Paul Roberts

In my ponds, females go on the hunt pretty soon after the spawn. I do not know how long they need to recuperate, but it doesn’t appear to be very long. They are lean mean and hungry ... but a bit low energy. They need a sure thing. Anglers that frequent shallow ponds get to see some of them. Anglers fishing bigger waters can only probe with lures and guess at what might be happening. In my ponds I see them slowly cruising for vulnerable bluegills, until the bluegills spawn. Then those females collect around the bluegill colonies. If your water has shad, then likely many of your bass will move away from shorelines, and then appear (more concentrated) with the shad spawn. If it’s yellow perch (which spawn prior to bass and are bottom oriented much of the day) bass will move away from shore to where perch carpet the bottom. Etc….etc…etc… In short, hungry bass follow the food. Temperature matters although bass can handle pretty high temps IF they have enough food to compensate. This is most likely to happen in southern waters with LOTS of food, and in shad based waters with tons of shad. Males of course behave a little differently during post-spawn. Some males will still be guarding fry, some will be done, some will have failed beds, and really late ones will build a bed and try to entice or corral passing females in. These very late males tend to be the smallest of the lot, not having reached adequate body mass until late. Such very late males don’t tend to get anywhere bc the females are done. Possibly in larger water bodies there are late arriving (and usually smaller) females from a further distance or colder waters that may spawn. But in shallow ponds, the spawning period is comparatively short, although in my ponds individual females may be dropping eggs for as much as a month. In a larger system the spawn may stretch for 2 months, maybe more in very long north-south running reservoirs or chains. I have seen the tables turned on the females however, when there are a shortage of males. I’ve seen females line up in front of males on beds. I’ve also seen late females jilted, hanging outside a male’s bed site, he already having eggs, seeing the amorous females as an intruder and aggressively fending her off. Now, this is all possible, late in the spawn. But, is your spawn really over? If not, those may be females still ready to spawn? Where in the country are you? How big/deep is your “pond”.

Doh! I see their forked tails now. The thrashing is spawning. The "cruisers" are males chasing females.

I vote for research, critical thinking skills, positive outlook, resolve, and time on the water. Also, having grown up fishing where there are diverse opportunities would help a lot too in terms of the learning curve. AND... after reading the posts below... you have to want to, be willing to, make a business out of your fishing.

I gather, Tom, you mean "migrate" in the way Buck Perry used it. I think the quickest answer from me would be to say that, as you say, bass do use "breaks" (for a number of reasons) but one appears to be a sense of security. I do not believe they necessarily need them to navigate by, or at least they wouldn't get lost if there were not visual "breaks". Buck Perry applied his excellent critical thinking skills and worked his butt off trying to figure out those fish. And he broke new ground in a lot of ways, one of which to introduce "structure fishing" at an unprecedented level of sophistication. His biggest error I think was that he didn't understand that bass cannot change depth as easily as he'd assumed. His fish weren't changing depth 20 or 30 feet with the coming and going of a front. If he caught fish deep one sunny day and then shallow the following day under clouds, he was actually hitting two separate groups of fish. They hadn't "migrated" shallow, then deep again. Interestingly, he'd stated that his was a present understanding and that he fully expected things to change over time. He was one of the sharper pencils in the box. As to the question whether bass migrate in the more general sense, it is known that bass can move large distances, to spawn, or just bc those individuals are travelers. If adequate spawning habitat is rare and well removed from summer or, esp, winter habitat, bass will find it and that's where their spawning success will occur. Bass have been known to show some amount of site fidelity (smallmouth esp) which means that they return to the same spawning area. Some smallies have been known to revisit the same rock or log to spawn against over several years.

Doesn't sound out of the ordinary. Summer locations can be a long ways from spawning locations. Or, they can be nearby, esp in ponds. Good spawning habitat may be ubiquitous, or it may be more rare and fish must travel to it. In my ponds, females go on the hunt pretty soon after the spawn. I do not know how long they need to recuperate, but it doesn’t appear to be very long. They are lean mean and hungry.

