fishingaddictsnorthwest.com

With spring time pretty much here and summer time just around the corner, you have to choose the long beach peninsula as one of your bass fishing vacation plans. There is lakes scattered all over the peninsula full of largemouth bass, and they get very little pressure. There are a few lakes that I would definitely concentrate most of my time on, Loomis, Black, Island, and Lake O’Neil

Loomis Lake is the first one I would spend a day on. The lake is a pretty big lake and is just completely full of big largemouth bass. The lake has a pretty good public boat launch, but other than that there is no public access. There is no shore access to the lake at all, the one boat launch has a few places for people to fish but without a boat here, you are pretty much wasting your time. There used to be a nice dock to fish off but as of last year a tree had fallen on it and they did not fix it. The bass in this lake can be very finicky, sometimes its crazy and you will have 20 fish days and other times you will be lucky if you’re able to hook a couple. I have fished this lake since I was a little kid and I have never been able to pinpoint the reason for this but it just happens. The main places you are going to want to concentrate on this lake are the docks and any other wood you are able to find. There are logs and pilings all over the lake for bass to live. Fish all of them; don’t pass any of them, because the one you pass is the one that has a big largemouth on it! Another place the fish like to hide in this lake is the weed bed breaks. The lake has a really bad milfoil problem. The state has tried to get rid of it numerous times but have failed. The bass love it though! There is spots where it’s so thick you can’t get your trolling motor through the weeds but then all the sudden it will just stop…..when you find these spots fish them. The bass suspend just inside these beds and destroy food that crosses their path. The best baits of choice to fish this lake are spinnerbaits on the wood and 5” weightless senkos on the weed beds. After you have spent your time here, head over to Island Lake, it is just a short drive away.
Island is another lake where you need a boat. There is no bank access what so ever. This lake is huge! You could spend all day fishing the lake. I like to launch my boat and head directly east, once you get through the first bigger channel then start concentrating fishing the south shore. The fish in this lake don’t average very big but I think that is just because how many are in the lake. No sarcasm at all, I have caught upwards of 50 largemouths in one day on this lake. Most fish average between 1-3 pounds, with one pound fish being more common. The lure of choice I like to throw is brush hogs. These fish love to hide way up on the bank in thick brush so, casting up on the bank and dragging the bait into the water works very well here. If you get board catching small fish, it’s time to head to Black Lake.

Around 15 mins from Island Lake, Black Lake gets absolutely no pressure from bass fishermen. The main reason this lake isn’t fished is because of the difficulty this lake conveys in catching bass. Not only is the lake very clear, there isn’t a large number of bass in the lake. The lake is stocked with rainbow trout frequently, so the bass in the lake reach very big sizes. I have pulled 2 fish out of the lake pushing 9 pounds. This lake has a trail that goes most of the way around the lake, and yea you can catch a bass sometimes from the bank but your best bet is still going to be from a boat. Launch your boat and head south around the left side of the lake back into the bowl shaped section of the lake. The most effective way in catching the huge bass that live in this lake is drop shotting. Use your electronics and find some of the deep water structure, a hint for you; it’s in about 25 feet of water. Both the big bass I caught in this lake came in deep deep water. Be patient and if you can come back to the lake numerous times in a season you will eventually hook into one of the big guys living here. Now just 10 mins away from Black lake lies Fort Canby.

This beautiful state park has 2 really untapped bass lakes. The one that has campsites all the way around the lake is called Lake O’Neil. This lake is a great lake to fish from the shore just casting weed less frogs. The fish average 2-3 pounds in here with the occasional 5 pounder falling to your frog. I love fishing this lake when I want to just drive to the beach and go catch some easy bass. The lake gets pretty much no pressure so the fish are pretty willing biters. If you have a pontoon boat you can do very well in this lake as well. The other lake in the campground requires a pontoon or other small watercraft. If you head back towards the Yurts in the campground there is a little gravel parking lot with a hiking trail on the left. The trail isn’t much maintained so dragging your boat through here isn’t easy and make sure you bring your bug spray! If you can endure these 2 things you are in for a treat. This lake is chalked full of bass and some really big ones can be taken out of here. This lake is really weedy as well so bring your Spro frogs! Have fun out there and leave some bass for me!

Your local fishing addict

Marlin LeFever

We finally got the rods in the water around 8pm, setting ourselves up for a night of steelhead fishing! Pulling lighted plugs and glow in the dark Spin-N-Glos with sand shrimp. Everything was perfect, the weather, the water, and fishing with your best buddies. Anticipation was high; it was up to the fish now.

