I fish the local lakes here in AZ and no kidding pressured waters are so hard to limit on but catching a nice fish you get amped and never want to quit.
I totally agree! I watch all of your videos but this “out-of-the-box” discussion is one of my faves. Look at the Japanese anglers and the finesse techniques they bring over here and the JDM baits that always seem to get bit. That’s because all fisheries in Japan are highly pressured. Thx and keep up the good work!
I caught 4 bass in 6hrs pond hopping extremely pressured ponds today. It's made my skill level go way up, having to locate them and throw what no one else is. Worm on a Powershot lol
At the Castaic Lagoon, in Southern California, the drop shot and wacky have been used for decades. It's a tough place to fish from all the pressure also. It definitely makes it worse that half the "Lagoon" is off limits to fishing for swimming, lol. It's been especially tough the past couple of weeks, with bass anglers asking each other if they've caught any lately. I would have been just like them if I still religiously finnessed. But I've been doing well with Bull Shad's "Nacho", silicone swimbait. It's about 4" and probably 1 1/2oz. The trick is also to cast parallel to the bank and as close to the bank as is reasonable. Especially where there are rocky shoals and riprap. Other people fish swimbaits from small to extra large but not getting bit. I like to think it's because it has a pan fish shape and has that Famous Bacca tail kick.
Matt. I've been following your page for a while. I've learned a lot of sneaky stuff from you. And I truly believe that you are going to do very well on the BPT. Your conversation with Todd kinda had me feeling like you doubt your longevity in this game. Don't because you are a phenomenal angler and I know wholeheartedly that your going to do well. Keep pressing on my man. If everyone else doubts and leaves I'll still be here cheering you on.
Well said! I live in a city of 300,000 and there's only one small lake in the whole county...so it...gets...pounded with pressure. One thing that this lake has definitely taught me is that often, what "should" work isn't the same as what "will" work. It's shallow and weedy all summer, but most of my summer fish came from open water, well away from the weeds, on a jerkbait of all things. This after trying the jigs, T-rigs, wacky worms, swim jigs, chatterbaits, and anything else that usually gets recommended for summer fishing. My theory is that at a certain point, the bass are reacting more to the pressure than the natural factors, at which point it becomes more of a game of showing them something they aren't used to seeing. On this pressured water, I've really had to learn the MO of not getting locked into anything, and to just keep changing things up until I find something that works.
YES!!! My lake is super pressured! Small but deep bowl clear grass type of lake! Lots of pleasure paddle boarders/kayakers plus other fisherman! I always catch something and everytime someone else is always surprised even if its small fish BUT there ARE big fish and i have/do catch them! 😁🎣
Thanks Matt. I needed this to make me realize I don't change my baits as much as I should be. The main lake I fish is a really pressured lake with pleasure boats and jet skis.
I agree. I grew up and still live on the Fox Chain. Between the plethora of Walleye and Musky fisherman and the insane amount of pleasure boaters and boat rentals its presaured. You can see 100+ boats just in the connecting channels. It can even be really dangerous fishing off-shore due to the uneducated boaters.
My main goal when out fishing is to catch , so if it's not easy I'll change baits, colors, & so etc. I remember 1 time I was out all day & never had a bite & I gave up, but my brother said keep trying so I tied on a deep diving crankbait, & bam caught the biggest bass of the year a 6lbr! 🎣👍
I'm a chain rat too. From the walleye side. I don't compete but a lot of friends and family do. My father has always said that the chain produces the best tournament anglers because it is so tough. My numbers are old but back in the day they were selling 32,000 stickers for 7,800 acres of water. Something like 80% is 5' or less. If you have never had a line of 20' plus boats. Many with multiple inboard motors. Go by you from within casting distance. At full speed in 3' of water. I only catfish at night anymore for enjoyment anymore. And I usually don't catch anything under 5lbs
Great info as always. I've really been wanting to learn to fish offshore. Now that I have my own boat I can really give it a shot. It's hard when you fish with a friend and their boat. Because you're basically along for the ride. I mean my fishing partner ask me what I'd like to do and gives me opportunities to be in control quite a bit. Probably more than most. And I thank him for that but there is nothing like having your own boat
I fish heavily pressured lakes in southeastern Wisconsin, and I really have to get creative to catch fish with unorthodox techniques. I hate the Fox Chain. I haven't fished there in 40 years. I love the Kankakee river though.
