Bass – Help

OK bass guts. After being away in Canada fishing the last 2 weekends and not fishing the week prior I have no idea what stage the Bass are in right now. I hope to get a few buddies out this weekend. I would think by now the bass are past the post spawn and hopefully set up in their normal summer patterns. What area and baits have been working for all of you lately. I had a rather tough early season this year on bass. I just could not figure them out. I think it was a strange spring. Looking forward to getting back out on the water and setting the hook into a few nice bass for sure. After a week of throwing BIG baits I’m ready to throw something a lot smaller. A 1/8 Oz jig will great !!!

I can tell that the smallmouth are still in post spawn mode as of a week ago. I tried last week and the fish I caught were either smaller males or skinny spawned out females (which were hard to come by). Its been pretty warm since then and the forecast next week looks even warmer so maybe they are starting a summer pattern now.

For me that Post spawn Period is the toughest. Getting those spawned out females to bite is really tough for the 1st few weeks after the spawn. Once they are recovered and back to feeding again it can be one of the best bites of the season. I’m sure it just depends on how long ago they finished spawning in the lake you are fishing. I think one of the problems I had this spring was that a lot of the fish got up and spawned a lot earlier than most people think. It was getting close to prime water temps and moon phase and then we had a cool down. I think a lot of fish spawned just prior to the cool down even though the conditions were not perfect. I just did not find many fish up on beds this spring. I think I was waiting for something that had already happened. The funny part was I could not even find male bass up shallow either Prior to the spawn or guarding fry after the spawn – It was a strange spring for sure.

Another thing that I think effected the fishing this spring was the lack of weed growth. I think with the long ice season and thick ice and heavy snow cover the weeds just didn’t get enough light and died back way more than normal. Add in the lack of Bright sunny days early this spring and there was almost no weed growth earlier this spring. I hope with the warmer and sunnier days that we’ve had since my last outing the weeds have caught back up to normal.

Go walleye fishing on the Mississippi you’ll be sure to find them. Bite gets even hotter when you pick up willowcats.

fishthumper wrote:

OK bass guts. After being away in Canada fishing the last 2 weekends and not fishing the week prior I have no idea what stage the <strong class=”ido-tag-strong”>Bass are in right now. I hope to get a few buddies out this weekend. I would think by now the <em class=”ido-tag-em”>bass are past the post spawn and hopefully set up in their normal summer patterns. What area and baits have been working for all of you lately. I had a rather tough early season this year on bass. I just could not figure them out. I think it was a strange spring. Looking forward to getting back out on the water and setting the hook into a few nice bass for sure. After a week of throwing BIG baits I’m ready to throw something a lot smaller. A 1/8 Oz jig will great !!!

I was out yesterday trying to find the largemouth… I’m not finding them on topwater or under docks yet but soon. A lot of times post spawn they will go feed on the bluegills that are just spawning now… easy meal. Usually in 3-5 feet of water. I had luck throwing “Bream” colored Project Z chatterbaits in the 3-6 foot flats, or bluegill Colored swim jigs with paddle tail trailers in/near emergent weeds where the gills go after completing their spawn cycle – a little deeper out in 5-9 fow.

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Fishthumper you are correct I had a hard time finding them also this spring. I’m in central MN and found most of the largemouth spawned already. Just starting to find a few around docks and the weed edges but no slammers of days yet fishing.

They are definitely post spawn. Had a tough tournament last Sunday on North/South Center. Caught three in the first hour (6am start) off laydown trees and docks, then nothing until 1030 until I caught a 3.5 lber on a neko rig. That was our last keeper. ended up with 4 for 9lbs. Fish are scattered and pretty tight lipped for the most part. Frog bite is hasn’t shown up yet either which can really make the daytime bite tough.

Got out for a few Hr’s yesterday. The Bass were not in any of their normal summer spots on the lake I fished. Caught a few small fish still up near the banks. Could not locate a fish deeper than 4 Feet of water. A buddy was on a different lake only 20 miles or so away and pounded fish in all of our normal summer spots on that lake. I guess for now my struggles to the bass season continue. I’m sure it will turn around soon. I’m taking a few buddies out this weekend. It sure would be nice if I could get them on some decent fishing.

fishthumper wrote:

Got out for a few Hr’s yesterday. The Bass were not in any of their normal summer spots on the lake I fished. Caught a few small fish still up near the banks. Could not locate a fish deeper than 4 Feet of water. A buddy was on a different lake only 20 miles or so away and pounded fish in all of our normal summer spots on that lake. I guess for now my struggles to the bass season continue. I’m sure it will turn around soon. I’m taking a few buddies out this weekend. It sure would be nice if I could get them on some decent fishing.

I’m not sure that it’s that the bass aren’t up shallow, they just aren’t aggressive yet. Try out the Neko Rig, wacky worm or smaller profile/finesse set ups. My neko rig got hit pretty well up shallow last trip out with my usual craws weren’t.

I also am hoping to try out something that the Elite Series guys have been crushing with. There are a few guys that have been throwing 2 inch paddletails (crappie swimbaits) and absolutely crushing with them when the bass aren’t biting. Really interested to see if I can figure that out.

I’ve been pulling the bass out off the deep points with lipless cranks. Letting it sink and slow reeling and popping back to the boat. My wacky rig has been tough for a little while now