Summer Steelhead, Salmon, and sturgeon fishing the Columbia River and its tributaries can be an angler’s haven, thousands of salmon and steelhead poor over the dams every year on their journey upstream. Chinook salmon reaching over 40lbs, more steelhead than you can shake a stick at, and lots of keeper sturgeon! It truly is a great time to be fishing this Columbia River fishery.
Summer Chinook fishing is extremely hot! With fish averaging from 16-22 pounds and some well over 30 lbs, you really can’t beat fishing for these monsters. Sardine wrapped kwik-fish and Spinners are extremely productive. This year the season runs straight through July so we get a lot of time to target these huge chromers. Water depth and current flow are extremely important, try to stay in between 8-20ft of water on a normal day but some day’s fish are being caught as deep as 30ft of water. According to the preseason forecast there are almost 90,000 Summer Chinook expected to return to the Columbia this year! These Summer Chinook are by far the best tasting fish and they put up a heck of a fight.
Steelhead numbers over the dam continue to grow! Lots of fish are being caught in the lower river system already and it will only get better. A lot of places allow night fishing as well as day fishing so you never have to stop! Summer steelhead will continue to trickle into our river systems all through summer and into early fall. These fish have tons of stamina and will give you quite a show when hooked! Fishing Spin-N-Glos with sand shrimp, spinners, and small kwik-fish are all great ways to pick up steelhead in the Columbia. When it comes to night fishing, pulling lighted plugs and rigging up a glow in the dark Spin-N-Glo will knock them dead! There are so many fish and a ton of time to go catch them, it is definitely worth it!

Sturgeon is also a hot summer fish on the minds of many anglers! Sturgeon in the Columbia River vary from 20 inches to 20 feet! A keeper sturgeon will have to be within 42inches and 60 inches, making it difficult sometimes to find a fish to put on your dinner table. These fish are very hard fighting (some say the hardest), and taste amazing if prepared right. My favorite is fishing for oversize sturgeon! These monsters average between 6-12ft long, they will tear you up and keep fighting for up to an hour or more. There are many different types of baits used for sturgeon. Sand shrimp, smelt, anchovies, herring, sardines and squid all work well, make sure to use lots of scent also. If you are after the big fella’s then try a fresh whole shad.

We are all very lucky to get to enjoy this great Columbia River fishery. I hope that everybody will help preserve and protect our waters we are so fortunate to have here in the great northwest and enjoy every last minute you have on them. Whether its salmon, steelhead, or sturgeon fishing this summer I hope to all the best of luck!

Your Fellow Fishing Addict,
Shaun Keller

Let’s face it, Bassing friends, January and February in the Pacific Northwest are not premium months for pursuing either Largemouth or Smallmouth. There are still catch-able fish out there, lurking in the Winter haunts we discussed last month, but it’s a cold, slow game if you want to try for them. You can review the February 2009, Bob’s Bassmaster Basics article on preparing for Spring Bass fishing. It has lots of useful information for planning, researching and just generally studying up in order to be really ready for your first major trips into Bass Paradise. For January and February, let’s talk a little bit about rods, reels, baits and other gear. Some of this information will be very basic, but these articles are purposely geared toward folks who are newer to the Bass fishing scene, or who would just like to gain a few more tidbits of useful knowledge. As always, feel free to put in your two cents worth in the Forum section. I am forever looking for new ideas, and I believe that is one of the identifying signs of any good fisherman.

Whether you are a die hard Salmon fisherman, Steelheader or Bassing fanatic, if you have been fishing very long at all you probably have some strong opinions on the relative merits of spinning gear versus bait-casting gear.

I grew up fishing with spinning gear. As a boy I would spend entire Summer days, dawn to dark, wandering up and down the local creek near our home. During the school year I would be back down at the creek, as soon as I could dodge out of old Mrs. Peterson’s class. Using worms I had dug from our garden or crawdads I caught with the worms, I would catch nice Rainbow Trout throughout the year. Many were in the 14 to 16 inch range and one monster was 20 ½ inches long. I came whistling home like Opie from Mayberry and my Dad took one look at that whopper, grabbed his gear and headed for the creek!

Dad was quite the accomplished Steelhead fisherman and had ‘mastered’ the Kalama, Lewis, Washougal and other rivers by the time I was getting good at free-lining worms or crawdad tails into likely seams in Burnt Bridge Creek. He fished with spinning gear, so I did too. The reels we had back then were fairly basic and cheap. But they worked, and we caught fish. I’ll never forget how amazed my Dad, my brother and I were when we saw our first 5 to 1 retrieve reel. It was a D.A.M. Quick and wooee, it was FAST!

On my 8th birthday my Dad walked into my classroom at school with a brand new rod and reel, handed it to me and said: “Let’s go fishin’!” The teacher and the other kids watched with open mouths as I proudly hopped out the door with my Dad (I don’t think anyone could get away with that trick nowadays!). He took me to a couple of his favorite holes on the Kalama river, set me up with an Okie Drifter rig and much to my surprise, I caught two nice hen Steelhead that day. It took me over 7 years to catch another one. Okay, Dad was a little better than me.