There is a balance though you can get into a rut fishing high pressure water. I’ve passed on so many juice area’s on lesser pressured water just out of habit. But on the flip side I’m finding fish no one else is witch can be the larger quality fish.
Matt, what should I do, when there are so many other fishermen around me everywhere, how can I use some lures or techniques to catch fish if they will be discovered right away by other guys. Thanks
Boy, if struggling catching bass will make me a better fisherman I should be getting better pretty soon!😜 All kidding aside, I have found myself paying more attention to where, when and how I do catch them. Everywhere I fish is pressured water.
While i Can’t fault any of your arguments I do think its highly situational. For instance, in my specific case I don’t fish tournaments so none of those aspects apply and i only fish the same 3 bodies of water which are all within a 10 mile radius of each other so they all fish identical. they are also small with the largest barely 10,000 acres so they can’t handle much pressure where 40 boats at a time is a lot. Therefore I never fish on weekends, even during the hot summer months when almost no one is here because I want to be on the water with as few boats as possible. Unfortunately one of these lakes is the now infamous “Headwaters Lake Fellsmere” here in Florida and thx in part to Roland martin’s YT channel where he claims to catch 10 lbers on almost every guide trip we get the hordes here in the fall, winter & early spring. Even during the week there will be 80 boat trailers in the only boat ramp and forget weekends - 100-125 every weekend. The only good thing is that none of these places have electronic maps and they can be VERY tricky to navigate - I’ve pulled more guys off sandbars then I can count the last 2 years so those of us who have fished here weekly for years have a significant advantage. Some are smart and hire guides to take them around and familiarize them with the lake. Just last week i got asked if I would be interested in showing someone around as my buddy who owns the local tackle shop and is a guide couldn’t do it. Now I’m not a professional bass guide but i am very familiar with the lake because im on it every week so i agreed to jump in his boat and show him around the lake for a few hrs - and he was willing to pay a normal 6hr guide fee
The lakes I grew up on fishing in Oconomowoc are all high pressure and as a young angler everything was just one technique. It wasn't until later in life I began to look at more than one type of presentation and more than one bait type. Sure I knew where on the certain lakes I could use a specific crank bait to catch a bass. Let me tell you, compared to AZ it is a walk in the park like WI compared to the Lakes of Disney. Back in the day, the electronics were just paper actually being printed on or a flasher that with a mental picture of the topographic an angler on a specific lake knew where those spots were. Again, later in life I fished a tourney on Delvin right after the WI DNR had drained and killed then forced all the property owners to have a specific dock size and design like some kind of association rule and we were getting just NOTHING on the what we knew worked before baits. I moved to the back of the boat and changed completely what I knew was the bait to use to something based on what I'd be reading in Al Linder's and Doug Hannon's writings on color clarity and temp. I had been collecting a few what is now called core tackle items from then Gander Mountain and ended up putting some real weight in the boat. I think high pressure fishing not only means the will to continue when others fold as you expressed but also that it means to be successful on any level you have to be have more in your tackle box than what the others are doing and do it well. This means that when going to a new lake you stand a better chance of putting a pattern together and seeing results. Went to Bull Shoals one year for winter vacation. Snow n cold in WI, neighbors thought I'm nutz taking the bass boat out of the garage with snow banks on the curbs of Milwaukee. I stupidly went to the bait shop local and asked what's the working pattern. I did however also grab a topo map. Two days of pounding the fish structure yielded ZIP for my efforts. I thought must be slow winter fishing but I saw a local putting his stuff away at the marina. That night I studied the map, had already known the water temps n clearity and found a spot not too far away to run to with my under powered boat compared to the race machines of Flipin. I found the lake point I wanted and did what I knew to do. Caught fish that day. My biggest complaint of modern anglers is too much reliance on electronics which have gotten obscenely out of reach for the average angler. There are no more topo maps and local bait shops it's all become on line or massive Kmart like stores. So you want to talk about an angler who can persevere? Who loves to fish and finds fish regardless of the handicap. That's when we will be on the same level. I truly enjoy your content with Hank and Duke showing the true love of fishing and the videos about the differing techniques. I get that to be an in the money fishermen you have to use every available and the best of kind like John Force using a used engine to win NHRA top fuel funny races, could happen but a lot less competitive than using the best n newest. I hope you focus on helping that average angler who doesn't have the millions and help them to figure out whats the next most important purchase. Shallow water anchors or maybe a locator that isn't really the very latest mega what ever but will help them which I think you already do quite a bit of. So thanks.
