I have a small res that has had a strong year class of 19-20 LMs in it. They are not all that hard to find and on an average day I could expect to catch one or two. On my best days (periods of predictable CARNAGE!! lol), I've caught half a dozen such fish:

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1206553821/2#2

But last year my top three fish from this pond were in the 18 class. This year, so far, I haven't broken 18. What's up?

This pond was opened to the public for fishing in the mid 90s. I started fishing it in 2003. It was full of big mamas. But, each year I've watched these girls being carried off to the parking lot, despite signs requesting anglers to practice catch and release (I don't believe it is mandatory). The place is lined with spinnerbait chucking anglers all summer. I was concerned about people taking the big ones, but when one stops catching them, have they been caught off? Or just grown old and died out the passing of a year class wave? Northern bass tend to die of old age at between 10 and 12 years some a little older. It takes around 8years for most Colorado bass to break 18.

There has been research showing that anglers complaints of fished out waters doesn't always end up being true, revealing big ones that people just aren't catching. SoI have to be cautious in pointing an accusatory finger at those that kill bass. But I always tell em, when I get the chance, Keep the little ones; Let the big ones go.

Well, the best way to find out is to fish it during periods when fish are consolidated and chowing down. Early spring is such a time, when warming water consolidates bluegills and bass tight to heated banks with cover. It can be pure carnage on those shorelines. From 2003 to 2008 I found bass over 4lbs. I didn't do anything special, bait-wise no swimbaits, or heavy cover crashing (in fact there is no cover there through the coldwater period). The trick is timing and location, and it's predictable. Yesterday was such a day.

April 15, 2010

Bright sun with cirrus and cottony veils of light cirrostratus. Light breeze created a nice chop most of the day. High nudged 70 decent heating day. BP high and slightly rising: Weak front due in tomorrow.

I knew where I wanted to go, but also knew it would get better later, so I worked my way there leisurely, fishing a #11 Rapala hoping for the first topwater bites of the year. I rigged to fish a variety of depths from 2 to 9 feet. A temperature profile showed no thermocline anymore, so the entire water column was fair game: 58F ST and 54F at 16ft. The ST was to rise to 62F, and 65F in the immediate (downwind, and protected) shallows, by evening.

I fished the Rap out to about 4fow (visibility 2ft), twitching it on top close to the shore, then cranking it down and fishing it as a jerkbait. I did take a topwater fish with it, but most came subsurface. They liked a slow retrieve, just enough to keep the plug down, then, single twitches and a pause Smack! Too much action and they didn't respond.

I covered the 4 to 8ft range with a 10cm X-Rap, and took a few with this too same general retrieve. I also used a Sebile lipless that caught fish really well for me a couple days ago here from shore, but today I didn't catch with it. My guess is it still would have done the trick but I didn't spend the time to figure it out I was doing just fine with the stickbaits and a jig. The jig was my primary interest for its ability to draw bigger fish on average.

Floating Rapala, fished as a jerk, worked very well.

First topwater bass of the year.

The X-Rap covered slightly deeper water.

A 1/4oz jig-n-pork was my GoTo for the day. When bass are keyed on bluegills, it does a fine job.

Oh yes, I took to landing fish in a unique, and very effective, fashion Never thought of it before. Pull 'em into my lap, and clamp 'em with my legs. They instantly stop struggling, and I can get a lip lock on em. Very efficient.

As I neared the Zones of Carnage I watched the surface temp climb on my sonar, and came into large numbers of fish: carp rolling and breaching, bluegills feeding, and the occasional surge from bass chasing gills. There was also a good midge emergence going on and it was what's called a Ghost or Phantom midge the largest midge we have fully a size 14 (for you FFs) that's a HUGE midge. The biggest gills in the pond were there, and they made blooping rises that sounded like good sized trout. And I started picking up better bass. Many were right tight to shore (carnage zone) and took the jig well cast right to shore and then swum out and away. I probed deeper too but the majority of the action was at the shoreline where the majority of the gills were.

I was using a rod that turned out not to be a good jig rod too soft in the tip. It's my plastics/drop-shot rod, with plenty of backbone, but a soft tip that's very useful for weighing line for plastics takes. But jigs require a faster rod faster reaction time as bass just won't hold a jig very long. And swimming the jig resulted in many over-run strikes strikes you feel as weightlessness tougher to detect on a soft-tipped rod. Further, an over-run strike, even if you detect it, requires you keep reeling after the hook-set because you are towing the fish along and may not feel they are there, until you say, Oh, missed em!; Then suddenly you feel em spit it! > I missed a bunch of takes, and finally gave myself a talking to. I took to making sure the rod was at a 90degree angle to the line so I could maximize feel in the rod, (never point the rod AT the jig AOK for other baits, but not a jig), then SET THE HOOK! and keep reelin'. After I adjusted I brought my catch rate up.

In all I ended up with 20 some bass from 12 to 17inches; all fat and happy. ButI didn't find a single big mama. They should have been there. In my experience they aren't any different than the 2 and 3lbers. They just didn't seem to be there. SoI'll try more through the year, but, I have a strong feeling that too many of them were carried out to the parking lot. Might be time to move on to another pond. However, if all goes well, this'll be a pond to re-visit in about 3 years when that horde of 13-14ers grows up. They are on their way -nearly all were small-headed and fat.

The zone of carnage was enhanced by giant Phantom midges, attracting big bluegills and some yellow perch.

12-1/2 perch that smacked a lipless.

A 23 channel cat that got in on the action mistaking my jig for a bluegill in 2fow.

The better bass for the evening -ranged from 16 to 17+" (2-1/2 to 3lbs): (Oh yeah, I accidently pushed a "shadow highlight" feature on my camera in the heat of battle and had to save the colors at home in Photoshop > )

Look at this bluegill stuffed porker!

Awesome post! I love reading these.  Too bad its in the 30's and snowing here otherwise I'd be on the water immediately after work.

Nice post, Paul. Chances are there are still a couple of big girls swimming.

Just do a search for Paul Robert's posts, and you can learn quite a bit about bass fishing.  Another well done trip and report!

Nice day for bass fishing

Thanks SF. I really like the day on the lake type format, with a lot of fishing detail, and then the natural history events that really make a given day.

Dwight, I sure hope so. Odd though, I think, that they appear to be so obviously missing. To make for good big bass fishing, I've got to have waters that produce them in reasonable numbers. The needle in a haystack thing is not worth my time, IMO.

Thanks, J.

that's an interesting set up you have there.  is that modified float tube type thing or do only have half of a boat? ;D 

It's actually a float tube I strapped to the bow of my Ranger -just so I get the feel of intimacy -without getting wet. ;D

It's a float tube rigged to fish:

holy cow!!  that's a nice set up.  i would be scared to death to use that thing down here in south florida, but man, it would be fun!!  i love how you have the depth finder on there too.