When I finally got into Bass fishing – in my forties – I kept seeing guys using bait-casters almost exclusively. I had seen bait-casters up on the Kalama, but Dad and I just considered them oddities and went with what had always worked for us. I would watch Bill Dance and Larry Nixon and other Bass pros on T.V. and look at pictures of them in magazines. With the exception of the Lindner brothers (them good old Northern boys), everyone was using a bait-casting rig. I remember one program when the Lindners were showing how to throw spinnerbaits with bait-casting reels. They seemed surprised at how well they worked.

I was already catching nice big Bass on my spinning gear (My Dad was horrified when he found out I was using 17 pound test line – He regularly caught summer run Steelhead on 4 lb., and he always declared that anyone using more than 8 lb. was just just ‘horsing the fish in!’), but I got curious and bought a low-profile bait-cast reel from a catalog. What a strange contraption! The spool was sitting sideways and it went around whenever you touched the handle, unlike the stationary spool on a spinning reel. It was a Right-hand reel, and I quickly became convinced that the pros must be wizards, because I couldn’t make it work right and it always felt awkward to use. I simply could not duplicate their habit of casting and then switching the rod to the other hand.

It was a revelation when I discovered that you could get bait-casters in a Left-hand version. Since I had always used my Left-hand on my spinning reel, hanging down under the rod, it worked much better for me to have a Left-hand bait-caster, sitting on top of the handle. Also, my right arm is my power or ‘fighting’ arm, so I can battle the fish in the way that is ‘natural’ to me.

So what does bait-casting gear do that a spinning reel does not do, or can not do? For one thing, it fires the line straight off the spool when you cast. The line passes through the line-leveler and there is no spiral of line – an unavoidable characteristic of spinning reels – uncoiling off the reel, then passing through large guides on the rod until it is finally traveling in a straight line. Many people believe this gives the bait-caster an edge in distance casting.

Another plus is that the bait-casting rod has more guides than the spinning rod, because the line passes over the top of the rod, rather than underneath. Since the line is moving straight from the time it leaves the reel, this does not slow the line at all, but it does force the line to follow the curve of the entire rod blank when under tension. When a spinning rod, which has fewer and wider spaced guides, is flexed under tension, the line makes some jagged, angled turns from one guide to the next, without really following the complete arc of the rod. This puts more strain on the line and does not take best advantage of the fish fighting ability of the blank.

One more advantage of the bait-casting rig is its ability to zing your bait out quickly, yet with some practiced ‘feathering’ of the spool with your thumb, it allows the bait to slow to a stop and quietly ‘kiss’ the water at the end of the cast. Once a spinning outfit has launched your bait, your gear is going to crash into the water with a little more force and noise, even if you try to give it a gentle toss. If you are stalking spooky fish, or if you simply do not want to alert your prey to your presence, a bait-caster can be just the thing! The only way to compensate with a spinning rig is to go to lighter gear, which you may not be able to cast as far.

Lighter gear is still the strong suit of the spinning outfit. You can throw very light weights and baits very easily with them. This makes it a cinch to ‘skip’ light baits in under low-hanging brush or tree branches, or underneath docks. Bait-casters have traditionally been used for heavier weights and baits, and unless you have one of the newer, low-profile bait-casters, it will be difficult to achieve the same results. Even with the finest of the high-end bait-casters, it will take some practice to ‘skip’ light baits without backlashes.

Now we come to it, the misery of the backlash or ‘birds nest.’ No reel, bait-caster or spinning, should ever bring in loose or ‘slack’ line. You are just asking for a tangle or stray loop caught in the wrong spot on the reel. As for outgoing line, the spinning reel casts reliably, simply with the release of the line from your finger. The bait-caster, not so much! You must adjust the braking of the spool, or it is very liable to have an over-travel problem, continuing to spin after your bait has hit the water. This will produce a birds nest so glorious it could end or seriously delay your time on the water. Even with the brake adjusted properly, a new breeze can produce enough pressure on your bait and line during flight to cause it to slow, while the spool happily whirls around, throwing out loose line that turns into tight knots.

The best bait-casting reels have more than one kind of braking system. They help you ‘fine tune’ the spool. Some have magnets and/or designs that adjust centripetal force on the spool. Some have other specialties, such as ‘twitching bars’ that allow you to bring in small amounts of line with your thumb without even touching the reel’s handle (One hand twitching or hopping of baits), and some have ‘flipping switches’ which facilitate short-distance ‘flipping’ or ‘pitching’ techniques. Whichever bait-casting reel you choose, it will take some time to ‘make your peace’ with it. But you will enjoy its advantages in various situations.