I don't mind pressured water. I do mind dying water. Out here, we have a lot of immigrants. They don't buy fishing licenses, they take everything they catch, and they leave their trash everywhere. Fish and game doesn't wanna do anything, because checking licenses and kept fish might be viewed as discrimination. Pretty soon we won't even have any fish left. Just Styrofoam worm containers, bobbers, and piles of tangled up monofilament fishing line littering the banks.
I can't believe the amount of lures/baits you have, like the other pro anglers I've seen. You can't possibly use all of that can you?? Loved this topic, great information you've given.
@MattStefanFishing I saw it today. Didn't want to bug you. 1st thought - ' oh s### Matt ! Figured you were crunching #'s and your options. More curiosity than worry. What's next on the rod builds ? Ice over can't be far away.
Your just trying to make me feel good about the non-fishing boats. These ding dongs don't know what an anchorage and swimming areas are. They want to pull in every creek & cove to party. BaJa's and BayLiners tearing up the main lake. I entertain myself with thoughts of paintball guns and sharpie mines. Most other fishermen are trolling walleyes or crappie fishing, no bother to me. Since COVID are water way's have gone nuts!!! I have found that a boat idling by pushes fish towards me, I do like that. Half don't know what a no wake zone is though. How much is a paintball gun? 😅
Matt, you're so right: I fish mostly in very deep and clear water at a high presured location , from the bank !
thanks!
I fish the local lakes here in AZ and no kidding pressured waters are so hard to limit on but catching a nice fish you get amped and never want to quit.
nice!
I e cannot believe you fished tournaments on the Fox Chain! That place is insane on the weekends. It’s like the boating scene from Caddyshack.
its nuts!
I totally agree! I watch all of your videos but this “out-of-the-box” discussion is one of my faves. Look at the Japanese anglers and the finesse techniques they bring over here and the JDM baits that always seem to get bit. That’s because all fisheries in Japan are highly pressured. Thx and keep up the good work!
I totally agree!
I caught 4 bass in 6hrs pond hopping extremely pressured ponds today. It's made my skill level go way up, having to locate them and throw what no one else is. Worm on a Powershot lol
nice!
At the Castaic Lagoon, in Southern California, the drop shot and wacky have been used for decades. It's a tough place to fish from all the pressure also. It definitely makes it worse that half the "Lagoon" is off limits to fishing for swimming, lol. It's been especially tough the past couple of weeks, with bass anglers asking each other if they've caught any lately.
I would have been just like them if I still religiously finnessed.
But I've been doing well with Bull Shad's "Nacho", silicone swimbait. It's about 4" and probably 1 1/2oz. The trick is also to cast parallel to the bank and as close to the bank as is reasonable. Especially where there are rocky shoals and riprap.
Other people fish swimbaits from small to extra large but not getting bit. I like to think it's because it has a pan fish shape and has that Famous Bacca tail kick.
Matt. I've been following your page for a while. I've learned a lot of sneaky stuff from you. And I truly believe that you are going to do very well on the BPT. Your conversation with Todd kinda had me feeling like you doubt your longevity in this game. Don't because you are a phenomenal angler and I know wholeheartedly that your going to do well. Keep pressing on my man. If everyone else doubts and leaves I'll still be here cheering you on.
thanks for the support. i dont doubt my skills i doubt MLF and BASS
Well said!
I live in a city of 300,000 and there's only one small lake in the whole county...so it...gets...pounded with pressure.
One thing that this lake has definitely taught me is that often, what "should" work isn't the same as what "will" work. It's shallow and weedy all summer, but most of my summer fish came from open water, well away from the weeds, on a jerkbait of all things. This after trying the jigs, T-rigs, wacky worms, swim jigs, chatterbaits, and anything else that usually gets recommended for summer fishing.
My theory is that at a certain point, the bass are reacting more to the pressure than the natural factors, at which point it becomes more of a game of showing them something they aren't used to seeing. On this pressured water, I've really had to learn the MO of not getting locked into anything, and to just keep changing things up until I find something that works.
thats a lot of pressure
YES!!! My lake is super pressured! Small but deep bowl clear grass type of lake! Lots of pleasure paddle boarders/kayakers plus other fisherman! I always catch something and everytime someone else is always surprised even if its small fish BUT there ARE big fish and i have/do catch them! 😁🎣
Sounds great!
Matt, one of your best videos and I agree about fishing heavily pressured waters making you a more rounded angler. Thanks for the tips.
Glad you enjoyed it!
