# Please give me ideas on these bass



## aluminumboatlover (Apr 6, 2011)

Hi i guess fishin season will start here in a few.....
I live about a mile as crow flies from a large lake in Tum Tum, washigton. The lake is near spokane, washington. Its name is long lake(or lake spokane). the main species in long lake is crappie, perch, and smallmouths. Obviously the most desirable species is smallmouths, but i also enjoy filling a cooler of perch in a day. the weather lately has been 50 degrees Fahrenheit. the structure in the lake is SOME rock piles and mostly milfoil. I only know one way to fish them, and that is to pitch or troll A firetiger jointed shad rap. sadly it only catches them during a one month period in the summer. and besides, the guys are only like a pound or less  . I know that there are large smallmouth bass because ive seen people pull giant smallies out of there. any advice would be greatly appreciated on how to catch more, larger smallies!!


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## Captain Ahab (Apr 6, 2011)

In the Spring I suggest trying larger (1/2 oz and up) spinner baits over those rock piles. Also, suspending jerk baits worked slowly on the edges of the milfoil jerk - long pause (up to 30 seconds) and twitch. 

Once the water warms up then large tubes (4-5") will be the ticket. Pitch the tubes in holes in teh weeds, and in the rocks. Let the tube settle and then give it a hop. Let it sit for 15 seconds or so, them lift and drop again.

Swimbaits might also work really well if there are bait balls and such present. No need to get to fancy, a Money Minnow on a 1/4 ox swimbait hook slow retrieved so that it skims the bottom can be deadly.


As you will see, the trick to getting the larger smallies to bite is fish super slow. It can wear on you but the results will be worth it


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## BaitCaster (Apr 6, 2011)

Crawfish coloured tubes are the way to go for smallies. Texas rig them or put them on a tube jig and fish them on those rock piles. Another great way to catch smallies is using a drop shot rig. All sorts of different kinds of plastic baits will work for this.


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## juggernoob (Apr 6, 2011)

Football jig with crawdad trailer on the rock piles, and in the milfoil pockets or try a dropshot.


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## SkagBass (Apr 6, 2011)

I am on the west side of the state and have never fished Long Lake but here is how I would approach the situation you have described. As others have mentioned I would target the rock piles. You did not mention how deep the water gets at the lake, but I would start out about 15-20' if possible and work up to shallow. I would start with a DT hula grub on a naked football head jig. Use your favorite craw color combo. Let it hit the bottom then slowly drag and pause across the rocks. I would also use a drop shot with a 1/2oz weight and use a similar retrieve. The other bait I have had success in this type of situation is a crankbait running deep enough to deflect off the rocks on the bottom.


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## aluminumboatlover (Apr 6, 2011)

thanks for the help everyone i think ima go fishin on friday in a shallow bay that is about 3 acres and 15 feet deep at max. i do believe i am gonna try the dead stickbait idea. like i said, thanks. :LOL2:


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## richg99 (Apr 6, 2011)

All god advice given above. 

Also, don't forget to "match the hatch". I.e. if your local crawdads are reddish colored....use reddish colored cranks; traps; and tubes. If they are darker brown...match that color. A nearby bait store selling local craws can supply the model for you. Rich


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## aluminumboatlover (Apr 6, 2011)

thanks rich i actually have crawfish pots and i throw them down below our local dam and can pull em out by the dosens. i know a friend of mine throws little craw jigs that are apparently the right color and ive seen the size of the fish he pulls out regularly. he held up a stringer of 20 smallies that were avg.3 pounds each. i tried his technique throughout the year all year and pulled 3 smallies that were less than a pound each. i think he was bs'in me about what he used. [-X :---) :roll:  :x


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## SkagBass (Apr 6, 2011)

aluminumboatlover, 

Make sure you check the WSDW Regulations regarding bass slot limits when you start pulling in those lunkers.


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## aluminumboatlover (Apr 6, 2011)

haha thanks the guy let most of em go he only kept the ones under 14 inches.