I now fish with an equal number of bait-casters and spinning outfits when I hunt Bass. I adapt them to my needs, the kinds of baits I am throwing and the conditions I am facing. I still love the spinning reel, but the bait-caster is a welcome addition to my arsenal, and I understand why old Bill Dance loves his. In fact, I fish with Quantums, just like Bill. Other great brands include Shimano, Pflueger, Abu Garcia, Daiwa and others that offer high-end, smooth-casting reels.

Take a look at some common features on the spinning and bait-casting reels in the pictures provided. On the bait-caster you will see the large ‘star drag,’ your fish fighting friend, and the smaller brake knob. On the side opposite the brake knob on the Quantum Energy there is a dial for ‘fine tuning’ the travel of the spool. This is a common feature of good reels. The line-leveler at the front of the reel travels back and forth and stacks the line on evenly during the retrieve.

On the spinning reel, the large dial on top of the reel is the drag. On the Quantum Energy shown, the drag is composed of stacked ceramics, making it smooth and uniform in the pressure it applies. The line roller that guides line on and off of the spool should be large and should turn freely, to lessen the sharp turn of line from rod to spool in order to avoid line twist and/or damage. At the rear of the reel, as in most spinning reels, is the ‘anti-reverse’ switch. On good reels, it should be ‘infinite’. That is, it should prevent the reel from reversing, no matter in what position the handle is stopped.

Now is a good time to clean and lubricate your reel, and to spool on new line for the coming season. Consult your owner’s manual for recommendations for your particular reel. I find Quantum Hot Sauce oil and grease to be the best lubricants for my gear.

Next month we’ll talk about fishing rods, line, baits and other gear that Bass fishermen need to consider.

In the meantime, why not go fishing? Come on! It’s not that cold!

When our Northwest water temperatures dip below 50 degrees, we have well and truly entered Winter’s chilling grip, and Largemouth fishing presents two major problems: Coldblooded, lethargic fish that are slow to respond to any presentation, and cold, shivering fishermen who would rather stay extra active to keep warm! What a combination! Just when you feel an urgent need to move around a lot and keep up speedy casts and fast reeling in order to stay warm…..you have to slow way, way down if you want to catch a big Bass.

It’s not that the fish do not want to eat at all. They do, but just not as much or as often as in warmer, more active seasons. And the ‘Strike Zone’? Well, it is pretty much right in front of their noses, even when they are in what passes for an ‘active’ mode in Winter. Even with the urge to eat, or to strike at an irritating, intruding bait, the Bass just can not muster the energy or speed to move very far or very fast. When hooked, most cold water fish are logy and put up a slow-motion fight. But a big fish can still give you a satisfying, worthwhile battle!

The one common denominator of all big Bass is still in effect even in chilly water: They want to use their well-developed, efficient ambush skills to get an easy meal with the least amount of effort on their part, and with the least amount of exposure to possible predators. Experiencing success in these areas is how they have grown so large and stayed alive so long.

While I will discuss warm weather ‘Thermoclines’ later in 2010, the truth is that in our local lakes and streams, Largemouth location will be determined by water temperatures and depths near available food and cover. Cover becomes more scarce in Winter. The lily pads, underwater weeds, cattails, bulrushes, floating weed mats and leafy, overhanging trees and brush of Summer are mostly all gone. Now Bass are reduced to finding hiding places such as leaner logs extending from shore down into the depths, underwater wood such as submerged limbs or stumps, rocks, ledges, deep steep banks and areas in or near underwater creek channels.

Some fish will simply seek the confidence of a lot of deep water over their heads in any area where baitfish are still available. The fish can also take refuge near man-made structures such as bridges, pilings, culverts or shoreline riprap that runs steeply down to sufficient depths. Winter can provide a slight advantage then: Bass are often concentrated in these premium areas during cold months.

Each body of water is unique, but it will possess at least a few of these necessary features that are worth fishing. One Southwest Washington lake has a creek and well defined creek channel proceeding through the lake and down to a dam. The dam area offers steep banks and evergreen trees that still cast shade. Even shore-bound anglers can offer vertical presentations of small plastic worms, leeches, grubs or tubes fished conventionally or on a drop-shot rig here. Drop-shotting might work best, with a heavier-than-normal weight at the bottom that is kept in one place after the cast, while the soft plastic bait above the weight is repeatedly shaken or twitched at intervals. Large, slow-fluttering metal spoons might also tempt a fish, as can a lipless crankbait that is allowed to ‘sit and hop’ slowly on or near the bottom. A very slow-moving ½ or ¾ ounce jig and pork frog would also be a good choice. Keeping good contact and ‘feel’ with the bait are extremely imporant. The fish are not going to ‘freight train’ your bait, rocket to the surface and jump cartwheels. They will ‘tick’ or move the line slightly, and a prompt hookset is vital.

