How many of you guys will revisit a spot you had luck with earlier in the day? Do you find that these spots replenish themselves? Will you try a different pattern than what worked earlier in the day if the same pattern doesn't produce or just write it off as "fished out"? Do your answers differ on different bodies of water? For example a highly pressured lake may not replenish as quickly as a low pressured lake, or do you think ideal habitat is ideal habitat and if a fish is removed from that habitat another one will soon replace it?

I dont have a lot of experience on this, but I used to fish tournaments as a co-angler.  Several of the guys I fished with would re-visit spots in the course of a tournament day...

One guy in fact hit a spot in the morning, around noon, and then again on the way in... we caught fish there each time.....

"Spots" vary from spot to spot - as a co-angler in club tournaments, one of the most frustrating experiences is when the boater leaves a spot while fish are biting. But as to going back, it really sort of depends. If the weather is changing as the day goes on, that spot may have given up all it's going to . On the other hand, if the weather is stable, there was something that attracted the fish in the first place and that should mean that it will re-load as the day goes on.

Depends on the spot, the species, and the day.

If I was on a shallow water topwater bite, I may not return to that exact spot, but will many times return to deeper water nearby.  On one specific lake, I always had one deepwater hole that I would hold off visiting until mid-afternoon.  Other lakes, I used to have a milk run that I would make two or three complete trips around in a day.  Not that they replenish so much as the remaining fish calm back down and resume feeding.  Unless it was the time of year were fish were migrating, I'd reserve the replenish idea for a day two or three.

With smallmouth, if I or the backseater unbutton a couple of fish, it can shut the school down.  In such a case, I would leave and come back within an hour or so.

Other times, you don't leave a spot regardless.  I have put a limit in the boat and then parked on that spot to make sure nobody else could get to it during the day.  It can get interesting when you try to herd other boats away from a small area, but I have done it a number of times.

Every day is different to a certain extent.  A lot of times, it boils down to knowing how the weather can turn off or turn on various places on the lake.  That just comes with time on the water.

as long as i'm catching fish off a spot, i never leave it to begin with.  when the bite slows down, i'll try different colors, different baits, and different angles than i did the first time and often do just as well.  when i've milked a spot for all it is worth, i'll leave and go somewhere else.  i often will come back later on to see if the fish have turned back on, regrouped, or perhaps a new bunch of fish has moved in.

but there are some long term consequences to this i believe.  obviously on public water, if guys see you constantly camped out on a spot, you're gonna get gps'd and there's likely to be someone sitting on your honey hole next time you try to fish it. 

even on private water that doesn't get hit often, i'm sometimes convinced that the fish pattern us just like we pattern them.  spots that get beat to death don't often stay hot.  i made the mistake of fishing the spot i caught my pb on to death over the course of a couple of months.  and i caught some other nice fish from it.  but it finally just seemed to dry up.  and it took a long, long time of letting it rest to catch another decent fish off of it. 

so you kinda have to pick your poison.  fish a spot to death and risk ruining it, or fish it sparsely and miss out on some fish you could have caught. 

but that's just my opinion.

as long as i'm catching fish off a spot, i never leave it to begin with. when the bite slows down, i'll try different colors, different baits, and different angles than i did the first time and often do just as well. when i've milked a spot for all it is worth, i'll leave and go somewhere else. i often will come back later on to see if the fish have turned back on, regrouped, or perhaps a new bunch of fish has moved in.

This is how I think as well. Although, in a tournament situation the clock is ticking so I tend to bail on spots as soon as I get the sign that things are about to die. There are times that I should stay and play it out on certain spots but the mental headgame takes over most of the time and I just bail to another spot. If I've got a decent limit in the boat I'm more likely to stay on a spot longer....if not, I move on quickly but I always try to work it in to revisit certain spots throughout the day.

I have a good friend who will sit on one spot for an entire tournament but he's got nerves of steel. Plus, he has the confidence in that one spot that he will get the bites he needs during an 8 hour period. Lots of times I'll go by and see him just sitting down, not casting, talking on the phone or whatever but he's still on his spot. He does real well too.

My feelings are a good spot is a good spot. These spots hold fish for a reason. Duplicate the conditions & a spot is always worth re-visiting. If conditions are stable throughout the day keep revisiting. 2nd choice is to find a similar spot with same conditions

I fish the upper Mississippi for Smallmouth almost exclusively and have for almost 30 years.  In the river, good spots will almost always produce action more than once or twice per day.  It is my considered opinion that river Smallies are naturally more aggressive than their lake bound cousins so the time it takes for a spot to recover is much shorter on a river than on a lake. Sometimes a presentation change may be necessary the second and/or the third time around, but we know from experience the fish are there...we just need to find the right trigger for that particular time.

About two years ago, I was fishing with a fellow club member - on pre-fish day, we found fish in an area (not a spot, but the lesson is the same).  We figured out the pattern within a few minutes and started there the next morning - filled our limits fairly quickly and the bite started to slow down, so we left with intentions of comming back as the day went on.  We did "come back" about 4 or 5 times through out the day and found the area packed with boats each time.  We had it all to ourselves on pre-fish day and for the first 3 hours of the touney - never did get a chance to work it again.  BTW, the tourney was won within 100 yards of the entrance to that area.