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Posts: 344
Location: Musky Country | I was Reading the Questions about guides Discussions and I think Mikes extreme
said it best when he said "Fishing pressure effects the fishermen more than the fish. Once you believe that more fish will come into your boat."My fishing partner doesn't agree with me at all on this but Personaly I agree 100%
What does the rest of the MuskieFirst world think!!!! |
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Posts: 4080
Location: Elko - Lake Vermilion | The pressure doesn't bother me as much as it does most other people, I'll just move to the next spot and catch a fish there....... Or try.
I think fish do, and will get accustomed to pressure , so fish will get caught because they have to eat.
Jerome
Edited by Top H2O 2/21/2008 9:56 PM
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Posts: 2691
Location: Pewaukee, Wisconsin | Tony, believe it and in your skills.
I fish some of the most pressured waters around. I can pull up to a weed line and see that 4 other boats just hit that same spot. I will pick it apart with comfidence because the correct cast might not have been made where that fish is. I try to get people to believe this and more often than not we will get some action or a fish.
I go to Mille lac's and see everyone complaining about the boat pressure but to me I see some fishing the outside weeds, some the inside weedline, some the sand, and some all over the place. Now I see only a few boats working the pattern I am targeting. See where I am going with this?
Always look at the positives of each situation while on the water.........You will catch more fish.
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Posts: 133
Location: WV | confidence!!!!!!!!!! I fish very small rivers that get beat to death. Changing up helps consistantly put fish in my boat. I used to get frustrated when their were two boat trailers on a 15 acre pool of water. Now I just block them out. My brother taught me my tactics for beating the fishing pressure blues (he's a very productive tournament bass fisherman). stay confident, fish hard and productivly. Long casts, faster and bigger baits work well for me after 10 boats beat a small tree top. Also flipping jigs from far distance. |
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| Definitely no guide, but fishing pressure does bother me quite a bit. I know that I miss fish, and don't catch the numbers that I'm capable of, because I usually will leave an area or go out of my way to find spots without people cralling all over them. The peace and solitide I find in fishing is just about as important to me as catching fish. Some may think that logic is ridiculous, but for me days on the water without seeing another boat are often some of the most enjoyable I experience. I fish because I love the experience and not for the competition it can provide, and typically the more fishermen I have to work around or plan my routes around the more the experience is diminished. I like to consider myself a very conscientious and polite fishermen and although all individuals have different ideas about the room they give other boats, I feel that too large a percentage of boaters simply don't concern themselves with any notion of right-away and etiquette. I'm not saying most or even half of the boating world practices poor boating etiquette, but it doesn't take but one or two to really disrupt many others. I beleive that by the very nature of casting baits for muskies the effects of bad etiquette are greatly compounded given the scale of what we do, meaning that the same crowding means nothing when you are walleye fishing, or even casting for bass as compared to the half-pound bullets for muskies.
Obviously the effects as well as the definition of "pressure" vary given the body of water you are on, although often individuals rarely seem to ever change there behavior to the good of this relationship and always to the bad. It seems like once you learn to accept the crowding then you never seem to mind to do it to others. Like I said before I know that if I learned to disregard what other anglers were doing and where they are and focused on my own game plan I'm sure I could probably put a few more fish in the boat, but at what cost? If everyone took the mindset that where they went and what they did was all that mattered to put more fish in the boat, how enjoyable would it be to be out there among all of it. I think the percentages of fishermen out there seems to be going down each year according to census reports I remember hearing, so actual crowding should be going down overall, but it doesn't take much of an increase in bad etiquette to null the effects of less people.
Sorry for the insomniac rant on this subject, and I'm sure you were more interested in opinions on the effects of pressure in regard to the fish, but it is what it is. My opinion is that although fish can be conditioned in extreme situations or conditions, most fishing pressure has little to no real effect on muskies. I think sudden rash or major changes in fishing pressure, based on the volume of water, might cause short term impacts on muskie location and behavior, but eventually they will do what muskies do to survive and become bigger muskies typical to that body of water.
Ryan |
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Posts: 3240
Location: Racine, Wi | I agree whole heartedly Mike. Pressure doesn't bother me a bit. I think the thing it does is make you break the spot down more meticulously, or fish it different than others just have. I may have plans to fish a spot and drive up to it only to see 5 or 6 other boats fishing, or just fishing it. Ever hear someone say, join the conga line. Well, how about start a conga line the other way. I'm not saying cut those other boats off, but the fish just saw 5 boats casting bucktails the same direction. Come at them from a different direction, focus on the areas of the spots that you know hold fish (ie a point or turn in the weedline, a rock pile in the weeds etc) and throw baits that the other boats haven't thrown.
I'm always watching other boats to see what they are doing. Changing up a bit will help show the fish somthing differnt than what they just saw. Throw in a different casting angle or boat direction and fishing the spot carefully and you'll score fish right behind so to speak, other boats.
I think alot of the pressure is just guys chucking baits to spots they know have fish. They don't necessarily know why the spot holds fish, and where the fish tend to hold on a spot, so the fish aren't necessarily as pressured as we think they are since the other boats may be over the fish and casting up where the fish aren't holding, or something along those lines. Just gotta keep the faith and fish the spots well. |
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Posts: 2361
| Don't kid yourselves. Pressure matters. How much though is related to the specific water you fish.
You can't catch a fish that isn't there, either because of hooking mortality, boat traffic, or one that was already caught, burned or otherwise interacted with in a way that makes it unreceptive, or chases it off a fishable structure.
And places like KY which have low size limits and a high preponderence of kept fish can actually suffer population depression due to pressure, despite unlimited forage resources and survivable habitat.