Thanks Matt. I needed this to make me realize I don't change my baits as much as I should be. The main lake I fish is a really pressured lake with pleasure boats and jet skis.
Glad it was helpful!
thanks for teaching me how to fish!
you bet!
I agree. I grew up and still live on the Fox Chain. Between the plethora of Walleye and Musky fisherman and the insane amount of pleasure boaters and boat rentals its presaured. You can see 100+ boats just in the connecting channels. It can even be really dangerous fishing off-shore due to the uneducated boaters.
agreed
My main goal when out fishing is to catch , so if it's not easy I'll change baits, colors, & so etc. I remember 1 time I was out all day & never had a bite & I gave up, but my brother said keep trying so I tied on a deep diving crankbait, & bam caught the biggest bass of the year a 6lbr! 🎣👍
awesome!
I'm a chain rat too. From the walleye side. I don't compete but a lot of friends and family do. My father has always said that the chain produces the best tournament anglers because it is so tough. My numbers are old but back in the day they were selling 32,000 stickers for 7,800 acres of water. Something like 80% is 5' or less. If you have never had a line of 20' plus boats. Many with multiple inboard motors. Go by you from within casting distance. At full speed in 3' of water. I only catfish at night anymore for enjoyment anymore. And I usually don't catch anything under 5lbs
thanks for sharing!
So true,has worked for me many times
awesome!
Great info as always. I've really been wanting to learn to fish offshore. Now that I have my own boat I can really give it a shot. It's hard when you fish with a friend and their boat. Because you're basically along for the ride. I mean my fishing partner ask me what I'd like to do and gives me opportunities to be in control quite a bit. Probably more than most. And I thank him for that but there is nothing like having your own boat
you can do it!
I fish heavily pressured lakes in southeastern Wisconsin, and I really have to get creative to catch fish with unorthodox techniques. I hate the Fox Chain. I haven't fished there in 40 years. I love the Kankakee river though.
The river is a good one
Spot on Matt👍👍👍👍👍
Glad you enjoyed it
Great encouraging video
Glad you enjoyed it
Matt good video, great tips. Thanks
Glad it was helpful!
There is a balance though you can get into a rut fishing high pressure water. I’ve passed on so many juice area’s on lesser pressured water just out of habit. But on the flip side I’m finding fish no one else is witch can be the larger quality fish.
agreed
Great video
thanks!
Matt, what should I do, when there are so many other fishermen around me everywhere, how can I use some lures or techniques to catch fish if they will be discovered right away by other guys. Thanks
dont worry about the other guys and fish your strengths
Truth.
thanks!
Boy, if struggling catching bass will make me a better fisherman I should be getting better pretty soon!😜 All kidding aside, I have found myself paying more attention to where, when and how I do catch them. Everywhere I fish is pressured water.
Haha
I totally agree with all this but I would love to have a day where I can work on a big fish pattern lol that’s hard todo off 3 bites a day lol
Thanks for watching
While i Can’t fault any of your arguments I do think its highly situational. For instance, in my specific case I don’t fish tournaments so none of those aspects apply and i only fish the same 3 bodies of water which are all within a 10 mile radius of each other so they all fish identical. they are also small with the largest barely 10,000 acres so they can’t handle much pressure where 40 boats at a time is a lot. Therefore I never fish on weekends, even during the hot summer months when almost no one is here because I want to be on the water with as few boats as possible. Unfortunately one of these lakes is the now infamous “Headwaters Lake Fellsmere” here in Florida and thx in part to Roland martin’s YT channel where he claims to catch 10 lbers on almost every guide trip we get the hordes here in the fall, winter & early spring. Even during the week there will be 80 boat trailers in the only boat ramp and forget weekends - 100-125 every weekend. The only good thing is that none of these places have electronic maps and they can be VERY tricky to navigate - I’ve pulled more guys off sandbars then I can count the last 2 years so those of us who have fished here weekly for years have a significant advantage. Some are smart and hire guides to take them around and familiarize them with the lake. Just last week i got asked if I would be interested in showing someone around as my buddy who owns the local tackle shop and is a guide couldn’t do it. Now I’m not a professional bass guide but i am very familiar with the lake because im on it every week so i agreed to jump in his boat and show him around the lake for a few hrs - and he was willing to pay a normal 6hr guide fee
Thanks for sharing
Matt, would you take this mindset on lakes that may not necessarily be super pressured but still super tough fisheries?
