Not sure why, but my first report on this didn't work. So this is take 2...

Have been fishing for years, but never for bass. Wanted to try my hand and have been using these boards for some great advice on tactics, techniques, tackle, etc. Thanks all!

Had a free morning so went out at dawn to Beaver Lake in Sammamish. Was on the water by 6a in my inflatable. Started with a square-nosed crankbait (dives 3-6 feet) and hooked my first bass within about 10 minutes! Not the biggest fish, but still nice to hook one early on. Fished the same area for a while and decided to try my hand at drop-shot rig w/ texas-rigged worm. Got quite a few bites around the lake, but was never able to get a hook set on any of them on the drop-shot rig.

Switched back to the crankbait and got hooked into another young one, although even the smaller ones have some good fight in them! Went back to drop-shot, more bites but no hookups. Then switched to some panfish setups (was scouting for future trips with my kids) and after I landed a couple, back to bass.

Ended up catching 4 bass - all on the crankbait - and 2 panfish. The last bass I caught was really small, but as I was reeling him in I saw a NICE one following him all the way to the boat! Tried to put him back in the water as bait, but the big one had already swum off. Good to see there's some good sized ones in there!

Posted a few pics, happy to report I've now caught my first bass - can't wait to get back out there and see if their older (and bigger) siblings are out there!

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