Is this every year? Or do you think this is an odd year.

Carl, I was going to ask if your bluegills had started to spawn yet, but didn't go there bc of your focus on the bass spawn. When the 'gills spawn here, the bass are done. Those could be bass hunting bluegills at spawn colonies. The speed at which they are cruising makes me think they are males (some still with fry), along with their size. If your 'gills are spawning and all you are seeing are males at your present spot, I'd tool around some looking for colonies with bigger bluegills. There will be female bass there. CPBass Fishing. Are you certain your bass are making beds? Or are they just hunting spawning 'gills, a very strong fishing pattern in bluegill waters. Good lure choice there. Going to have to look into those, or something similar.

Canyon Plastics makes a hollow body jig head. I bought some but haven't tried them yet. I like the idea.

Wait a minute. You are in Canada. It may just be that your fish, LM notably, will relate to the inside (shallow) side of the weedline for much of the summer.

Neat video! Ain't the internet cool! Your spawn should be winding down now, Yes? Esp in a small lake. It's possible I suppose that, these being smaller fish, they might be late spawners. Sometimes small males will be ready/willing to spawn but the females are pretty much done. I've seen that. They could also be post-spawn males guarding fry. Males begin to make wider and wider circuits as the fry swarm moves away from the bed site. That's what they look like to me. Odd IME that there are several so close together, but possibly their respective fry swarms have moved into the immediate shoreline cover along this shoreline and their guardians have followed. You should look closely along/within the shoreline cover for fry -large numbers of tiny black fish. Either way, you should know very soon, when they are accompanied by bigger females, or tiny fry.

I've seen "yellow" bass in two circumstances: -Winter/early spring when bass are in/recently come out of winter quarters where it appears they are lying belly to the bottom (as these fish often have mud/clay on their bellies). -During summer when they are in shallow densely vegetated slop bays. I also see "golden-copper" individuals here, so far always from deeper water. Dunno why. Very curious.

If most are indeed in post-spawn, you'll need to slow down, as fishingood suggests. As more come into pre-summer, some speed can help. A lipless crank burned, or fished with accelerations and .. the bass will find YOU fast! But, as with all fishing, you must fish appropriate to conditions -visibility (sky, water) being critical.

Very cool. You know, I've always wanted to go catch every bass species. Some of the smaller Southern riverine Micropterae have me jazzed. Maybe someday.

Where are you? Could be any number of things.

Agree. In fact, I agree with everyone. Drop-shot is mighty powerful. But ... I can't DS a buzzbait! For me, it would be almost anything on a jighead. I know that's not quite fair but ... again, I agree with J.

I've used a few and must say there are LOTS of good rods out there. I like crisp, rigid, full-length power, -some rigidity in the tip. Don't want a wimpy tip for my jig/finesse rods, for sensitivity. I have a 6ft Skyline 6005 I still like. It's power is distributed all the way out (slow action in this case) and that's what I like. That rod has been through an awful lot with me. Kind of my second wife you could say. I have a 7' M F Kistler LTA but find it a bit strong for my M/L spinning work, and a bit soft in the tip for most mid-range skirted jigs. So it's become my general M soft plastics rod (T-rig, tubes). For my M/L spinning the last couple of years I've been using a 6-6 M F Carbonlite and can say I really like it. In my mind, it's ideal for light jigworms ("shaky" nowadys) and I also use it for light trebled lures. It's light, crisp, and rigid and I appreciate that in terms of sensitivity. That Carbonlite replaced a Shimano Convergence 6-6 M a while back, that I'd found too soft in the tip, losing sensitivity -too much tip movement absorbing things. And when I hooked a fish, the upper third of that rod did none of the work! "Who designed this rod!" I wondered. Now, this is no general rap on Shimano rods, I think they are always a top choice, even in the lower line Convergence series. And I caught fish on it of course, but it was better suited to pitching much lighter baits, and there I would just drop to L or UL -again with a crisp rigid full-length power distribution. My 2cents.

