Small Bass and Big Bass Differences

[Bassmaster2008]

Hey everybody, this spring is really kickin my ass as far as bass go.

I was fishing a lake a few days ago that I knew had plenty of good 3+ lb. bass in it. The weather was about 70 degrees with overcast skys. Water temp was about 60. I was fishing the shallows and pads with a Black/Chartreuse jig and black/blue 5" senko. Everytime I got near a dock action would heat up a bit, and I would catch a 12 inch bass or so.
Does anybody know the relation of these smaller bass to the bigger bass? If A 3-4 inch bass is following my bait is that considered forage for the big bass? In other words do bass eat their own species? Do big bass and small bass ever hang out in the same areas?
I hit the shallows pretty hard in multiple areas around the lake. But I still could not manage to locate the spawning bass right now. Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

[gpc]

I know big bass eat small bass. As far as them hanging out together I dont know, I do know that perch and walleye school together based on size of fish

[tnj8222]

i would fish the shore that gets the most sun and hit it hard. make sure you try different things i get most of my sprng fish on spinnerbaits in the shallows near wood or lillys. if your fishing really clear water look for overhead structure near deep water. the near deep water is the key point if you know we are about to get a cold front fish the day before, if we have three days of sun. hit that third day really hard.

[ProHawk]

Hey Bassmaster,

In regards to weather or not Big bass eat small bass. Absolutely! Which is why if you have a bunch of small bass and pumpkinseeds casually hanging around your bait, they aren't to concerned with being eaten just then. If you see lots of little guys you need to change your location. Bigger lures always help but as long as you are using that senko you should be good. My avatar bass came on a senko from the dock.

As far as the spawn goes, remeber that bass do not eat during the spawn period. If they did they would eat all their kids! You have to make the bass feel that his or her spawning area and brood are threated so that the bass will attempt to chase or kill the threat, not eat it.

Go easy on those spawning bass when you do find them, like I said, they aren't eating so they are very fatigued. If we don't let them protect the nest, there will be less bass for us in the future. If you must fish the beds, fight them fast and release them immediately.

Have fun bassin,

[A9]

Some lakes are already done with the spawning stuff...

[fishnislife]

Hey Bassmaster, the big ones are around there for sure. If you have little ones following your bait they could be the males protecting the nest. Often times the male will be the aggressive fish during spawn for protection. I have caught many males fishing beds just to find the female still hunkered down doing her thing. Patience is the name of the game when fishing beds this time of season. You have the right idea of pitching a jig, but you have to deadstick it for a long time. The bedding bass will not strike the lure, she is only attempting to pick it up and move it off her bed. Like ProHawk said, do go easy on them if you do catch'em.
As far as bass eating there young, hell ya. They are cannibalistic when it comes to this. Only the strong survive. I have found that the best bait to throw during post spawn action is the Castaic sbt 4" baby bass. Good luck and keep at it.


fishnislife

[Bassmaster2008]

Thanks a lot for all the expertise. Despite the screenname I'm still a beginner . I have done a lot of reading, but I lack the actual time on the water. This lake I'm talking about (Crescent lake, Pierce county) I think is a pretty weird lake. I've never caught a big fish on anything but senkos, I find that weird because I have brought a lot of different lures by these bass. The more I use spinners and cranks and noisier lures, the smaller the fish get. This lake is a bowl shaped lake without much of a dropoff anywhere. Can these type of isolated lakes develop unlikely themes in comparison to the rest of the bass fishing world? Maybe I'll figure it out next time on the water. I think i might just got all up in the pads and stuff just to look for the beds, just to really see what I'm dealing with.

[bpm2000]

how heavy is that 4" sbt?

[Anonymous]

bpm2000, I believe it's just over an ounce like 1.2oz or 1.4oz. I can actually show you the weight that is inside. It's a pretty ingenius thing. I just blew one up this weekend. The head was starting to tear and after so many fish the whole thing will come out. I think I have caught over 20 bass on this one lure alone. I'm glad that I still have the body though, this way I can glue it and get as much life out of the lure as I can.
Heres the pic.


fishnislife

[Bassmaster2008]

Hey I hit the lake yesterday. And it was night and day from the last time I fished this lake. Bass were swimming in the open, bluegill and baby bass were everywhere. The bass were showing tons of interest in the senko. I caught a 4 bass all around 1.5-2.5 pounds in extremely shallow water or in thick pads.

Are these the male bass guarding the nests? Where are the females? Some bass followed my lure then lost interest, are these bass trying to fend my bait off of their nest? I also tryed out a 4 inch baby bass Zara Spook, while the bigger bass were going nuts over the senkos, they completely ignored the "walk the dog" action of the zara spook. I only got small bass to nip at the lure. Anybody know why it works like this?

Thanks for any help, I'm about to hit the same lake with a carolina salamander (i saw a few of those) i'll let ya know how it goes.

[mallard83]

while fishing beds if you can get close enough to see the bass the bass can see you but this isn't neccesarily a bad thing. If the fish sticks tight to it's bed when you move in on it, if you do it right you have it made. Some of these fish will take the first thing that you offer them others will take more coaxing. the stubborn ones i will usually give them a bump in the the side or the tail with a weedless skirted jig with a grub trailer(weedless so as not to accidentally foul hook them). this triggers anger strikes, if the fish moves off when you do this just wait he/she will be back shortly. i usually will only do the bump two or three times, at this point i will repeatedly brush the fishes nose/ mouth with the same jig. more often than not it will only take 5-10 minutes or so to trigger this anger strike. i have caught a lot of bass using this method. Also after largemouth females complete their task in spawning they will leave the nest to the males and when post spawn comes the males will stick relatively close to where the bed was with their fry,until the fry are about 1'' long. at this point the fry are fair game and the males can and will eat their young. so try matching a baby bass colored rapala with the size of the fry as this has worked for me in the past. GOOD LUCK AND TIGHT LINES.....

[bpm2000]

thx fishnislife, have you tried the mattlures baby bass? any comparisons if you have?

[Anonymous]

Yes I have. I fished it tell the wheels fell off. (it got ripped to shreads) O man, you got me in a pickle here. I love Mattlures and I think Matt is a great, hard working guy.........but as far as which one I would buy I would have to go with the SBT just because it is cheaper. $8 vs. $12. I bought 3 SBT's at a Walmart for $4ea. late last summer and I have one left. I think they are similiar in presentation (tail kick and rocking motion) but Mattlures has a lot more detailed looks (ridges) on the swimbait. I dunno, If you have the dough go for Mattlures baby bass for sure. It is a little bigger though, be aware of that.

I haven't been throwing the SBT a lot yet this year, but when I did this weekend I had a huge hit just nothing stuck. I will be tossing it more soon when the time is right and I will let you know.
As far as the swimbaits go I think everyone should have at least one if not two in there arsenal.


fishnislife