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May 2009 Comes In Cool But Improving For Largemouth And Smallmouth

by Bob Larimer, your friendly, maniacal Bassmaster Basics sportswriter

The mainstem Columbia is warming up, especially in the John Day pool, but you can also try the lower Columbia as well. Now is the time to try lipless crankbaits and conventional lipped crankbaits in blue and chrome or black and chrome baitfish patterns for Smallmouths, as well as firetiger patterns. Crawdad patterns do not seem to be working as well at this time. With just a few more degrees, the ballhead jig and single-tail grub combo will begin to score big. If you can get a 1/8 ounce jig to 'tick' the rocks, go with that and avoid the aggravating hangups you will get with ¼ ounce and heavier jigs. Remember to look for rocky points or underwater humps adjacent to sandy areas. On calm sunny days fish deeper, and on cloudy days you can fish a little shallower. Try putting on a dab of your favorite attractant on the grub portion, just to up the ante. I would avoid using too light a line, unless you want your heart broken by a big Smallie! We're talking big, chunky, Columbia river rip-rap and bigwater snags. Save your tackle by rigging up with the appropriate pound test. I suggest ten pound for Smallies, unless you already have a great 'feel' for the bottom.

For Largemouth in the mainstem Columbia, look behind islands and in protected coves in high-slack and outgoing tides. Fish a ½ ounce skirted jig and grub or jig and pork combo (the jig should have a weed guard that you can trim to suit if it seems too stiff), slowly to very slowly. Long casts and long retrieves work fine now. Find an eddy, seam or stillwater pool behind wing dams, logs or rocks, pitch the jig in from down-current and let it hit bottom. Bass will move to investigate this intruder. Count to ten before you begin to move your bait. Retrieve it slowly and steadily, feeling its progress over sand, rocks, limbs, etc.. You are imitating a crawdad, a favorite high-protein snack of bass. Big Bass will sometimes pick it up and move with it. Continue the retrieve. When the line tightens and you feel the least movement, set the hook. You should have at least 17 pound test for this technique. You will be yanking your bait off limbs and snags.

You can also try tossing a baitfish-pattern floating stickbait such as a Rapala or Bomber Long A next to emerging grass on a point, or next to rocks and wood. Remember to barely twitch this bait. Then let it rest. Then twitch again. Then move slowly on the surface for short distances. Then try the sudden dive and slow-up retrieve. If one retrieve works best on a stretch of river, keep using it! Spinnerbaits might also work during this time. Throw the spinnerbait near brush and laydown trees and retrieve away from them, base to tip, to avoid snags. Bounce the spinnerbait over submerged sticks and logs. Retrieve it over submerged weeds. Try varying retrieve speeds. In cooler water, some Spring Bass fishermen put on a 'stinger' or 'trailer hook,' even when using a grub or other trailer, to avoid short strikes or hits that do not quite get the Bass's mouth over the hook. Try the above ideas in lakes and ponds as well.

I have described these and other tactics in my previous Spring Bass fishing articles on the Fishingaddictsnorthwest site. Reviewing pays off! Just try to bear in mind: Warmer water, more active fish, more active baits and retrieves. Colder water, less active fish, less active baits and retrieves. This is a general rule, and experimentation is encouraged!

Friends and I have managed to catch some nice big Smallmouth and Largemouth so far this Spring, all in the SouthWest Washington area. Some of the Largemouth were in the 8 and 9 pound class, along with some nice 4-5 pounders. The Smallmouth have been hitting like freight trains! Pictures should be available in Galleries. These fish all bit jig and grub combos and spinnerbaits. I fully expect to slam a few big fish on my favorite topwaters as well, before Spring is over. If we can do it, you can do it! I will also be experimenting with the new hollow-body or hollow-belly swimbaits as well. If you are going to try them out, remember that they demand clear to moderately clear water. Fish will not find these baits in muddy water. Set them up to run as straight and upright as possible and just barely 'skin hook' them to run weedless. Try stop and go, jerk, or erratic swimming movements to trigger strikes. You are imitating a wounded or frightened baitfish.

Now to this month's promised topic: What topwater bait works best in Spring? I have already mentioned floating stickbaits in several articles. They qualify as topwaters, they are not difficult to fish, and they produce! That's about the broadest hint I can give you.

But right next to minnow-imitating stickbaits on my list is the Zara Spook. This bait is not as easy to use, and many Bass fishermen dismiss them as a bait for the warmest months of the year. It's true that Spooks, Torpedoes and other propeller baits, inline and tandem buzzbaits, weedless frogs and other topwaters work well in Summer. It is also true that a Zara Spook, fished properly, will produce even in cool, May weather.

The Zara Spook has no diving lip and the only action it will produce is the action you and your retrieving skill can give it. The classic Spook retrieve is called 'walking the dog,' and it is produced with a twitch-pause-reel-repeat technique that causes the bait to zigzag across the top of the water. Skilled fishermen can make the Spook zigzag in a controlled, consistent, side-to-side retrieve all the way to the boat or shore. There is no time like the present to practice this technique. Make long casts over likely Bass-holding water. The bait can trigger an aggressive surface hit from a Pre-Spawn, Bedding or Post-Spawn, fry-guarding fish. Try making your long cast (Bear in mind that the treble hooks will grab any snag an inch below the surface!) and then letting the Spook rest until all surface ripples have gone. Begin your retrieve and keep it going all the way back.

What does this bait resemble to the Bass? Who knows what's going on in his fishy little brain!? All I know is that whether he thinks it's a wounded fish, a snake, a mouse, a bird, a bat, a salamander or some other hapless prey, big Bass will attack it viciously. You may see a swirl, a hump of water or slight wave movement indicating that Mr. Largemouth is heading to intercept your offering. Nerves of steel now! Continue your retrieve without stopping! Do not set the hook when the fish first begins to blow up on your bait! Wait! Let him take it down until you feel the line tightening, then cross his eyes and stick him good!

In low-light, I use a black Zara with white herringbone pattern. In bright light I go with a blue back and silver or white belly. I have proven to my own satisfaction that the general rule, 'big bait/big fish' holds true, so I like the 'Super Spook,' but a regular Spook or even a Junior will work at times as well.

Hint: Whether topwaters or other 'hardbaits,' always, a-l-w-a-y-s, keep a spare rod rigged up with a Texas-rigged soft plastic worm or lizard. If you get a swirl or short-strike on your bait that is not repeated in a subsequent cast, immediately pick up your soft-plastic rig and cast just beyond the area where the fish first hit. Let the soft plastic drop, then retrieve slowly. I have caught quite a few big fish that just couldn't quite bring themselves to bite again on the big, flashy bait but fell for the helpless looking, subtler bait after revealing their position on a previous cast.

Conventional wisdom is that the Spook is a '45 minute' bait for early morning or late evening. Try it during bright daylight hours in the Spring though. Stay at it. It may produce a Spring whopper (Smallmouth go for them too!), and a topwater bite that will bug your eyes out. And never forget that no matter what bait you're using, each cast is a down payment on your next big Bass!

{I'll be talking specifics about other topwaters at the appropriate times in future articles. In the meantime, how about letting me hear your success stories on the Forums?}

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