Bass 2013 Show OFF

[Throbbit _Shane]

We had a mini OFF gathering yesterday to fish for bass, GraphiteZen, TTFishon, 1 nut in the water, and myself. Fishing was tough as you can expect this early in the year, but we all managed to catch at least one except for Bo. I came away with the biggest one of the day around 4lbs, also was the only one to take a swim. Me and Ted were standing in his boat when he set the hook on a fish and kind of stumbled backwards, next thing I know im in the water. :lol: :lol:

I thought for sure as I was going over out of the boat and hitting the water that we had flipped the boat. Last year Ted and myself both had similar incidents, him flipping a canoe with a buddy of his, and I flipped my pontoon. Some times you gotta get a little wet to learn I guess haha! Luckily this time it was just me and not the boat and its contents. Also I'm very glad I kept a grip onto my custom GDYSOB bass rod, would hate to lose it. After getting spare cloths from our cars I was back on the water dry and fishing again! All in all it was a real fun day of fishing with some good people! Tight Lines!

 

[bass]

Great job on the bass and hanging on to your rod!!! I fished for bass on the Willamette on Saturday for a couple of hours - was busy most of the day not catching sturgeon I ended up catching a big pikieminnow and a 2.5 lb largemouth (that really looked a lot like a spotted bass). Here is a pic of the bass (it is posted in another thread on the Willamette forum).



Not nearly as big as yours, but I was pleasantly surprised since it is only my second largemouth from the Willamette.

 

[Tacomasteelheader]

hey its bass picture time!!! haha got this one at Dorena in the pouring down rain on Saturday evening in about 2 foot of water don't know the weight but nice ::::

 

[GraphiteZen]

BAM^ Nice catch!

 

[GraphiteZen]

In my defense, I haven't touched a rod since August.

 

[bran_man]

Nice work Shane! Nice fish too!

 

[billfisher]

Beautiful redtails! Way to go Colby! Good luck in the tourny!

 

[Finneus Polebender]

Great day wish I would have felt up to it ...... can't keep you out the water for nothin Shane you should just wear your swim trunks when ya go fishin lol.

 

[hawgcaller]

Looks like you got your hands full down there Colby! Nice smallies! Nice LM too shane!

 

[GraphiteZen]

Great day wish I would have felt up to it ...... can't keep you out the water for nothin Shane you should just wear your swim trunks when ya go fishin lol.

hahaha!

I missed you man, finally thought we were going to fish again. I used that Mission Bait you gave me the last time!

 

[colbypearson]

Hey thats supposed to be pre-fishing not pre sore mouthing haha jk. Nice bass, those are speekin my language

I'm just weeding the rats out of my spots :lol:

In all seriousness, tourney is 4 weeks out. I just prefer to get on staging fish early and track them as they move up through finite zones, much easier for me to target smaller depth, countour and substrate zones by observing the fish as they start moving up in the earliest stages of prespawn, that may be the difference between big females and small males.

 

[Tacomasteelheader]

I'm just weeding the rats out of my spots :lol:

In all seriousness, tourney is 4 weeks out. I just prefer to get on staging fish early and track them as they move up through finite zones, much easier for me to target smaller depth, countour and substrate zones by observing the fish as they start moving up in the earliest stages of prespawn, that may be the difference between big females and small males.

Yeah if it stays warm tho your fish might move past those places because they'll be in post spawn. Just a thought. Now ive noticed those smalls move up before the large mouths do. And those smalls seem to spawn deeper. At least in dorena lake thats how its been since they been added. But those smalls here are just starting to adapt to the lake there kinda funny sometimes with how there caught. They also seem to be hiding a lot in dorena like around structure. ( if u find it)





EDIT: what am i tginking its only march they spawn for months lol!

 

[colbypearson]

Yeah if it stays warm tho your fish might move past those places because they'll be in post spawn. Just a thought. Now ive noticed those smalls move up before the large mouths do. And those smalls seem to spawn deeper. At least in dorena lake thats how its been since they been added. But those smalls here are just starting to adapt to the lake there kinda funny sometimes with how there caught. They also seem to be hiding a lot in dorena like around structure. ( if u find it)





EDIT: what am i tginking its only march they spawn for months lol!

Good insight

That's why I get on em and stay on em, water is a lot colder on Emigrant which is highly influenced by the influx of water coming in that is often super cold this time of year. Surface temp over most of the lake was about 45. Smallies are typically recognized to spawn in about 57-59 degree water temps, of course you will see them spawning in higher or slightly lower temps but thats the general window. Typically in March the water is around 40, so although we are unseasonably warm I doubt the water will be nearly warm enough to induce spawning in early April even, although fish should be getting ready to spawn a few weeks in. The warm weather isn't nearly a direct indication of spawning in the near future, fish still need ample time for their eggs to form and reach developmental stages ample for spawning so although temperature wise we are significantly ahead especially in shallow fisheries, I doubt fish will spawn much sooner than regular years, given the time frame of warmth starting earlier in the season we would but since its been a very fast and drastic change the differences will be somewhat minimal around here; maybe 1-2 weeks early at best but its entirely dependent on the nest few weeks of weather.

 

[colbypearson]

Been hunting about a 9-10lbr that has been frequenting a ledge with a sunning flat...Got this little fat little pig off it, sure as heck not my 9lbr but a fun fish regardless.

