Hey all,

 

So I've recently started to fish at a private lake for 5 days where I've been able to catch bass pretty easily  However, I'm worried about over pressuring the lake. It's maybe 1.5 acres and I've been fishing for maybe an hour or 2 a day (2-3 bass). Do you guys think it's possible for a single person to over pressure a small lake? I'm wondering if it's necessary to take day breaks every now and then.

Yes and yes. Also change presentations often.

yes and no, I used to fish my uncle's ponds, which btw are a lot smaller than your lake, 3-4 times a week, the fish "learned" to avoid certain lures quite fast, what murdered them one week didn't work the next weeks, it was a matter of just giving that lure a rest for a couple of months to become effective again. However, certain lures worked consistently, week after week, soft plastic worms and grubs worked with just a slight change of presentation.

9 hours ago, Raul said:

yes and no, I used to fish my uncle's ponds, which btw are a lot smaller than your lake, 3-4 times a week, the fish "learned" to avoid certain lures quite fast, what murdered them one week didn't work the next weeks, it was a matter of just giving that lure a rest for a couple of months to become effective again. However, certain lures worked consistently, week after week, soft plastic worms and grubs worked with just a slight change of presentation.

I see. Thanks for the response. So how long did you use a lure for before they began to stop hitting it? Also, do you think it's better to keep switching my lures up or use one type until they stop hitting and then change?

You are fishing a 1 1/2 acre pond, how many adult size bass do you think are in the the Pond?

Tom

12 hours ago, WRB said:

You are fishing a 1 1/2 acre pond, how many adult size bass do you think are in the the Pond?

Tom

My guess would be like 50? And maybe 200 small bass? I actually have no idea 

2 hours ago, nymm1t said:

My guess would be like 50? And maybe 200 small bass? I actually have no idea 

100* bass per acre is very high density for the predator prey ratio to support, not counting fingerlings or very young juvenile bass. So let say your pond has 100 bass, 80 of those will be under 1 lb, of the 20 balance there maybe 2 larger size over 3 lbs, about 10%, the rest mixed between 1 1/4 lbs. to 2 3/4 lbs. 

There is also a survival rate to consider with catch & release, not every bass survives being caught, about 3% don't.

My suggestions are; don't introduce your freinds to this small pond and encourage them to fish. Don't fish everyday, give the bass a rest period. Don't stock the pond with bass caught elsewhere, they may bring parasites or desease with them.

The pond was holding it's own before you started fishing there so no reason to change it. If the bass have large heads with skinny bodies, then the pond may be over populated and a few of those l lb to 1/4 lb bass need to be kept and eaten.

Tom

* 20 adult size bass per acre is very high.

PS, a football field is 300' long X 160' wide, slightly larger than 1 acre.

 

3 hours ago, WRB said:

100* bass per acre is very high density for the predator prey ratio to support, not counting fingerlings or very young juvenile bass. So let say your pond has 100 bass, 80 of those will be under 1 lb, of the 20 balance there maybe 2 larger size over 3 lbs, about 10%, the rest mixed between 1 1/4 lbs. to 2 3/4 lbs. 

There is also a survival rate to consider with catch & release, not every bass survives being caught, about 3% don't.

My suggestions are; don't introduce your freinds to this small pond and encourage them to fish. Don't fish everyday, give the bass a rest period. Don't stock the pond with bass caught elsewhere, they may bring parasites or desease with them.

The pond was holding it's own before you started fishing there so no reason to change it. If the bass have large heads with skinny bodies, then the pond may be over populated and a few of those l lb to 1/4 lb bass need to be kept and eaten.

Tom

* 20 adult size bass per acre is very high.

PS, a football field is 300' long X 160' wide, slightly larger than 1 acre.

 

Wow. I see. Thank you for the info <3

So I've caught about 6 bass from the pond so far and they've all been between 1.5 to 2 lbs. They all looked relatively healthy. Definitely not too skinny. But I've yet to catch a small one from there.

Also, how often/for how long should I give them a rest period? I've been trying to not fish there but it just keeps pulling me in...

I have had a few experiences fishing very small, private bodies of water for multiple days.  My experiences have varied:

 

1) 8 acre hotel lake in Orlando near Disney - fished it 3 mornings in a row & 1 evening (2-3 hours) each trip produced more fish than the previous outing.

 

2) 3 acre "lake" along the Blanco river outside of Austin - 3 mornings, all 2-3 hours.  The first day produced the most & biggest bass, 2nd day was slower, 3rd was a little bit better, but not as good as the 1st.

 

3) 5 acre & 3 acre ponds in South Georgia - fished both 2 days in a row, the larger in the morning and the smaller in the evenings.  The larger produced better on day 1 than 2, the smaller better on day 2 than 1. 

 

4) 12 acre lake in San Bernadino, CA -  Fished it 6 days in a row, mornings in my boat, evenings from shore.  The 2nd day was the best, the numbers dropped a little for the next 3 days, only the 6th day was slow (which may have had more to do with a major weather change).

 

 

So in conclusion, I don't know.  I do make changes in baits & techniques often to try to avoid having the fish see the same thing over & over.

 

If you keep using the same bait each time you fish the pond, yes, I think the bass can get wise.  Especially, if you are using crankbaits. 

The truly naive fish are very rare nowadays, and those that are don't stay that way very long. We are all fishing to "educated" fish. But all is not lost:

-Some lures are harder for fish to identify as "not food".

-Some conditions make it harder for fish to identify "not food".

-Some individual fish are better at discerning "not food" than others.

-And some individual fish have a weakness for certain lures.

 

Bottom line... You can enjoy that pond for years to come.

I've been fishing two new ponds this year. It took the bass from spring until a couple of weeks ago to finally stop biting wacky Senkos at one of them. At the other, the bass learned to not bite them after 4 or 5 trips in 2 weeks. Oddly enough, the pond that they learned faster on is the bigger pond (by more than 2x) with bigger bass.