Fishing away from shorelines efficiently requires sonar. You can attempt to read the lay of the shoreline topography and probe with a C-rig, football jig, heavy single-spin SB, or CB, but it is slower going.

Nice. Yeah, lipless have a way of finding their way into the GoTo bin. A lot can be done with them too, so they can stay in the GoTo bin all year.

Sounds like your observations are consistent with your location, and the water type you describe. Fish size: What weights do you need to win? What are other people catching? In tropical waters, outside of bass normal geographic range, they can grow quickly but die young. If water temps are too high they can be very thin, indicating poor growth. The fish in your avatar looks this way. Or... you are fishing too shallow and catching males guarding beds and fry, or just catching juveniles. Might need to get further off the shorelines. And/or... the population of small bass is very high and the Slider's are just right for them. Big bass do appreciate a mouthful, so up-sizing some can help both attract larger bass and discourage smalls. But you will have to suffer the lowered catch rate. Numbers or size is not always the same game. Your lake: As you describe, "...its a very clear lake ... NO weeds and steep shores. A lot of rocky areas and red clay" sounds like finesse water to me. This doesn't mean larger things won't work, but in clear cover free water, finesse tends to make catching bass easier. Spinnerbaits being effective only under low light is very common, esp in clear water. You could fish them faster, using light translucent skirt/trailers, which doesn't let the fish see them as well. Other tactics for clear open water could be crankbaits, lipless cranks, drop-shot, skirted jigs/trailer (swim jigs, football jigs, brush jigs). Yes, it looks like you might want to start diversifying your capabilities. But first, answer my first questions above. Is your lake mostly full of little bass to begin with? If you have to spend all day to eek out 12-15lbs of bass, you might need to find a different lake, or just realize this lake's limitations and be happy with your success there. Hope this gives you some further direction.

Hmmmmm... doesn't sound like the knot seated well enough. I have however noticed something a couple years ago with Trilene XT that made me wonder about the line's formulation. I'd lost a couple large fish to my imp. clinch knot stripping free of the lure. It appeared the line stretched and slipped. And I noticed my tags shortening when under heavy strain. And then another BR member posted the very same problem with XT. I've used XT since the 1980's for heavy cover use. Back then it had low stretch and if I wasn't careful it had the tendency of reaching break point very quickly. More recently while reading the product description that some new text had been added: that it had "shock resistance". I assume this is the line manufacturer's way of saying they added stretch, like some "big game" lines possess. This made me wonder whether the new formula may have the tendency to stretch thin and slip under high strain, rather than reach breaking point quickly. Pick your poison I guess. This is conjecture on my part, and I still use XT. It performs very well for me. But, I now leave a slightly longer tag, and check the knot frequently while I fish. The Palomar I think is less prone to slippage compared to the clinch, but is something to think about when considering tag length and knot maintenance.