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## aluminumboatlover (Apr 6, 2011)

i got an idea. what do u guys think about pitchin a small inline spinner around the rocks?


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## SkagBass (Apr 6, 2011)

aluminumboatlover said:


> i got an idea. what do u guys think about pitchin a small inline spinner around the rocks?



I think if you could get it to work the bottom and bounce off rocks it would catch some fish. In my mind I am thinking of a blue fox inline spinner, not sure if you could get something like a roostertail or meps to bounce the rocks.


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## aluminumboatlover (Apr 6, 2011)

thanks skagbass, i do think that im gonna dropshot and maybe football jig the rock piles thoroughly. If all else fails, im either gonna suspend a tiny tube jig under the dock and pull out perch all day or maybe slip bobber jig the lake for crappie. hope i can pull some smallies, though!!!! [-o<


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## Captain Ahab (Apr 6, 2011)

aluminumboatlover said:


> i got an idea. what do u guys think about pitchin a small inline spinner around the rocks?




I think you are gonna get small fish - you need to stay low and slow for the piggie smallies


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## aluminumboatlover (Apr 6, 2011)

thank you cap'n. i do believe that your right. throwin thoes spinners would probably just pull a few little guys


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## BaitCaster (Apr 7, 2011)

One lure I have also caught plenty of football sized smallies on is the good old Senko. Mainly in shallower water though.


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## aluminumboatlover (Apr 7, 2011)

sadly i didnt manage to pick up any senkos when i went to walmart yesterday. i believe this is gonna be my tactic.

1: First ill drop shot a small shakey worm in the milfoil beds at probably 10 feet deep with a very slow retrieve.

2: If that doesnt work, ill take a small stickbait and work it also very slow along the weedbeds in approxamately 10 feet of water.

3: If i still cant catch anything i will probably take a pumpkinseed football jig and work it about one reel revolution every 30 seconds (which is painfully slow) im about 8-12 feet of water over a rock bed.

when all else fails, i will throw on a bobber stop and a slip bobber with a small jig/micro combo or i will throw on a little squid jig with a little worm and fill a bucket ol perch. Throughout the whole time, i will have a simple worm setup out in different places to see if i can get lucky (i legally can have 2 rods out at 1 time) 
I HAVE A QUESTION: does the the stickbait have to be weighted so it suspends rather than floats?
any respondse very appreciated.


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## aluminumboatlover (Apr 8, 2011)

anybody? [-X


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## Captain Ahab (Apr 8, 2011)

By stickbait do you mean a pointer or jerk bait? Use a suspending bait (x-rap, Husky Jerk, LC Pointer)

Long pauses - very long


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## aluminumboatlover (Apr 8, 2011)

went fishin 2day. didnt catch anything. water wayy to cold.


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## richg99 (Apr 9, 2011)

Well, I guess that is why we call it "fishin" and not "catchin". Ha ha.

I've been skunked many more times than I have caught fish, especially during odd seasons.

Do you have a fish-finder? If so, did you see any fish where you were dunking bait/lures? 

I never used a fish-finder much since 98% of my fishing was in saltwater bays that were only two or three feet deep. Recently I fished a small freshwater lake. It has depths to 60 feet or so. A friend taught me how to locate the fish by putt-putting around and watching the FF. It is amazing how many fish are in one area, and none in the other locations.

You've got to be fishing where they are. The lure/bait doesn't matter if the fish aren't even home. Heck, sometimes the lure/bait doesn't matter even if the fish are home.

Probably just telling you things you already know...but???

regards, Rich

p.s. Yesterday I installed a second fish-finder on my boat. $70.00 for an Eagle Cuda, ....simple but it works. This FF is mounted near the bow so I can see what's going on while fishing from the front seat.


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## aluminumboatlover (Apr 9, 2011)

thanks rich i do have a fish finder, and in that sense, a very nice one. problem is that i dont have a boat to fit that fishfinder!!! right now i am modding my 14 foot lowe v-hull. i wouldve taken that out but it has a few holes in her that we need to seal up from drilling. i went shore fishin.


