T
Throbbit _Shane
Do**he bag... He came asking about bass not noble species or what ever non sense that may be.
Do**he bag... He came asking about bass not noble species or what ever non sense that may be.You're on a noble path young angler - once you quit all this bass nonesense and start to fish for a noble species...
colbypearson took a giant leap to start baiting the salmon anglers without knowing anything about me, my fishing habits, or my background. Raincatcher followed him by telling me to change my direction. You seem to be ready to make the same leap into thin air.
Baiting Salmon anglers in the bass section eh? Most salmon/steehead anglers care less about bass and wont be clicking the bass threads on here.
I even have an interesting post in this thread claiming a scientific study ranks fish intelligence. I've spent four hours I'm never going to get back seaching for any study discussing relative intelligence of fish species and if it's there, it's mighty well hidden.
should of spent that time fishing.
And I still don't think bass are smart or clever or a challenge to catch. I do think they're a challenge to find, but once found, are not terribly hard to hook.
And I dont think your smart or clever Tinker, but it's my opinion just like its yours on bass.
I have said that I've been trying for a year to catch a steelhead and haven't caught one, yet. As Vitaliy is with bass, I am with steelhead: we want to catch a fish but we're asking questions about how it's done. Further, I don't think you or colbypearson or Raincatcher can show me any post in which I suggest that bass are any less intelligent, less clever or less challenging to catch than any other species.
Are all Oregon bass anglers so insecure? I might have to stop fishing for bass in Oregon...
Good stop fishing for bass! They arnt "noble" enough for you anyways.
You want to use both. What you want to do is find what they are doing at any given time, and that can change throughout the day. You may find them actively feeding, and topwater lures can work well in those situations. You might find them sunning themselves - resting but not feeding - and then you have to aggravate them into taking your lure.
Bass have a territorial hierarchy and will aggressively defend their space. If they aren't feeding, you can't get them to take an attractor plug, but can get them to hit an aggravator. Most topwater plugs and grubs are designed to imitate a prey fish and induce a predatory strike, and most imitators (like Rapalas), spinners or spinnerbaits are designed to enduce an aggressive territorial strike.
If you're convinced you're on a spot that holds fish, you should try both types of lures to thoroughly fish the area.
If you're fishing a bedding area, in general, spawning fish are rarely feeding fish but will usually be extraordinarily territorial. Post-spawn fish are voracious feeders and a lot less territorial. In warm water they're more active and will chase the lure. In colder water, they may be lethargic and you'll need to put the lure on their noses. An ideal situation is to find the bass warming themselves in shallower water when they are not spawning because that's when they are preparing to feed.
Depth in the water column has more to do with barometric pressure and water clarity than anything else. If they are not actively defending the spawning bed, they'll move into water in which they are safe from predators; but if there's a sudden drop in the barometric pressure (a storm is approaching), it can unbalance their swim bladder enough that they'll be more shallow than you'd normally expect for several hours.
I'll bow to colbypearson's experience with the Columbia basin, but in other parts of the country, bass don't seek gravel or sand for spawning, but seek weed beds and reeds where the hatchlings will shelter and mature. They'll dig through the silt that the weeds grow in to reach gravel for the nest, but they seek the weeds and reeds as shelter for the hatch.
If I were to fish a spawning ground when they are actively spawning, I'd start with a shallow diving lure - 1 to 3 feet - and follow that with a deeper diving lure that will bounce along the bottom. A nesting bass will often flash at a shallow lure without taking the lure - just chasing it away - and when that happens, you might want to change to a deeper lure and keep casting it to the nest until she hits it to protect the nest.
If you search a few videos online, you'll find some that show fish caught from their spawning beds and they're almost always caught by putting an imitator lure on the bottom very close to the nest and trying to get the female to attack the lure to protect the nest.
You are definitely well-geared. Just a suggestion: choose your favorite rod/reel combination, just for this season, and find the fish. Stick with whatever rig you choose - that's another layer of complexity at the moment - hit the river and have fun. I'm always out there fishing, I'm sometimes out there catching, but I'm always out there having fun.
This was said about trout, but it applies to all species: the thing you have to admire most about fish is their impeccable taste in landscape. Enjoy it.
I am seeing a lot of good advice for you on this thread, but no invitation to take you fishing. I am just up the Gorge from you in Hood River. I have taught many people how to fish over the years and would be glad to have the company of an angler along with the passion for the sport that you have. I am tying up some new experimental shad jigs today and will be on the river testing them out tomorrow.