Northwest Fishing Reports

I have been quite successful in pulling in small Largemouths. I get lots of strikes on 5" senkos, the only problem is the senkos are almost as big as the fish. Don't get me wrong, it is still fun, but what should I do to get the bigger ones to bite? Should I switch to jigs and target the bottom more or add weight to the senko? I have no electronics and the lake is really weedy. I have had some success with the little ones on topwaters as well. Any tips would be cool.


thanks,


Gary

Where there are little ones there are big un's too. Slow down your retrieve, don't work your bait hardly at all, let it sit longer. Big bass are lazy, slower presentation sometimes is the best way to go. Try other baits. Try a buzzbait in the heat of the day over the deepest part of the water you are fishing, cast it as many as 20+ times. Try plastic jerk baits, work it very little, just let it sit maybe up to a minute, watch your line. Try a topwater bait like a plastic frog (there are many types), pause when you pull it from solid weeds to a clear area. Experiment on your own, try something totally different than you have ever done. Sometimes they just want something different. If your bait aint in the water you are not gonna catch anything. Go often!

Tight Lines

up it to the 6" or 7" senko.

Something to keep in mind is that here in Washington our largemouth bass a very slow growing where in most lakes it takes 4 or 5 years to produce a 12 inch bass. The result is that on many waters there are lots of small bass. The majority of those sub-12 inch fish are immature fish and as such do not become very active until the water temperatures warms some (the peak activity usually begins about the time that the spawning ends). As a result one can effectly target the largest fish in a late by fishing while the water temperatures are cooler - spring and late fall - when those small fish are not as active.

During the summer an angler has several options in find more larger bass. The first is as others have referred to is to fish larger baits - 1/4 oz or more spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, large plastics, etc. Another is to fish deeper - some of the of larger fish do move deeper post-spawn while the smaller fish move shallower. One can fish waters that have reputation of producing more larger fish. One clear waters one can target the larger bass by sight fishing - looking for those bigger fish and trying to present the lure of choice to target those fish - a challenging game that requires a well developed presentation skill. Finally one can cover lots of water moving quickly on when small fish are found - Have found that the small fish tend to use ares where the large fish aren't.

Any effort to get away from the smaller fish is going to result in fewer fish caught so another strategy is gear down some, enjoy the faster fishing on those smaller fish and take the bonus larger fish as they come along.

Tight lines
Curt

Up your bait size and try to match up a jekbait or crankbait to the forage, like a jointed shad rap in bass pattern, this will enable you to see if the big ones are eating the little ones.

Try another lake known for bigger bass, There are bass lakes all over the state that support populations of bass, but unfortunately, many lakes only support smaller bass for several reasons. Overcrowding will stunt the growth potential of fish, lack of forage, the lake stays cooler than other lakes, etc.
Your tactics are pretty sound from what you wrote, so apply them to another body of water and see if things change.

what lake are you fishing for all those smallmouth? Anybody check out lake pondilla on whidbey?

Pondilla is a joke. The sign says its a bass fishery, but only for stunted bass. We even tried to take a small boat down the trail to get past the milfoil donut that is Pondilla. It was a sight to see us with that little 10' boat loaded with oars, fish poles, and tackle boxes. Tried it several times, never any decent size.