 

[tomriker]

do you usually hook your fish with the tailing hook? or does it vary to complete randomness

 

[GraphiteZen]

do you usually hook your fish with the tailing hook? or does it vary to complete randomness

That's a good question. I wasn't aware Colby kept records.

 

[bass]

Colby: Nice looking fish! Sorry you did not get the one you wanted, but that is an awesome consolation prize.

I have never used a swim bait like the one in your picture (a Huddleston type). So I have a few questions if you don't mind.

1. Do you use a swimbait as a search bait or just when sight fishing?
2. Do you get smaller fish on a swim bait as well as big fish or mostly big fish?
3. If fishing in an area where the bigger fish seem to be mostly in the 3lb range would it be a waste of time to throw a swimbait?
4. How do you work them, do they have built in action or do you need to provide it? (Steady retrieve, like a jerk bait, etc)
5. Would my 8.5' salmon rod (1-3oz) make for a suitable rod?

Thanks for any insight you can provide.


GraphiteZen: I laugh every time I read your signature!

 

[tomriker]

That's a good question. I wasn't aware Colby kept records.

if i know colby, he knows.. lol

 

[colbypearson]

Colby: Nice looking fish! Sorry you did not get the one you wanted, but that is an awesome consolation prize.

I have never used a swim bait like the one in your picture (a Huddleston type). So I have a few questions if you don't mind.

1. Do you use a swimbait as a search bait or just when sight fishing?
2. Do you get smaller fish on a swim bait as well as big fish or mostly big fish?
3. If fishing in an area where the bigger fish seem to be mostly in the 3lb range would it be a waste of time to throw a swimbait?
4. How do you work them, do they have built in action or do you need to provide it? (Steady retrieve, like a jerk bait, etc)
5. Would my 8.5' salmon rod (1-3oz) make for a suitable rod?

Thanks for any insight you can provide.


GraphiteZen: I laugh every time I read your signature!

This one is a glide bait, it has substantial left to right gliding movement -video:

I use a swimbait as a search bait often not as much sight fishing. The sight fishing (not bed fishing) I have been doing recently is more associated with finding a giant fish and spending a few days on it until it is willing to eat, I'm sure everyone here can relate to walking the bank and spooking the giant bass looming just within eyesight, its that sort of deal. This time of year fish can be really pattern-able as far as individual fish are concerned. What I mean is, if you can find a 6-10lb fish it wont disappear not to be seen again in early Spring, the fish are not as apt to move over much distance this time of year if you can find them around critical areas conducive to prespawn habits.

I get a lot of small fish on swimbaits, the bait in the picture is around 8.5''-9'', and the fish in the picture might go 4lbs on a good day, it definitely had a couple trout in its belly. I have caught hundreds and hundreds of fish in the 6''-12'' range on baits that are in the same size range.

A swimbait in a 3lb area, hmm, I wouldnt call it a waste of time but its entirely dependent on what the fish are foraging on. I still throw all other sorts of baits often too, I just prefer patterning bigger fish on swimbaits, and secondly jigs. 3lbrs will eat swimbaits without a doubt, and theres a lot of semi-small swimbaits anything under 6-7'' available, if you ever needed swimbait selection advice feel free to PM. I really like Osprey line through swimbaits in that size.

Every swimbait is worked different for the most part, swimbaits are a whole genre of different baits almost like an entirely different fishing style all together. There's swimbaits that fish like wake baits, slow rolling baits, big jerkbaits, baits you burn, or baits you twitch, it all depends on how that bait is designed. Most can be slow rolled, but I typically add some sort of imparted action on each cast regardless of the swimbait, something irregular can coax bites somewhat often.

Your salmon rod would likely be OK. Most old swimbait rods were converted salmon rods, for example the back bounce loomis rods. It really depends on the action of the rod, you want a fast or mod fast action, if your rod still has a somewhat stiff backbone yet is semi parabolic it should be fine. The swimbait rod I caught this fish on was an 8'6'' 7 power 4-16oz.

Chris/Tomriker- It really depends this fish was hooked on the back hook but I readjusted the bait for a clearer pic, this fish came up and wrecked the bait and got hooked in the gill plate. My fish on this bait seem to t-bone the bait right in the middle. It all depends on the swimbaits, and the conditions, and the individual fish, some days they choke a bait some days they kiss it.

 

[bass]

This one is a glide bait, it has substantial left to right gliding movement

Thanks for the quick reply.

The bass in the smallmouth in the Willamette certainly eat a lot of crawfish, but I do catch them with pretty big baitfish sticking out of their throats from time to time. This time of year there are a ton of smolts heading down river, I am sure that the bass pick off a few. Later in the year the abundance of pikieminnows would seem to indicate that a swimbait might produce a big fish. The biggest fish I catch right now (not targeting big fish per se) is about 3-3.5lbs. I have been enjoying quantity more than quality. I was figuring if I wanted to improve my odds for a big fish a swimbait might be a nice way to cover some water. The video you posted was mesmerizing. Seems like they would be a pretty fun bait to fish.

I did buy a few of the sassy shad time swim baits on jig hooks to try this year. I think that they will fall pretty quickly and I will likely fish them more like a spinnerbait. I may try and pick up a "real" swimbait or two to try out.

Thanks again for your input.