I sight-fish fairly frequently in small, heavily fished, clear water ponds and small reservoirs. I have a few suggestions for you to try: -Timing. Hit them under low visibility conditions -breeze rippled surface, deep overcast, very early or late, or at night. -Stealth. It's true fish can pick up both the sound of your lightest footfalls on firm ground, or worse, the pressure wake caused by your weight on wet ground. Several times I've purposely taken anglers to pond edges or trout pools to show them how difficult it can be (no, impossible at times) to approach fish with certain ground conditions. So, stay well back away from them. Use braid as it lands softly. Bass may not be entirely spooked, that is bolt away, if they see you, but they may simply sulk and get lockjaw. The reaction is subtle and if you aren't used to watching normal acting bass, you may not recognize this. Stealth, (esp with low vis conditions), may solve a lot of your lure choice issues. -For such “fish filching”, I’ve done best with soft plastics, and jigs. In high visibility conditions I’ve found translucent colors work best. Pick your favorite color, just make sure you can see some sunlight shining through. If it’s really overcast, even in clear water, opaque colors do fine and I prefer them bc they are more visible to the fish from a greater distance. I also prefer smaller (6”) straight tail worms, or small (4”) Senko type “stick worms”, rather than action tails, for spooky clear water fish with one exception, as per below… Bass, esp larger ones, respond well to falling baits, killed baits, and one that few people seem to use –a swimming retrieve, esp with a swimming tail worm. In shallow water where most sight fishing takes place I use a T-rig with a 1/16oz bullet sinker, or a Brewer Pro Slider Head, cast well beyond the fish, and swim the worm above the fish a good foot or more. Make them move a bit for it. Often, if the fish are spooky, you may need to be out of sight, behind a bush, or simply blind casting. I boil the tail section of my swimming worms to soften them so that they swim at the slowest retrieve speed. The falling retrieve I use with either plastics (worms, tubes, craws, creatures) or jigs. I again cast well beyond the fish, swim it to the fish (not directly at it as I don’t want to alarm it, often turning the direction to one side as it approaches) then letting the bait fall, which is super attractive to bass. I then kill it, which is the trigger. Sometimes a slight shake or tremor is needed to seal the deal. It helps to be able to see the fish but, if you can’t, lay the line still on the water’s surface and watch it. Braid is great here bc it floats. When it twitches, set the hook. This killed bait technique also requires that the bottom have some clean patches, or very low or sparse vegetation so the lure doesn’t bury from sight –another reason it helps to be close enough to see the bottom. Since you mention a foot of weeds on the bottom, this may not work. Look for patchier areas or… try a weightless worm, or one on a drop-shot rig. -If you luck into nice low light conditions, say a deep overcast and/or a rippled surface, try a topwater. There are a few I esp like: Floating Rapala #11 (early season), a #13 (as water warms), as these lures land quietly and can be fished on the surface like a jerk bait. Start with a single rolling twitch, then a long pause. If no go, pick up the pace. Waking such a bait can work like a charm too. I also like the Rapala SkitterPop a light quiet landing popper. And I like walking baits like a smaller Zara, Sammy, or what-have-you. I cast well beyond so splash-down doesn’t affect the fish, then walk it on in. I’ve done well with very small light walkers too –the Zara Puppy and the Matzuo Hound Dog. These land quietly and work very well over shallow water. I don’t want the steady rhythmic walk that can work so well over deeper water and less spooky fish. The bass respond, are triggered, really well to an arhythmic retrieve with some long darts and short pauses. Two or three short quick darts then a long one seems to trigger especially well. Too heavy a line will kill this kind of action o these smaller walkers -8lb is about right. Lastly in terms of topwater, interestingly, despite all the stealth talk, I’ve done well with a stronger waking bait like a Mann’s Baby 1-Minus. You tend to need low visibility conditions –just a breeze ripple is often enough– and should cast well beyond. But that intense wriggling rippling waker can really draw strikes. I don’t know if it’s bc so few people use them, or is just inherent in the bait –probably a bit of both. But they work very well. Since its an aggressive technique, I probably would not start with it, unless visibility conditions were good and dim. As to colors in topwaters, I use opaques in low light, and reflectives (chromes) or transparents (Ghost) in higher vis conditions. I like white or pearl bellies and will even add them with paint or nail polish if needed. The original silver foil Rapala is a great finish in all visibility conditions. Those fish are catchable. Just don’t approach them like they are stupid. They aren’t.

Same fish, same lures. LM esp appreciate a mouthful. On some ponds with lots of small fish I may down-size purely for fun. I've also up-sized on ponds with the potential for big fish, throwing 13" worms and musky-sized plugs, and broken a few pond PB's.