At the other end of the lake, the creek is a fairly wide, deep trench entering the lake, with a nearby submerged stump flat making up most of one side of the upper end of the lake. The channel and nearby areas will hold winter fish, and even fish that are not feeding can be susceptible to swatting at a deep-diving, lipped crankbait slowly rooting along through their domain. Start with big baits, then downsize if necessary. Firetiger or Citrus are both good colors for this duty, though chrome and black baitfish imitations might work too.

Middle reaches of the aforementioned lake also offer points and a few rocky or extended riprap areas. There are also some areas with car-sized underwater boulders.

The points will be among my first target areas, simply because I know that points reliably attract Bass year round. The fish only need to travel short distances to find the temperature, depth and feed they like. It may take some zig-zagging runs while watching my electronics, but eventually I’ll find the depth where most fish activity is located along the point. Then I can mount my campaign to fool a big, coldwater trophy. Often, a big, slow-moving spinnerbait will be my first ‘search bait.’ Like most lakes, there is a very deep area near a point. This is a good place to look for fish, then go vertical with spoons or drop-shot rigs.

Wherever you fish, on whatever body of water, one good rule of thumb to remember can be found in the advice of seasoned pros: “There will always be a few fish shallow, even in Winter.” Shallow may be a relative term in frigid water, but I would not neglect a few well-thought-out, probing casts into some likely, shallower areas!

As always, remember that a few days of warmer weather and sun on the water can produce enough of a temperature change to lure Bass into shallower areas. Be careful how you approach, don’t spook them, and go get them! I have caught good big Bass in these cold water months, and I know you can too. Remember to dress warm, be prepared for nasty weather, and if you feel yourself beginning to get numb or starting to move clumsily, time to head immediately for hearth and home. The fish will wait until next time!

See you in January, when we’ll talk a little about rods and reels.

A few days ago my friend Marlin talked me into a finger-freezing expedition into a local, Fall Largemouth heaven. I had been watching the barometer drop like a stone and I knew that sometimes, contrary to conventional wisdom, lake fish can really go on the bite when that happens. I also knew that you can get cold and wet….and skunked!…..too. But some fishing is better than no fishing, so I was up for the adventure.

I threw my camo raincoat into the rig for just in case, and headed to the water. As I suspected, the water temperature had dropped significantly, but the SouthWest Washington lake we were fishing is one of my favorite Largemouth producers and I have had success there even in November. Also, it was late afternoon, so surface temperatures had been given a chance to recover a little warmth. So electric-motoring off down the lake in my canoe we went, bucking the wind and searching for big Fall Bass.

Marlin was looking for surviving weedbeds. I was looking for rocks that might still be radiating a little heat. We found a cove that had both and guess what? Fish on! The first was a dinky little volunteer that I could hardly tell was there. But Marlin’s observation was right, that fish gave us hints about his bigger buddies’ hiding places! We caught a few nice fish in several good spots and Marlin had a monster on for awhile, but it somehow managed to escape, defeating Marlin’s best fish playing tactics and my best boat handling skills.

Mostly, I was trying to hold our position by running the MinnKota in reverse so we could both cast to good spots. A few times even the highest speed did no good and we would run helplessly with the wind or spin suddenly, just at the wrong time. Underestimating the force of the wind gusts, I allowed us to be pushed right over the top of some of the most likely fish-holding areas several times. Dumb guy! But it can be that way when the winds of November come early, and at least I managed to avoid the Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald! We were also able to slip through some shallow, confined areas that a bigger Bass boat could not have managed.

As the sun went down and the wind picked up even more, especially on the open lake areas we were trying, we both got a little too cold to stay as long as we had planned. But it was great to be on the water for awhile, and I really got a kick out of watching my friend battle a big Bass out of a weedbed, through several arcing, diving, pumping, drag-yanking runs and in to where I could finally lip him and hand him over. Marlin’s big, happy grin reminded me of why fishermen put up with foul-weather Bassing.

While October can offer some tough fishing and inactive fish, that expedition offered few challenges besides the wind. Slow-moving, grub-trimmed spinnerbaits in obvious places did the trick, but we did try the venerable jig-and-grub combo as well. When conditions do get really tough, jigs and other soft plastics generally produce better than flashier, faster-moving baits. Slow-rolling or dragging a spinnerbait along the bottom with occasional blade rolls will sometimes produce, even in very cold water.

Choosing and using baits in the Fall are best accomplished by keeping water temperature and clarity in mind. When the water gets down into the low 50′s and high 40′s, big Bass will not move far to inspect or pick up your offering. Their metabolism has slowed down and they are just too lethargic to move fast. They can still pull hard and offer a good fight, but usually they just do not have the energy to run far or jump at all. A surface headshake and wallow on top is about the best they can muster.

