in and it's go time. If that one is occupied can go hit other piers or along rocks where we know brush is and get em.
Never get tired of hooking up with crappie of all sizes. The Thump is what we live for!
We don't have a boat so it's bank fishing for us all the time unless we are invited by friends with a boat. And we are more into bluegill/sunfish but do very much enjoy crappie. Once we find a hot spot we fish it. Some are good most of the time,some only certain parts of the year. We rarely keep more than a few fish. While we search for new spots all the time we always go back to our known catching areas. And my boys and I never get tired of catching fish if about any size, especially on UL gear.
I guess I'm awful prone to going back to spots that produce for me. What little crappie fishing I've done has all been out of a boat. But I found a couple good spots and hit them pretty much every time out. Catch a bunch then go looking for new spots. If I were fishing off the bank I think I'd be prone to keep returning to the same spot but not sure. I fish for small mouth in the river and walk a lot but I also will stand in one spot so long as I'm getting fish. I suspect the nature of man is not to quit on a spot that is producing till it quit's producing!
I might be over thinking a little here. Even this same spot that I fish almost this whole year 3-4 times a week but only a couple hours each trip in the evening, the bite was not the same someday epic some skunked, sometime shallow some deep. I still have to figure where they are a lot of times and even that they might not be in a big group since they trend to spread out the whole area. I don’t fish under dock even I know they are there, reserved for the kids and new when I wanna show them how to catch and feel crappie tab, but I ll use that as indicator sometimes.
I have a few different spots for bass, but I like this area the best since I can fish both crappie and bass. Lately though, I find more and more ppl come to this same area and kept every thing they catch (California don’t have size limit).
The LOOKERS will change a spot for sure..... And one of the reasons I fish a bunch of small structure.....
One; most won't put the time in to learn their graph to see it, two; won't put the work in to stay on it to fish it.....
I usually fish a whole lot of the same stuff, if it's productive there's nice fish in the cooler but if not on to the next spot and repeat.....
If it becomes a community hole more than likely it won't produce most of the time......
I hit a favorite spot and catch nothing, come back 2 hours later and catch slabs every drop. Happens with white bass, gills, etc. I don't give up and it's fun.
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Only you can answer the question of whether you will get tired of catching them in the same area. Personally I love catching crappie so I would never get tired of a spot that provided constant crappie catching. And like you I don't keep much of what I do catch.Quote:
Originally Posted by Just_Bass
if the place where you fish does not have deep-slopeing banks , maybe you could use some chest-waders to allow more spots to fish .......i use some sometimes , where the bank has a gentle slope....
If you use waders be sure to use something to hold them closed at the top if you step in a hole. A young man drowned before his friends could help him when he stepped in a deep spot. Waders filled with water, always be careful and move slowly.
This is pure myth that has been debunked by many. I have actually had my own waders fill up with water. It will not drag you down. You may weigh a ton but they ain’t gonna drown you. There are tons of videos on YouTube and plenty of articles that discuss this.Quote:
Originally Posted by Pnut
Regards
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Wasn't there so I can't argue the point but the young man drowned in his
Maybe he was in running river? I’ve heard that wader is dangerous there.
Anyway back to my topic, I felt like cheating and can’t 100% show off my catches. We all know the hardest part in crappie fishing is to locate them, after that it’s just a piece of crappie nugget as long as I have the right equipments. Maybe next time I’ll get my float tube out and float right in front of them for a change.
That's funny... I don't remember saying that. [emoji16]Quote:
Originally Posted by slowhand
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There's a shallow bar that runs near the mouth of a deep cove by the main basin in one of the lakes I regularly fish that always has fish on or around it. i consistently catch the biggest fish off the end of that bar all year, except when they're spawning. I'm always looking for similar structure on other lakes in hopes they might pay off the same way.
Jim