@the reel ess's story about his five-bass honey hole reminded me of another beloved honey hole. There was a cascade in northwestern Ontario, a series of drops. The water than ran straight and shallow before slamming into the lake. If you fished the current, you'd catch pike. If you fished the collision of current and still water, you'd catch smallies. And if you fished the agitated water below the impact zone, you'd catch walleye. I'd fish for all three species, one after another. Well, one morning, I'd done just that and decided to return to camp. You know how I love to troll when traveling, so I paddled across the agitated water trailing a crankbait. Walleye on. 

 

"Hmmm," I thought. 

 

So I paddled back through that roiled water, a short distance of perhaps 20 yards.

 

Walleye on.

 

Back and forth I went, catching 17 walleyes in a row, a walleye with each pass. It taught me that you might think you caught all the fish in your honey hole, as I had, but switch tactics and you might catch  many more, as I did.

These reload locations I'm aware of in my lakes are seasonal.

 

Certain times of the year, based on forage movement, weed growth, and water temperatures, I have spots saved as waypoints from the past 20 years on my GPS that have consistently produced season after season around the same time period.  Both for smallmouth and largemouth.

 

I found a new spot this year on my local lake that I believe to be a reload.  I killed it there from mid June to late July.  By the 1st of August it was done.  But you can bet your mortgage I'll be going back next season.

 

This time of year, the movement of bluegill sunfish is key in the largemouth lakes I frequent.  Once I find a school of sunfish, there are bass nearby.

 

@Swamp Girl initial example of a river/waterfall is a good example too but bear in mind the fish may be there because the water is being stirred up, or because moving water holds more oxygen, which starts the food cycle in its lowest form.

 

It's important not to "over fish" these spots though too.  There is a fine line between striking while the iron is hot and ruining it with too much pressure.

 

Lastly, keep it to yourself.  The vultures can spot a rotting carcass a long ways off.

1 hour ago, gim said:

Lastly, keep it to yourself.  The vultures can spot a rotting carcass a long ways off.

 

Oh, I know. I found walleye and smallies on a point in the Upper Peninsula. The first morning, I was alone, but then another boat saw me boating fish the second morning, so they joined me. By Day Five, there was a flotilla. I've had that happen to me on the Mississippi too. I've even had boats troll around me, glaring the whole time while I boated fish and they didn't.