With the jig-and-grub combo as well as with spinnerbaits, I like to run the head of a 4 or 5 inch grub straight up the shank of the hook and as close to the lead head as I can get it. I always have the grub’s curled tail pointing downward. This helps to keep the tail from fouling on the hook point during the cast and it also lets the tail flutter along the bottom, stirring things up and looking like wiggling, live prey. I also like to keep the grub lubricated with some kind of attractant such as Yum Crawdad flavor, Smelly Jelly Crawdad or in the Columbia River, Smelly Jelly Herring/Salt (Do Bass see alot of herring? No! But I am certain that they like the smell anyway!). The odor seems to help make a difference in how much effort a coldwater Bass is willing to make. Remembering that the bite can be very light, I trim the jig’s fiber brush guard almost even with the hook point. This lets it collapse better when the fish mouths the bait, while still keeping most of the weedless/snagless features of a guarded jig. In really cold weather, I switch to an Uncle Josh pork frog which I believe has a better ‘feel’ and stays more lifelike than cold plastic. Remember to take it off the hook and put it back in the bottle, or it will shrivel into a cement-hard little booger that you’ll have to saw off next time you want to use that jig!

Slowly dragging a weedless 6 inch Texas-rigged Zoom or Power Worm, or a swim-tail Senko in black, white or watermelon seed works if you keep it low and slow, feeling carefully for a slight ‘tick’ or a ‘mushy’ resistance that might just be something more than a weed, stick or rock. As in early Spring, a ‘parked,’ lightly-twitched, slowly-retrieved suspending stick bait can work too. If you are fishing murky water, try a worm rattle pushed into your grub or worm. Just a little extra, subtle noise can help the sleepy fish home in on its target. Often a grub, worm or Senko-style bait will sink quite well with no additional weight. Get used to casting an unweighted soft plastic, and work it very slowly. I believe that a coldwater Bass is more likely to hold onto it longer than a weighted offering. This may be one reason slow-fished tube jigs work so well. They are small, subtle and usually have only a small weight, hidden in the head. The fish feels nothing but lifelike, ‘squeezable’ skin.

As strange as it may seem up here in the cold North, Bill Dance’s ‘Dancin’ Eel’ or smaller tadpole version can work in the Fall as well. Even with dying, shrinking weed-beds, the treble hook can be a drawback, but just like crankbaits, the diving bill causes a head-down attitude that can keep you from snagging up if you are careful. Fish in sparse weeds, the edges of brush or weeds, bump it carefully over submerged limbs and logs, or bring it over rocky bottoms. Try cranking it down to or near the bottom, then retrieving slowly. It is not necessary to get the bait vibrating strongly and the tail does not have to ‘wiggle’ frantically. In colder water, I think a slower retrieve mimics a stunned, helpless baitfish more than an eel and it will provoke bites. If the bigger one doesn’t work, try the smaller one. Have several colors on hand.

Here’s an odd little fact to keep in mind when you are fishing in clear water: In cold water, the shape of the Largemouth’s eye changes slightly, resulting in clearer vision. That’s right! He can see better! Use the most lifelike baitfish, worm or crawdad imitating bait you have. And remember that in cold, clear weather, the fish can see you better than he could in warmer months. Don’t spook him by getting too close and showing yourself.

As I was reminded on the last outing, the weather can be unrelenting and unforgiving. Gear up appropriately, wear long underwear, make sure and have wet-weather gear, bring some warm fluids along and try some fingerless gloves or fold-back mitts. The more comfortable you are, the better a fisherman you’ll be.

Is it worth your effort to even go out after Bass in November?

Well I think it is, but let’s discuss that next month!

The days are getting noticeably shorter, lake and river temperatures are ramping down, and Largemouth Bass are responding by going on ‘The Fall Bite.’ In this time of ‘feeding frenzy,’ fish are bulking up in preparation for the cold winter months when their metabolism slows way down and with it, their feeding activity. Plus, a beautiful Indian Summer is a great time to be out on the water.

In the Pacific Northwest, September and even October can be excellent for Bass fishing, mirroring the crazy activity levels of Spring. Fish caught during this time can be much heavier and have much more of a football shape, compared to fish of the same length caught in Spring and Summer. One particularly warm mid-October, I caught 10 Largemouth in a row out of the same small area in a backwater of the Columbia River near Woodland, Washington. I had an appointment to keep so I had to leave without being able to find out how many more would have jumped on my baits, but what a day!

