Close encounters with lunkers...what to do?

Living in Manhattan, I fish in city owned lakes and ponds where the pressure on the bass is high. There have been multiple times that I have approached a spot/bank that I think will be productive only to come face to face with a massive lunker easily visible from the shore stalking bluegills near the bank or just seemingly hanging out. In these exciting situations I have been unsure as to how to best approach these big fish. I have stayed a few yards away from the bank so as to conceal myself and flipped either a jig and pig or texas rigged worm as close to the fish as I could get it. This hasnt worked at all. The fish eyes it for a few seconds and isnt interested and I usually end up spooking him off by trying it repeatedly.

Any advice or suggestions to land a largemouth in this situation? Should I be Casting past the fish near the shore and running it by him quickly? It seems as though if I were to do that my bait isnt in the strike zone long enough when he is so close to me. And if if im swimming it by him it can be hard for him to pick up on the bait if he is facing away from the center of the lake or pond.

Anyone ever been in the same situation but caught the bass?

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Isn't fishing wonderful! You have a couple of options. First one being that if you can't get close to her, how about night fishing? Run a big Jitterbug by where her haunt is and she'll destroy it!

Or, if night fishing is not an option, make her an offer she can't refuse. 7" Senko. Good Luck!

Close encounters with lunkers...what to do?

I have stayed a few yards away from the bank so as to conceal myself and flipped either a jig and pig or texas rigged worm as close to the fish as I could get it. This hasnt worked at all. The fish eyes it for a few seconds and isnt interested and I usually end up spooking him off by trying it repeatedly.

You could try pitching one of Matt's ultimate or U2 bluegills and see if she eats that..

Just be as stealthy as possible. If she knows you're around, your job becomes twice as difficult. I'd pitch the bait a little past her, and drag it back to her, and let it sit in front of her nose as long as I can bear it.

Drop shot a 10" power worm. This is a great way to seperate the lunkers from the dinks. I use 4/0 ewg on 8lb tatsu. Seems like a weird setup but it nails the big ones.

I'll use alot of real small plastics rigged wacky and fished weightless in a similar situation, Something small enough to be lobbed underhand and barely make a splash. Just be prepared to fish SLOOOOOW

Yea I would say a drop shot or wacky rig.

You could also try a flick shake for something the bass might not have seen before. Try the larger size (6.8" I think), cast it past the fish, work it over to her, and let it sit. It's known as a "do nothing" bait, like the senko can be, but a lot less used by fishermen.

Where's Fish Chris when you need to hear about how to place a gob of live nightcrawlers in her face?

If you're stuck on artificial baits though, I'd suggest not tossing the bait right on top of the bass, but well ahead of it's route of travel.

Thanks a lot for the tips guys...this is my first post and its great to have a place where I can get the help and support from those who are more knowledegable .

If there chasing gills I would throw my little U2 at them. I do have a trick for you though. If you can see a bass and doesnt see you, you can usualy get a curiosity bite out of a night cralwer. I call it this because a lot times the bass will suck it in and spit out after a second. You have to be quick but they almost always suck it in. You gotta use light line and a small hook.

are you fishing central or prospect park, and if central which lake? i would use 4"- 6" senkos in natural colors(black, blue, green, brown) weightless and weedless either wacky or texas, and fish them real slooooow or deadsticked.

Sight fishing. Love it. I use 2 things when sight fishing and have caught numerous 5lb+ fish with these two baits. A pumpkin lizard with a chart. tail. Or the crawdad yum wooly bug like this one.

Bass don't get big in small high pressured lakes by being careless and not aware of bank movement. The bass can see you or knows something isn't right.

You need to stay away from the area you are fishing or hide good enough the bass can't detect you, then you have far better chances of catching it.

Low light or darkness is to your advantage, light breeze to ripple the water surface helps.

If the bass is up tight in shallow water, your choices are less; fly lined soft plastics or live night crawler tail hooked as mentioned. Small blue gill swimbait, floater or slow sinking model. Low light & Night; 10" to 12" T-rigged worm like Upton's Customs in black grape/blue neon or the swimbait and a buzz bait all should work.

Tom