I knew of a particular place where walleyes targeted concentrated shad under bridge lights. I found these walleyes could learn to discern lures. I'd catch three on a particular plug, then only get short strikes, then nothing. So I'd switch plugs, and start the series again. It got so I would start my fishing at that spot with a half dozen plugs layed out. And I'd go through em one at a time. Showed me that fish can discern seemingly subtle (to us) things about lures and retrieves, and their response can vary greatly to these seemingly subtle differences.

I found when fishing for stream smallies that I could run a certain lure through a pool, and catch two bass. Then nothing. Switch to another lure type and catch another one. Then nothing. Switch again, another fish. But, as RW mentions, there are lures fish have a harder time discerning, and with a small earthy colored jig I could catch a bunch from a given pool enough to satisfy me and end the experiment lol.

I found a lure that those walleyes above had a hard time learning too. It was a soft plastic swimbait, that hunted. It's called the Litl' Fishie, originally made by Knight (in the 80's). It's been sold to Crème and is on their website.

In the heritability study I mentioned above, the researcher's asked the obvious question: If a population of bass can become less catchable over generations, why do we still catch them, in good numbers? They felt the answer was technology angler's ability to devise and refine lures and technique, not to mention the fish finding technology at our disposal as well as the sheer amount of good information readily available to anglers now. People are pretty ingenious. I for one don't like to take No for an answer from the fish I'm pursuing, for very long.

I fish these old gravel pits on a guys farm out in the country that has bass. It is fairly pressured as a lot of families bring their kids there (for $5) to throw a worm on the end of the line and have a day out. I have actually found that they are tough to get a bite, a lot of stuff just doesn't work. Partly b/c its not a natural water system, so they don't have craws etc....anyways, I fix this problem by downsizing to a booyah pond magic spinner bait, its 5/16oz or something like that, You can always get that reaction strike if ya throw that spinnerbait....hopefully!

What do you use when fishing HIGHLY PRESSURED city lakes ?

 

A Head Lamp

 

 

A-Jay

On 3/12/2017 at 6:00 PM, A-Jay said:

What do you use when fishing HIGHLY PRESSURED city lakes ?

 

A Head Lamp

 

 

A-Jay

 

You mean, fish at night?

Just now, keltonz said:

 

You mean, fish at night?

 

Yes.  It's the single most effective way I know to get on bass that are beat up all day - especially from the bank.

It's proven effective for me for many years - over & over again.

Usually same baits & often even the same places that were no fish deals during the day - can be banner at night.

I've often slayed bass on a places that are swimming beaches during the day - but turn into bass beaches at night.

A-Jay

When Im in over fished areas, or the bite just drops off, I go to a 1/4 shakey head with a zoom 4 inch worm then fish nice and slow.

 

 

Bruddah, we fish the same park lakes. It's no joy SoCal bass fishing. Shoot me a PM.

22 hours ago, A-Jay said:

 

Yes.  It's the single most effective way I know to get on bass that are beat up all day - especially from the bank.

It's proven effective for me for many years - over & over again.

...

Same on trout streams. Those "wily", "leader shy", "scrutinizers", and all around "#%@&!" actually prefer a dragged fly (or lint wad on a hook) after darkness falls. Tells us an awful lot about what our fancy lures actually mean to the fish when they can actually see them.

One other thing I didn't see mentioned that's worked for me... 

 

I go into highly pressured fisheries with the mindset that I'm willing to lose baits to catch fish.  Most recreational anglers tend to fish the periphery of cover.  They'll fish near a snarl of tree roots but not really get all up in there for fear of losing a lure.  I decide that the trade off on pressured water is sometimes between saving money/baits and catching fish.  Between the two (within reason), I'm willing to pay the price to hook some fish.  So I throw deeper into cover.

 

Again, this is simply meant to add to what everyone's said above.  There's been some really great advice in this thread.

Light line and small baits