Hmmmmm... I do it in my float tube perfectly well. I've never read anything on "proper" technique but I can walk Spooks, Sammy's, and others easily from my tube. I hold the rod tip high and pop pop pop with, as Hanover-Yakker and A-Jay say, proper slack.

Well, several things… And I’m going to be pretty much reiterating what Tom and Red Earth are suggesting. -First, water systems are not simple, esp large water body's, which can be very complicated. Not all bass are doing the same thing. There are subpopulations of bass in every lake and pond that have different habits. Some are roamers, others are homebodies. Some are aggressive, others timid. Some are chasing shad, others bluegills, others focused on crayfish. This switches with prey availability and vulnerability too. And fish sleep too, rest, or wait out poor or disadvantageous conditions. This is described in a very general way in the angling literature as “activity level”. -Lures aren’t very good mimics of prey, except under certain circumstances –the best being when fish are actively attacking a certain prey type and visibility is somewhat obscured. Basically lures can look pretty silly a lot of the time. -In my mind you can ignore the "magic tables" and instead focus on seasonal "calendar periods" (as dubbed by In-Fisherman) and then weekly weather trends and then down to immediate conditions: water, sky, prey, bass activity, fishing pressure, etc… . The world fish live in is very real, real stuff happens to them. Don't get bamboozled into thinking you can just ignore all that stuff, as if there is some great overriding thing that sweeps immediate conditions out of the way. If there are astrological influences they are miniscule compared to what's happening right here on Earth. What you are looking for are times and places where you can put a catch together. Understanding the fish and the playing field (your lake and the changes –seasonal, daily, hourly) and recognizing windows of opportunity is how the game is played. You should also look for patterns of conditions and behavior that might be duplicated in other parts of your cove or lake to increase your catches. Or, you are off looking for new windows of opportunity. Unfortunately, much of the time, a big tackle box doesn’t save us. Even those of us with a lot of GoTo’s figured out have to work for our fish too, and take our catches with gratitude. Bass activity, associated with immediate conditions, which is in turn influenced by weather trends, runs the show for the most part. My advice would be to read all you can on the calendar period you are fishing in, paying special attention to bass location and behavior during these periods. And there are lures and techniques that have been developed for the multitude of circumstances bass find themselves in. Read up on them. Then go ferret out those windows of opportunity for yourself. One thing you can bank on: No two days will be exactly alike. Some things specific to your questions: -Cruisers in prespawn/spawn mode can be difficult bc many are spawn-minded and not focused on feeding. Often they are only mildly interested in “food” and instead of rushing over to grab prey (as an aggressive feeding fish that sees vulnerable prey might) they might veer over for a look, find something not quite right, and swim off. Sound familiar? Shallow cruisers are also easily alarmed (in part bc they are so shallow and exposed) and may require extreme stealth from approach to cast and retrieve. Also, sighted fish can be frustrating in general bc we then get to see just what our presentations actually look like, which can be pretty cumbersome. If we saw all the unseen fish that we don’t catch during a day’s fishing, it would be disheartening. -Although I've not fished it, Smith Mountain appears to be a highland/hill-land type reservoir with deep clear water over much of it. Probably a lot of largemouth habitat is found in upper reservoir arms that are more “eutrophic” (fertile). A cove that is only 10ft deep may not hold fish all year long, depending on amount of food and cover it has. It’s likely (but not certain) that your cove has bass during the spawn but loses a lot of those mature fish in summer and winter –they heading out into deeper water. If there is a good feeder creek in the cove or arm it may attract shad and bass in the fall. If your cove was in a very fertile (eutrophic) lake, or section of a lake, with low clarity it’s likely the bass remain shallow all year long, and such a shallow cove may hold fish all year. But, only you or other local anglers you talk to will really know. You can also contact your DNR fisheries folks and get info on bass and prey habits in Smith Mountain. They are usually happy to help.

Must be awfully nice to be out again. Out of a hospital bed and onto the water. You take care.