One thing you can always count on is an uptick in fishing pressure once the weather warms up.
As an angler there are a few things that you can do to position yourself for the best chance at still getting bit regardless of how many lines are in the water.
Below we'll cover 7 tips to give you the best chance at getting those heavily pressured bass to bite.
#1 Switch To Fluorocarbon Line
This is one of the best tackle tips when it comes to improving your bite count.
Fluorocarbon is nearly invisible underwater which makes it a great choice for pressured fisheries.
It's alternatives, monofilament and braid, are much more visible below the surface - especially on sunny days.
Fluorocarbon line does tend to hold more memory, especially on spinning reels, so if you think that might be an issue consider spooling your reel with braid and tying on a fluorocarbon leader.
Consider a strong, easy to tie knot such as the Albright Knot when tying braid to fluorocarbon.
#2 Downsize Your Lures
This is another simple switch up that can easily get you more bites.
By downsizing your lure you open up the possibility of catching fish of all sizes.
Yes, the smaller lure presentation may lead to catching more small fish, or dinks, but in doing so you will at least know what fish are biting, where they are located, and work to form a pattern from there.
TIP: Downsizing doesn't always mean going to the store and buying smaller lures. If fishing with soft plastics, this can be as easy as biting off an inch or so of your worm or jig trailer.
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#3 Slow Things Down
This was first discussed in "5 Common Bass Fishing Mistakes" and the same mentality can be applied to heavily pressured fisheries.
This is a tough one for a lot of anglers.
So many of us naturally fish fast and lose sight of how many opportunities are missed because of it.
Fishing fast is typically associated with the term power fishing which involves throwing larger lures and working them faster to create reaction strikes.
Think the opposite in pressured fisheries.
Start with something smaller and work your lure at a slower pace.
Finesse fishing would be a prime example of this.
Slow things down with a dropshot or a Ned rig and watch your bite count go through the roof!
With that being said, slowing things down doesn't always mean using a finesse fishing technique.
Two more examples to drive the point would be to increase your pause time after bumping into something with a crankbait or keeping your rod tip high to allow for a slower buzzbait retrieve.
Sometimes a slower pace or longer pause is all that is needed to get a heavily pressured fish to bite.
#4 Fish Early Morning or Late Evening
Regardless of the place, bass tend to bite the best during the early morning and late evening hours in the warmer weather seasons.
This means getting an early start to your day and arriving at your fishery before sunrise while everyone else is just waking up.
For evening anglers, be sure to fish those last few minutes of sunlight.
Check out Mike's story on why fishing until dark can make all the difference.
#5 Fish Deeper
A lot of anglers like the fish fast which often causes their lures to remain high in the water column.
This oftentimes leaves the deeper, lower half of the water column unfished.
By fishing the lower part of the water column and deeper water you better position yourself in targeting suspending bass as well as fish staged on the bottom.
Spinnerbaits, suspending jerkbaits, skirted jigs, Texas-rigged soft plastics, and Neko rigs are just a few solid setups that tend to produce in deeper water.
To remind you, fishing deeper doesn't mean you have to make casts to 15+ feet of water.
For your fishery it could be something like instead of throwing a topwater walking bait across a bunch of submerged brush in 5 feet of water you instead drag a creature bait along the bottom.
That interaction with the submerged brush or vegetation might be all it takes to get those fish to bite.
Not to mention, this is often where the bigger fish hang out.
#6 Go Offshore
Warm weather typically means more boat traffic but it also means more bank anglers.
An easy way to avoid the latter is to get offshore and find fish away from the bank.
If you have a boat - great! However, if you don't have boat access consider areas that allow for wading where you can make casts to less pressured fish.
You don't even need a fish finder to be successful with offshore fishing either.
An easy way to get started with offshore fishing can be as simple as using Google Earth to find potential fishing spots.
Regardless of the time of year, long running points, channel swings, and merging bodies of water (river arm flowing into the main lake) are high percentage offshore areas that tend to produce a lot of bites.
#7 Use Live Bait
The saying "Nothing beats the real thing" becomes very evident when using live bait.
Unless you're fishing a tournament or in a place with live bait restrictions opt for live minnows, crawfish, hellgrammites, or worms to outfish everyone around you!
Time to go catch 'em!
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