Stick and move fishing

I have done a lot of pond, small lake and canal fishing over the last two years.

Something I have noticed is that on small bodies with lots of fishing pressure, you have to stick and move.

Once you catch a few fish in a certain area and then the action shuts down for a few minutes, move.

I have a theory the sounds of a fish fighting along with the distress signals they send out warn the other fish in the immediate area and give them a serious case of lockjaw.

This weekend my friend Eric Swanson and I sent out to a 15 acre like and this is exactly what happened with us. Eric is a very patient, chilled kind of guy and at one point I had already made another stop 1/4 mile away on the lake and was headed to another by the time he decided to move.

Eric Swanson tries to get a fiesty largemouth out of the grass just off the bank.
(Photo by Chester Moore, Jr.)

And I was catching fish along the way.

We had a blast catching a few fish from the bank along standing timber, grasslines and stumps. None of them were very big but the action was pretty hot.

The next time you are fishing on a small body of water, consider the stick and move strategy. Anglers tend to stick around one spot longer on ponds and small lakes but in my experience this rarely pays off.

To the quick and focused go the spoils.