The above is just one benefit of the Fall frenzy: Bass seem to be more concentrated in obvious areas, not dispersed as in Summer fishing. Look for Largemouth attracted to riprap and other rocky areas. Rocks hold heat and radiate it during the cooling weeks of Fall, and Bass begin to look for these warmer areas. I have caught very large fish simply by making casts parallel to riprap shorelines and by running baits through shallow, rocky areas. Crankbaits, spinnerbaits and jig-and-grub (skirted with brush guard) or jig-and-frog combination’s work well in these situations. In clear water, try a swimbait that looks like the baitfish in that area. Rig it with as little weight as possible, but make certain it stays upright and straight, then swim it slowly along the rocks at mid-depths. A recognizable, easy meal will be hard for a Largemouth to resist. Don’t forget to experiment with a topwater bait too. A hardbait or a frog can still work under the right circumstances.

Start with the bigger, flashier lures. If they do not work, or if you get hit but not hung on a fish, go to the swimbaits or the quieter, smaller jig combo, or even a Texas-rigged soft plastic worm or tube bait. If you can be on the water at the beginning of a Fall rain, be there! This often turns on a major bite. My biggest Fall fish have come at such times.

An excellent all-around Fall tactic is to prowl river or lake shorelines from a boat, canoe, float tube, pontoon boat or kayak and simply cast a ½ ounce jig-and-grub to the shore, then drag it into the water and reel slowly, letting the jig bumble along the bottom. Aggressively feeding Fall fish will know what to do! I prefer a multicolor jig such as black, brown and green, with a little touch of red somewhere on the jig or grub. If you are shore-bound, don’t give up! You can still catch big Bass by working the shoreline to the right or left of you, gaining more access by carefully, quietly wading out where possible.

Remember that because of it’s off-center, head-heavy design, the jig is especially susceptible to being thrown if a caught fish gets his head above water and shakes it. The bait will flip out of the fish unless you keep a moderately tight line while the acrobatics are going on. Don’t allow your line to go slack, and don’t try to jerk or ‘horse’ the fish toward you. Just keep the line straight and tight between you and the fish while he’s head-shaking. I like to keep my rod more parallel at such a moment, so there is less of a sharp angle between the tip of my rod and the hook in the fish’s face. It seems to help keep him stuck. Remember that water temperatures and fish activity levels can vary quite a bit from day to day, and from area to area. A faster retrieve might stimulate attacks in one instance, a slower retrieve might be the real producer in another. When you catch a Fall bass, remember what you were doing and at what speed. The fish just gave you a hint!

As the days grow even shorter and colder, as light levels decrease and as the Bass’s metabolism decreases, the Bass will begin to move to deeper haunts and become harder to catch. But not impossible! The ‘strike zone’ – distance from the fish in which he is willing to move to take a bait – will shrink, but fish will still need to feed. Slower fishing is called for, but it will still produce fish. We’ll talk about some specific slow tactics and presentations in October. See you then!

BY: Bob Larimer Your Friendly Addicted Bass Fishermen

With the Columbia staying up unusually high and chilly for this time of year, Vancouver Lake is still a good place to hunt for big Largemouth.

Cast the pockets in flooded brush, look for leaner logs and bounce your spinnerbaits or jig-and-pigs off of them underwater, or yo-yo a Texas-rigged plastic worm up and down on underwater branches. Try rigging them ‘wacky’ too. If you’re sure the bottom is not too weedy, a Carolina-rigged worm, creature or lizard 18 to 24 inches behind the lead and bead might be the just the thing to fool a late Spring or early Summer Bass to chomp and romp. One recent Gallery picture has me holding up a hefty LakeRiver Bass that could not resist a twin-blade, Colorado and Willow Leaf spinnerbait dragged through and over a jumble of logs, then allowed to flutter down helplessly. Wham! What a bite and what a fight!

Lacamas Lake has been producing good fish too. My most recent June Gallery shot features a deep-bodied Largemouth that nailed the same bait just as it dropped in near an underwater branch. The picture is pretty dark {Hint!}.

Silver Lake has been producing good fish soft plastics and on jig-and-grub combinatons. Some folks have been having success with finesse drop-shot rigs, fooling Silver’s heavily pressured, tournament-wise fish. The old weedless Johnson Spoons are also producing, slipping and flashing through weeds and pads, but nobody much mentions them. Wonder why??!!

This brings us to the promised discussion of varying your Topwater assaults on the Bass’s world. In lakes, ponds or even river backwaters, topwaters will trigger vicious hits from aggressive Bass. I recommend getting in on early morning and late evening bites. Previous articles have discussed the floating minnow-bait such as Rapala or Bomber Long A, along with their jointed-body brothers. We’ve also discussed the delights of ‘walking the dog’ with a Zara Spook or other wigwagging, baitfish-resembling surface skimmer.