I know personally that the size structure in water I fish up north, and availability, have been affected in recent years by pressure. Yes, you can deal with pressure and still catch fish, but there is only so much adjusting one can do. Pressure does matter.
The best thought I have on the matter is that if you are there throwing good baits, at good times, in good places, eventually you will catch at least some of the fish that are in an area. |
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Posts: 110
Location: Albertville, Minnesota | I was previously ticked off about boating pressure on certain lakes and lost the confidence or drive at times when encountering alot of rigs out there. But on the other hand it seemed that there are lakes you would just take in stride with the pressure (like a Mille Lacs or Tonka where you get in line at times). But I ultimately have come to the conlusion that it doesn't matter. The only thing that matters in my mind is with pressure you have a bigger chance to come across more idiots and fishing etiquette issues...but thats a whole separate post. Changing up tactics or disecting or moving to unknown or ugly structure spots will pay off huge...and even gain more confidence for the next trip because you locked up some new spots.
I will admit at the beginning of one of my LOTW trips last year I was upset about the pressure or amount of boats on the lake. It seemed like LOTW became a small lake. I was always thinking, oh man, that boat is on that rock and probably got that fish off of it, so heck with that spot and then off to another only to have another boat on a confidence spot of mine and my boat partners. Got frustrating. LOTW seems like a lake that the first lure to hit that rock or get in that crack, will pop the fish. However, we decided to fish ugly spots or to one point get out of the wind at times...not hitting the certain point or rock and then running and gunning to the next...we worked a lot shoreline or went where no other boats were adjacent to classic or known hot spots. It payed off. Next year we have tons of confidence spots to stay away from others if need be. I should point out that classic spots seemed to not produce nearly as well as the adjacent stuff.
Nice topic though, good to get out.
Chris |
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Posts: 3147
| Pressure or crowding???
I live in Minn and am just a few hrs away from vermillion,,Do you consider vermillion in july 'quality fishing' I made the mistake of going in july last year and 'never again' theres big fish present but on one reef we counted 8 boats if I want to deal with crowds like that mall of america is only 10 minutes from my house at least thats air conditioned in july.,,if you put up one of those plastic trout ponds and filled it full lof dnr brood stock would you consider that 'quality fishing'???,,Im to the point where I'll fish smaller population FAR less crowded water then the big fish/big reputation lakes during the summer tourist season,Leech is looking better and better every year.
Edited by happy hooker 2/22/2008 4:37 PM
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Posts: 5874
| I agree with Mike also. I pay little attention to the other boats, except to say hello. Well, maybe I take note if they have a fish going or caught. Confidence is huge, especially when fishing for muskies. Even when eye fishing, pressure will affect the fish, but usually to the extent that they move a bit. But they are still hungry, and they got to eat. Same with muskies. They still got to eat. So I just pay attention to details, make sure my bait is in the water, and I'm observing what's working that day. Learn from what you see, adapt, and overco.....Catch a fish! |
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Posts: 4080
Location: Elko - Lake Vermilion | Brad,
Ya know that reef isn't the only fishy spot on Vermilion.... and the week ends in July are extreemly "crowed & pressured" ..... but that shouldn't deter you from thinking "outside the musky box"
That lake is huge and has a lot of big fish and areas that don't get fished at all.
Have you been able to fish V during the week ? Its busy but not as much as the week ends. I've also found that the pressure has moved some fish off of the rocks into deeper water, so thats the areas I'll some times target.
I plan on hitting leach a little bit more this yr. also as I only get over there about 3-4 times during the season
There are ways to turn a negitive into a positive, you just have to be willing to.....
Later, Jerome
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Posts: 2384
Location: On the X that marks the mucky spot | If you don't think pressure affects fish then you've never fished a lake that went from no pressure to lots of pressure. There are a few Lake X's out there that used to receive very little to no pressure. Over the years as word got out it became more and more difficult to get fish to follow and eat. I'm talking about 50 follow days with 3-4 in the boat down to seeing a few and maybe catching one.
Now is it possible that angler mortality thinned out the population? Possibly, but I'd like to think it wouldn't that much. |
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| Anyone ever notice as fishing pressure picks up more and more. The girth in muskies go down??? I have witnessed a few bodies of water in MN have huge increased in pressure and the girth of the fish i do actually catch arent near the girth they were years ago. Have had alot of other people notice the same thing and multiple bodies of water, not just one lake???? |
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Posts: 376
Location: Lake Vermilion Tower, MN | Fishing the same body of water every day, gives you a little better perspective on just how much pressure there really is.
On Vermilion, most of the real heavy pressure is on the easy spots, that everyone knows about. Like Jerome said earlier, there are acers of water that nobody fishes.
Arrowhead reef is a good example. It may be the most fished reef in Minnesota on any given weekend during July or August. I just avoid those kind of spots until September when there is much less pressure.
I used to spend most of my time fishing in, or around Big bay. All the new traffic forced me to look for other spots to fish, guess what?
It was the best thing that ever happend to me! 
"Ace"
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| Obviously pressure does have an affect but we have to sometimes think outside the box to deal with it. Anybody can go to a remote spot in Canada and stick a pig. Do it on the Mad Chain or Pewaukee and you've done something. The best example of extreme pressure is tournaments. It is a great learning experience to fish in a PMTT 2 day tournament after it has been pounded all week by locals and pre -fishers. And do we NOT catch anything because of the pressure ? No - there are 20 sometimes 30 fish caught a day. There's always one ready to eat somewhere. You just have to think and work a little harder. |
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