Waiting period

[hppyfshrmn]

Hi...I was just wondering how long do you guys fish in a certain area without any bites before you move...I usually fish Utah lake, Willard and Pineview...And in those places I usually stay at a certain spot for about an hour before I move...Is that too long or too short?
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[wiperhunter2]

An hour is about right imo but I guess it depends on how you are fishing. If your shore fishing, moving down the bank should not be too hard but while trolling, it might take longer than that to cover the area you are fishing.
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[fishnate]

Totally depends on how I'm fishing as to what is an "area". If I'm fishing from shore with a bunch of kids with bait we might fish a couple hundred feet of shoreline and fish for an hour or so before moving if it's unproductive. Usually someone is catching and we can then concentrate more specifically. If I'm in a boat or float tube I am free to roam more so I might fish an entire structure area for 10, 20, 30 minutes or 2 hours before moving on.

Either way I'm looking for active fish so if I believe fish are in the area and they won't bite what I have (I believe they are ALWAYS eating something) then I figure it's not worth my time to practice casting. I will move to another structure type, depth, current, etc. until I find fish that will bite. I might even switch species. If fish are reacting positively to a certain bait or lure type but I can't hook them I change color or action to see if they will eat it. If are in the area they are sensing your offering and they either want it or not and it doesn't take much time to figure that out so if I fish an area for an hour I won't fish that area with only one bait. I will change baits / lures numerous times until my options are exhausted as well as my patience.
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[RockyRaab]

I lived here for 20 years before I caught anything out of Causey. Prolly shoulda moved...
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[TroutMan93]

I usually only stay in a spot for about 15-20 when I fish alone. If I'm with my girlfriend or somebody else I'll stay for maybe 30-45 minutes before I get that itch to move.
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[morcey2]

If I'm on a lake fishing with bait and I'm sure that the fish are at least somewhat active, I'll wait about an hour before moving. If I'm chucking lures (not flies) and the fish should be active, I usually will only give a spot a 5 or 10 casts before either moving or changing lures.... but _never_ both. It makes it harder to pin down what is working and where it's working. I drive my kids insane when they go fishing with me. They're all adults or very close to adults so they can keep up with me, but they think I'm wasting my time with all of the moving that I do.

Granted, this is all shore fishing, but I think it would apply to boat fishing as well depending on the activity of the fish and the type of fishing.

For fly fishing on a stream/river: I'll hit one stretch for quite a while before moving, especially if I'm fishing nymphs. I'll change depth and flies quite often, but won't move any more than necessary.

Matt
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[CoyoteSpinner]

that's a good one. Kinda like me and Cutler - used to catch nothing but mudcats, couldn't even catch a carp.

Now I'm an expert catter, basser, and crappie master.
Got humble too! pwaha.

I think for me part of it's putting in time, getting to know some locations that produce, finding the kinds of structure that draw fish, then finding other locations that share similar features. But also trying enough different offerings to get a better feel for what the fish are after under different conditions.