Hey guys, I'm fishing later into the year then I ever have for bass. I'm trying to catch bass every month out of the year this year.

 

I caught my November bass so far on a spinnerbait on a windy day with low visibility but I was just curious. Where are you guys finding the bass this time of year around here? 

I have not fished for bass in a three weeks but my last trip I was catching bass in the Columbia in 15-30' of water on a drop shot. Fish were coming off humps and points. There did not seem to be a preference for upstream vs downstream side. 

I mostly stop fishing but not completely for bass usually by December because I am a shorebound angler for whom bank fishing for bass just isn’t productive and many lakes nearby are closed by the end of October (Western Washington, King County). I can’t speak for eastern WA.
 

Usually when I do, as @pdxfisher mentioned, drop shot is pretty much my go to. 
 

@snowplow: Are you in western WA? The chum salmon should running soon if they aren’t already. Imagine a smallie on steroids and that is a chum. 

Yep I'm in King Co too. I've never fished for Chum. I'll have to try it. 

 

I was thinking more about this and you know listening to YouTube videos and trying to figure it all out. I keep hearing that in November the bass are active but nowhere I fished am I seeing active fish. Are you guys seeing active fish right now? I also keep hearing their chasing bait fish but I haven't really seen that myself. Maybe I missed it. How big are the bait fish right now?

 

I have so many questions lol.

The bass I was catching on my last trip were puking up shad fry and perch. What I think happens in the Columbia is that the bass sit in deeper water and when schools of shad fry go by (usually about 10' deep) they come up and eat a few. I usually don't see them chasing bait this time of year. I see them chasing bait all summer but I see fewer fish pinning bait against the surface once fall hits and the shad fry are migrating. That is my guess/observation for the Columbia.

 

You have a lot of lakes up your way to fish. I have never been on any of them so I can't comment on what to expect there.

I saw bass pinning fry to the surface in October but not since then and even then just once or twice.

I grew up in Central Washington and fished Potholes and surrounding lakes. You can fish all year in central Wa.  It's a trip but there are places to fish all over the basin. 

If you see the candy cane water tank, you're in the right spot. LOL  

@snowplow: Then you’ve observed what I observed but of course I am a bank angler.  A boat even here would definitely increase the odds. The latest I ever caught a bass from the shore was November. 
 

If you’re interested in targeting chum, it should be a good time now. Start your research with the green river, from the mouth to Auburn. And check the regs - sometimes certain sections of the river might be closed.  One of the things I despise is how conculuted and at times confusing the regs are.

 

I have a lot of things I’m juggling right now so fishing is way in the back burner 😭 and I just can’t get around to it.  maybe we can connect sometime in the near future. I am not an expert by any means, just a guy you loves to fish. 

For you western WA guys out there, just curious how large are the baitfish right now in Dec? Bluegill/pumpkinseed/crappie, perch, and trout?

Probably a lot of different sizes but the bass seem to key in on smaller ones here.

 

A lot of this years sunfish fry that hatched over the summer are now 2-3 inches long and swimming around in schools as the surface  water hits it's winter lows in the 40s.  I assume it's similar with regard to the size the bass prefer but hard to say what size the forage is on your body of water without netting or catching a few on rod and reel.

The LMB in the State of Washington are Northern strain that tend to avoid baitfish over 5” long. The vast majority of young of the year baitfish are under 5” long, Sunfish family  and crappie around 3”. Bass eat a wide variety of prey including young of the year catfish, carp, suckers and adult size fresh water Sculpin and crawdads.

Keep in mind fish including bass can not judge the size of themselves or the prey the see and often make mistakes trying to swallow prey too wide.

Tom

Wow that's an epic piece of information. Thank you!

I got two questions for you guys, 

 

1. When I'm listening to YouTube and learning new things I hear a lot of people talk about techniques for down south, the west, and the north. Just curious as a Washington guy would I be aligning with the West or the north or both or what?

 

1. In Washington here. I know we have sculpins. I always knew them as bullheads growing up. I only saw them in rivers. Is that a good thing to imitate here in Washington? Are they common in the lakes and ponds? Are sculpins and gobies essentially the same thing for my purposes?

Fresh water sculpins are common in west coast rivers and lakes. Roboworm makes a 4” sculpin in Oxblood w/light red flake, perfect on a split or slip shoot rig.

Tom

Cool thanks. I wasn't sure if they were in the lakes and ponds.