Bassing the “Off-Brand” spots

Weedbeds are good; docks and lily pads, too. Rock piles and creek channels, and all the rest…

But sometimes, sometimes….the best (and often overlooked) big bass haunts are less obvious.

Instead of finding a lunker largemouth on the “name brand” types of spots like a rock heap, you may find one, lonely boulder that holds fish like crazy. Or it could be just a small finger off a creek channel or a random post like this one.

One of the reasons these non A-List spots can be so productive is…

Read more

Down the hatch!

When you take a close look at a pie hole of a bass, a few things immediately come to mind….

1) I’m very, very glad I’m not a shad, pond smelt, hitch, small bluegill, frog, crawdad or floating hotdog!

2) You can kinda see why bass are able to throw a lure…even one with three sets of trebles. A lot of that tissue in there isn’t particularly soft — in fact, the inside of the mouth is pretty tough, making it harder for hooks to penetrate. Lesson of the day: don’t skimp on your hooks! Buy the good stuff…and stay out of the water if you’re less than a foot long!

Winter Bass at Clear Lake

“There’s a lot of big bass in this lake, Chief,” says guide, TV personality and tournament pro Big Fred Contaoi of the Orange County Choppers fishing team after I set yet another fat largemouth free. “A lot of bass and not many people – a good combination in my book.”

Mine too. And that’s really the story with Clear Lake in the winter. It’s bustling with activity in the warmer months but the place is a virtual ghost town in the winter – except when there’s a tournament going on. On this particular winter day, there’s a grand total of two trailers in the parking lot when we launch and we never run into another basser the entire day.

Read more

Surface Stripers: Unlocking the Code

“What ya after?” asked the crusty old bank angler after I launched my boat. 
I pointed out toward the center of the lake where, in the glassy calm of the morning, it was easy to see a quarter-acre sized school of striped bass crashing the surface.

 His face looked like a tattered piece of leather that had been chewed on at great length by a hound dog, but it brightened considerably upon receipt of my answer. He flashed me a grin only an orthodontist could love and then snickered.

 “Son, you can’t catch them striper bass… everybody’s been trying but they won’t hit cuz they’re spawnin’.”

Well, I knew that he was way off base because it was mid-October and stripers are spring spawners, but I didn’t let on. I told him I was going to give it a try anyway just for kicks. He nodded and wished me good luck - said I was going to need it.

Read more

California Smallmouth

If it were up to me, I’d like to go back in time and keep the DFG from ever planting largemouth and spotted bass in California.

Say what? Am I anti-bass? No way!

I just think smallmouth are the most interesting variety of bass and they, unfortunately, have been overrun by these other types of bass in most of our local waters. Of course, we could debate this until the Chicago Cubs win a World Series, but in my estimation, smallmouth are better fighters (I once mistook a smallie for a steelhead on the Russian River because it was so strong) than their big mouthed and spotted cousins and are pretty cool-looking as well.
Read more

« Previous Page