Many of the lakes that I fish out here in Texas both for fun and on the tournament seasons are very dirty and pressured. Especially for the upcoming tournament season I will be fishing some rather small lakes. It is rather hard to finesse fish in muddy water(there are only a few lakes with clean water around here) but I have a few oddball lures/techniques that not many others use.

 

My main question is this-Would it be better to hammer down in the more pressured areas with my unconventional tactics, (where I know there are fish, they're just pressured) or go and find new areas of the lake that not many others go to? Also would your strategies be different for more clear water?

 

I know this is an oddly phrased question but I am curious to hear any feedback.

Here around the kc area all of our lakes are heavily fished. Most of our lakes also have  stained to dirty water.

My favorite lakes get pounded every weekend by waves of  anglers. They still produce quality fish and often large strings at tournament weigh ins.  

From my own experience bass from water that is always stained or dirty are more susceptible to reaction baits.

Even if the fish are pressured they don't have the luxury of watching a bait come from a distance. If the bait gets close they will often strike.

If that does not work, the fish can still find finesse baits in stained water.

Fish that always live in dirty water adapt.

The Ned rig is popular here, in spite of dirty water.

My pb largemouth was caught on a fluke in water the color of chocolate milk.

Texas has a large population of highly skilled bass anglers but most lakes are not small compared to SoCal bass lakes that are under 2,000 acres.

Finesse bass fishing started in SoCal because of the extremely high bass fishing pressure, "freeway" lakes as Iovino refers to them.

To answer your question there are no secrets in bass fishing, it's always about locating active bass. Should you camp out on bass hoping they become active or move and hope to find active bass someone's else hasn't already located? 

I learned decades ago to locate bass with lower traffic by fishing off shore structure using sonar. Today off shore is being pressured.

Off color water doesn't affect bass as much as it does anglers.

Tom

PS, read Don Iovino Finesse Bass Fishing and the Sonar Connection, dated but good info.

Fish where they are, don't go try and fish where they ain't. 

 

If certain spots are pressured it's because they are there. Stay there and figure out how to make em bite!

Dont be afraid to fish behind other boats or pressured water. Fork is my home lake and highly pressured. Here its just part of the deal. 

I would look at what baits the other anglers are using and try something different.

Thanks for the advice!

Does pressure matter? Aren’t the best lakes people know about all heavily pressured?