I'm posting this here because my question is about the fishing not the tournament. If it's in the wrong spot go ahead and move it.

So this past Sunday I'm fishing my regular buddy tournament with my son. 5 minutes in I lose a 3+pounder at the boat. Then for the next 8 hours all we could catch was short fish and pike. We boated probably (40-50) 13 1/2" bass and ended up bringing (2) 14" bass to the weigh in. The lake is in end of spawn/post spawn. Water temps varied from 70-80 degrees and is stained(where I was, but other lakes in the system are gin clear). Bluebird skies and 90+ degree air temp. Fish were caught on seawalls, docks, timber, inside and outside weedlines as well as the middle of channels. Bait of choice was blacknblue jigs, and swimjigs. Senkos caught the bass guarding fry. All in less than 5 fow(the average depth of the lakes). Many guys brought in limits and 14+pounds won.

In your guys experiences:

Was I only on small fish with the bigger ones being elsewhere? Or, Should I have experimented more with different types of baits, thinking maybe the larger fish didn't want a jig?

Thanks

It sure does sound like you were either just on small fish or just happened to be throwing what the bigger fish didnt want. I know it's hard to leave when you're getting bit but after about 10 dinks, I would've done something different with bait choice. I know where I am during post spawn especially, the carolina rig really shines although I hate throwing it. It also sounds like you moved around a lot and hit multiple types of cover and structure so it almost had to be the bait and/or the presentation of the bait.

Being post spawn, I wanted to say that you should've tried fishing out a little deeper and a little slower but if you're only fishing a lake that averages 5 ft of water, that doesn't give you much to play with. Whenever I'm catching small ones shallow, I keep moving deeper until I find bigger fish but the lakes I fish have channels that are 100' deep.

I would have moved offshore and targeted post spawn with a jerk bait, crankbait or jig. First break line into deeper water is where I would start.

The bigger females will move up during pre-spawn first, spawn first & leave first

Most anglers fail to understand this fact & spend the entire pre-spawn, spawn, & post spawn catching medium to small bass instead of the Hawgs.

I would have moved offshore and targeted post spawn with a jerk bait, crankbait or jig. First break line into deeper water is where I would start.

X2

Post spawn is just like pre-spawn except backwards, the bass will move up or out in the case of post spawn in stages moving one or two break lines at a time, they will not go directly to deep water. So just like pre-spawn ya gonna have to hunt for em along the exact same break lines that led them shallow in the first place.

Again with Structure 101

Bass must have a visible path of breaks and break lines on a structure from deep water all the way to the shallows & then back out again. As bass move along a structure they pause or stop at "things"; breaks and break lines on the bottom. It is at such breaks that anglers can expect to make consistent contact with fish as they migrate along structure. This is why a certain stump or flooded tree, dock piling or submerged rock consistently produces bass for anglers. Most of the time such a spot is merely a break or bass stopping point on structure. Find more such breaks on the structure or break lines or even the deep water sanctuary near the structure then you'll find more and bigger bass more often.

Thanks for posting this. There is a ton of info here that I have learned from, as it is anytime I see Catt post something. But not to take away anything from the rest of y'all. Thanks guys!