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## richg99 (Apr 9, 2011)

I might as well NOT had a FF today. Went fishing and I spent the time in 2 feet of saltwater. I was surrounded by bait fish breaking the surface, but 1 1/2 hours of throwing everything in the box produced NOTHING. Oh well, its fishing, not catching. 

Only reason that I stopped so soon was that I was convinced that I had dropped my $$$cellphone$$$ in the parking lot. I didn't want some guy calling China on my nickel. 

It turned out, after I reloaded my boat onto the trailer, that the phone was stuck between the seats of the vehicle...and not just lying on the ground.

I'll go some other day soon. Hope you do too. Rich


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## aluminumboatlover (Apr 11, 2011)

haha by chance do you know how to throw a castnet? because if you do you could throw those at the baitfish and do that for fun. i actually enjoy pullin baits for fun all day. and if you get lucky you may be able to pull a big gamefish ( if you do imeadeatly throw it back because castnetting gamefish is fairly illegal [-X ). have a good time fishin next trip! the way i look at it is that if you enjoy the expierence but dont catch any fish it is 10 times as fun as catching everything with scales in your body of water but dont enjoy yourself


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## richg99 (Apr 11, 2011)

Yes, I do know how to throw a cast-net and I keep a small one on board at all times. If I hadn't had the "lost phone" excitement, I might still be out there trying to catch SOMETHING, SOMEHOW. Any legal method will do.

I planned on going to a freshwater lake this morning....but...the same big storm that tornadoed Merrill WI last night is due to hit here within the hour. Such storms get to TX, but sometimes are a half day later. 

Small craft advisories are out...winds expected 20-25 knots; switching quickly from South to North-West. Not a good day for boating or fishing, according to the Coast Guard.

Rich


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## aluminumboatlover (Apr 11, 2011)

ya i enjoy cast netting alot. its fun if your not having a good fishing day. Ya if i were you i wouldnt take your boat out on one of 

those days where you could either wing it and take the risk of getting hurt or stay at home. better safe than sorry! i hope weather 

gets better for you so you can start havin better fishin!!!


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## richg99 (Apr 11, 2011)

In spite of your excellent and judicious advice...and in lieu of any common sense on my part...I decided to drive through the front and fish after it hit.

Normally a total waste of time. Today, however proved a bit different. Please see my recent post. regards, Rich

https://www.tinboats.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18994


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## aluminumboatlover (Apr 13, 2011)

wow rich, that is a very good bass =D> =D> =D> . i definatly can say that i am very jealous of your fish!! too bad your mono line was giving you trouble........ i have used mono my whole life and havent had any problems!!! How was your knee operation? i feel bad for you..........


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## richg99 (Apr 13, 2011)

alum....thanks for the compliment re the bass. The bass did all of the work! Ha! It was a serious good fight and day's outing. 

Knee recovery (torn meniscus repair) is going very well. I played 18 holes of golf one week after the operation, and played another 18 yesterday. I still have another week or two of Physical Therapy. That PT girls works this old guy pretty hard for an hour.. three days a week. My thighs haven't hurt this much for a long time.

I, too, used mono for many years. But, as you know, mono stretches and braid doesn't. Slamming a big hook into a heavy fish takes more power. Plus, braid just plain doesn't backlash as often. I'll never go back, except, perhaps for a top water lure. A top water probably would benefit by the slower hook set of mono.

regards, Rich


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## aluminumboatlover (Apr 15, 2011)

Wow.. i am very happy your knee is ok =D> !! my sis has had pt for quite a while because she broke her back on her horse a while back. she says its quite a chore. ya i have 17 pound mono on my abu garcia and she can be a little testy and hard to cast with little weight.


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## richg99 (Apr 16, 2011)

Try 30 lb Power Pro ( ten lb diameter). You will not believe how small the line is and yet how strong it is. You can get it at Walmart. Seems expensive, but you can reverse it after a year or two. Lasts forever. 

I'll never go back to mono. 

If water clarity is a problem, you can always tie some fluorocarbon on for the last few feet. Rich


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