Floating wacky worms hooked in the middle and twitched open and closed also qualify as topwater tempters, as do ‘Salad Spoons’, Scum Frogs and other soft plastic surface offerings. Even the lowly curled tail grub, fished weightless or Texas-rig-pegged with a very light bullet weight will also slither across weeds and produce jarring surface hits. It’s a real thrill to watch the water hump up when a big fish zeros in on your helpless little grub!

Chuggers (Some come equipped with ‘weedless’ treble hooks), poppers and ‘Crazy Crawlers’ can also be relied on to trigger surface hits. The amazing, jiving, diving, rising BassOreno is another topwater that some place in a category all its own. They all get the fish looking up for dinner.

Probably one of the most time-honored topwater baits, though, is the ‘Buzzbait.’ Whether a single-blade, inline buzzer sporting a weedguard on the hook, a double small-to-large inline blade affair, a ‘safety-pin’ style buzzer with blade on the top arm and a hydrodynamic, skirted jig head on the bottom arm, or the fancy new side-by-side, ‘counter-rotating’ blades (or ‘wings’) on a safety-pin style buzzer wire, buzzbaits produce. You can also buy them in varying sizes, or with ‘clackers’ depending on how noisy or subtle you want to be. There are even hollow ‘spoons’ with rattles inside, designed to wobble and sputter along on the surface

These baits may irritate a lurking or hiding Bass into striking as they gurgle over the fish’s lair, they may resemble a fleeing baby bird or mouse whose luck ran out, they may resemble surface-busting baitfish being chased, or they may just attract random, curious, feeding Bass. For whatever reason, under the right conditions Bass will explode on them.

Because their hooks usually ride with the point up, buzzbait fishing can sometimes produce fish on only about 70% of the strikes the bait draws. But since the action can be really hot, it probably won’t matter! My preference is to fish them with a grub trailer, with the curled tail pointed down away from the hook point. I believe that a slightly inaccurate or short-striking fish is more likely to return for the kill if he got a taste of a lifelike, wiggling grub tail on his first whack at the bait! Either way, confidence in your bait is important.

I like to drag buzzers through ambush points between separate groups of lily pads, over grassy points, through thin stands of bullrushes and over slightly submerged weedbeds. What seems like open water can also produce well too, as can parallel retrieves along shorelines, no matter what features the bank has. Just a related note: Tournament Frogs or any floating frog imitation can sometimes do a surprising job of attracting big fish, even when retrieved across expanses of open water. It’s the only game in town, and Mr. Largemouth just might want to play!

My recommendation for this time of year, once the water is warm, is to have a variety of topwater baits ready and try them throughout the day, with special attention to evening hours when the water seems to ‘come alive.’

I think you’ll be glad you tried topwater tactics!

Have a great June and we’ll talk about the ‘dog days’ of Summer in next month’s article.

By Bassmaster Bob

This may be surprising to most, but Battle Ground Lake holds some of the biggest bass in the state! For most people this is just a myth, but I have seen them with my own eyes cruising the shores! These big green elusive monsters have been ruling over this lake since way back when. In most cases these fish are dang near impossible to catch. Besides the tight line worm fishermen hooking onto, “the huge fish that snapped their line….”

Kyle With A Nice BG Lake Bass!

These fish are probably never even hooked. These fish have seen every lure in your resume. They have become so line shy that catching them is near impossible.   There is always a way though, you can trick any fish you want to catch. It’s going to take some time and a lot of effort but if you’re up to it, you can catch them.  Right now is the key time.  The water at Battle Ground Lake has reached critical temperature and these big elusive bass have begun to spawn.  The fish in the lake use deeper areas of the lake to spawn. They focus on finding deep shelves or even logs that they can have a safe spawning bed on.  The key to catching these fish is finding the beds, this is the hard part. Be patient and take your time, walking the shore of the lake is very easy. There is a trail all the way around the lake, so access to every angle is very easy. What you’re going to need to do to find these fish is cast and cast and then cast some more.  As you walk the shore about every 50 yards make casts out into the water in all angles. Keep repeating this all the way around the lake. There are a few lures that can work in this situation. My favorite is going to be a Jig with crawdad trailer. Work the jig extremely slow across the bottom, bouncing it off logs or any other structure underneath the water.  Move it slow with just slight twitches and pauses in between the twitches. What you’re doing is trying to locate a bed, by covering every inch of shoreline on the lake. Eventually if you’re lucky you will bring the jig across the bed of a weary largemouth. Even though these fish are so smart to lures and line, right now it doesn’t matter. These fish are in protecting mode! They are going to attack to kill anything that approaches or threatens their spawning bed.  The bass in this lake have reached peak sizes. Some of them have been said to top 10 pounds!!  Now that you’re done reading this article…what are you waiting for, get out there and break the Washington state record largemouth!

Marlin Lefever bassinpimp69

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?

By: Bob Larimer, Your Friendly, Maniacal Bassmaster Basics Sportswriter