sometimes
The lakes I grew up on fishing in Oconomowoc are all high pressure and as a young angler everything was just one technique. It wasn't until later in life I began to look at more than one type of presentation and more than one bait type. Sure I knew where on the certain lakes I could use a specific crank bait to catch a bass. Let me tell you, compared to AZ it is a walk in the park like WI compared to the Lakes of Disney. Back in the day, the electronics were just paper actually being printed on or a flasher that with a mental picture of the topographic an angler on a specific lake knew where those spots were. Again, later in life I fished a tourney on Delvin right after the WI DNR had drained and killed then forced all the property owners to have a specific dock size and design like some kind of association rule and we were getting just NOTHING on the what we knew worked before baits. I moved to the back of the boat and changed completely what I knew was the bait to use to something based on what I'd be reading in Al Linder's and Doug Hannon's writings on color clarity and temp. I had been collecting a few what is now called core tackle items from then Gander Mountain and ended up putting some real weight in the boat. I think high pressure fishing not only means the will to continue when others fold as you expressed but also that it means to be successful on any level you have to be have more in your tackle box than what the others are doing and do it well. This means that when going to a new lake you stand a better chance of putting a pattern together and seeing results. Went to Bull Shoals one year for winter vacation. Snow n cold in WI, neighbors thought I'm nutz taking the bass boat out of the garage with snow banks on the curbs of Milwaukee. I stupidly went to the bait shop local and asked what's the working pattern. I did however also grab a topo map. Two days of pounding the fish structure yielded ZIP for my efforts. I thought must be slow winter fishing but I saw a local putting his stuff away at the marina. That night I studied the map, had already known the water temps n clearity and found a spot not too far away to run to with my under powered boat compared to the race machines of Flipin. I found the lake point I wanted and did what I knew to do. Caught fish that day.
My biggest complaint of modern anglers is too much reliance on electronics which have gotten obscenely out of reach for the average angler. There are no more topo maps and local bait shops it's all become on line or massive Kmart like stores. So you want to talk about an angler who can persevere? Who loves to fish and finds fish regardless of the handicap. That's when we will be on the same level. I truly enjoy your content with Hank and Duke showing the true love of fishing and the videos about the differing techniques. I get that to be an in the money fishermen you have to use every available and the best of kind like John Force using a used engine to win NHRA top fuel funny races, could happen but a lot less competitive than using the best n newest. I hope you focus on helping that average angler who doesn't have the millions and help them to figure out whats the next most important purchase. Shallow water anchors or maybe a locator that isn't really the very latest mega what ever but will help them which I think you already do quite a bit of. So thanks.
Thanks for sharing
Perk to living in Alabama.. every lake get hammered every weekend by fishermen and pleasure boaters lol
Yep
I don't mind pressured water. I do mind dying water. Out here, we have a lot of immigrants. They don't buy fishing licenses, they take everything they catch, and they leave their trash everywhere.
Fish and game doesn't wanna do anything, because checking licenses and kept fish might be viewed as discrimination.
Pretty soon we won't even have any fish left. Just Styrofoam worm containers, bobbers, and piles of tangled up monofilament fishing line littering the banks.
bummer
It's happening to some venues in the Uk.
I can't believe the amount of lures/baits you have, like the other pro anglers I've seen. You can't possibly use all of that can you??
Loved this topic, great information you've given.
I e got a bunch
Glad you agree that ffs is not needed to catch fish.
Thanks
A bit off topic
Thoughts regarding the latest BPT announcement for 2024 and 2025
I released a video today on it
@MattStefanFishing I saw it today. Didn't want to bug you. 1st thought - ' oh s### Matt !
Figured you were crunching #'s and your options. More curiosity than worry.
What's next on the rod builds ? Ice over can't be far away.
How about those 2024- 2025 MLF plans? Very interesting
not a fan...mlf is in trouble
I think you should fish heavy bodies of water because you dont have any other choice
agreed
🎯
Thanks
I enter the big tournament you guys pay entry fees for and never compete in. Investing in high dividend oil stocks.
Thanks for sharing
Your just trying to make me feel good about the non-fishing boats. These ding dongs don't know what an anchorage and swimming areas are. They want to pull in every creek & cove to party. BaJa's and BayLiners tearing up the main lake. I entertain myself with thoughts of paintball guns and sharpie mines. Most other fishermen are trolling walleyes or crappie fishing, no bother to me. Since COVID are water way's have gone nuts!!! I have found that a boat idling by pushes fish towards me, I do like that. Half don't know what a no wake zone is though. How much is a paintball gun? 😅
lots of yahoos on the water