Just wondering.  I am fishing a Big Bass Tournament on Saturday at Millwood Lake in Arkansas.  Biggest bass takes the prize.  Well knowing a little bit about bass behavior, I know the bigger bass are probably going to be close to the ledges, channels bends and ditches since the spawn has been over for about a month now.  But the heavy boat traffic is making want to venture away from the main river channel to some smaller creeks that are close by.  Last year there were approx.  300 boats on the lake.  And the river channel is the only way to get up and down the lake.  So there is going to be boats constantly running up and down the river.

Although boat traffic may make certain areas difficult or even impossible to fish, if the lake or river normally has a lot of traffic, there is absolutely NO negative impact on the fishing. I fish the Tennessee which is a commercial river. In addition to fishermen, we have constant traffic from HUGE recreational yatchs and more importantly, barge traffic. This is a VERY busy river environment. Generally, when a big barge comes by, it actually stimulates the bite on many occasions.

I have dozens of honey holes on Toledo Bend that are either in a boat lane or within casting distance of one; my PB came off one hole that you can cast & hit the buoy marker. Now a sudden loud noise in the back of a quite cove is something totally different.