Smallmouth spawning...where are the bigguns?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by cody hampton on May 25, 2010 at 12:27pm

During the Chelan Open this past weekend, me and my partner found alot of beds, but they had just small bucks on them, all the fish we got we pre-spawn fish anywhere from 10 ft of water to 30 feet.

Permalink Reply by Chad Simon on May 25, 2010 at 12:33pm

Who won that tourny? I drove by on Saturday morning, and it didn't seem like a big turnout???

cody hampton said:

During the Chelan Open this past weekend, me and my partner found alot of beds, but they had just small bucks on them, all the fish we got we pre-spawn fish anywhere from 10 ft of water to 30 feet.

Permalink Reply by Harry Hardy on May 25, 2010 at 1:23pm

I had the same problem on Whatcom. I went the second day it was open and caught 10 the smallest beaing a 2.8 pounder in 3 to 5 feet. Went the following weekend and got 6 small fish. I fished shallow,deep, and everything in between just couldn't find the big ones. this time of year they should be on beds and biting like crazy. ???????????

Permalink Reply by Don Hogue on May 25, 2010 at 2:24pm

So you are having problems catching post-spawn females that are suspended? Get in line. Anyone who tells you they have a remedy for this is full of it. You might get a few occasionally, but for the most part those fish aren't catchable. Find them suspending next to structure or bait and it is slightly easier. Maybe topwaters....maybe flukes...maybe a few other things...otherwise just resign yourself to the frustration. Good news is they'll start feeding soon.

Permalink Reply by Jake Anderson on May 25, 2010 at 2:30pm

Shouldnt alot of fish be moving up on beds on the next full moon? It looks like this will happen on Thursday.

Permalink Reply by cody hampton on May 25, 2010 at 2:32pm

I actually forgot who won it, ha, i didnt know them, me and Roy got 2nd with 35 lbs, there was 22 boats who fished it.

Chad Simon said:

Who won that tourny? I drove by on Saturday morning, and it didn't seem like a big turnout???

cody hampton said:

During the Chelan Open this past weekend, me and my partner found alot of beds, but they had just small bucks on them, all the fish we got we pre-spawn fish anywhere from 10 ft of water to 30 feet.

Permalink Reply by Joel Alinen on May 25, 2010 at 5:31pm

Graham,
I havent spent a ton of time on Whatcom in the spring, but I do know those suspended fish are hard to figure out. Did you try slowing down with with a soft plastic after you went threw with the crankbait? I dont know, maybe the big girls are still waiting to move up, or there on beds a little deeper? With the water only being 57 I bet there are still a ton of big girls waiting to move up though.

I learned a new technique that probably wont apply to your situation but I'm looking forward to trying it this year though. It actually got started up there in Canada. Its just long lining white ribbon tail worms. The idea is you find the bait thats suspended off shore with your electronics and troll threw those schools with the worm. Sounds way outside the box but those Linder boys were killin em on that. I think it would be more effective in summer on Whatcom though, not sure it will help much with these postspawn females. Good luck=)

Permalink Reply by Joe Boyd on May 26, 2010 at 10:38am

Since I live near Whatcom and am semi-retired, I've been fishing it a lot lately. I've found some beds, but mostly small males on them. However, I've caught some nice fish (2.5-4+ pounds) on crankbaits --silver lipless and craw-colored deeper divers that suspend. The key for me has been a stop-and-go retrieve in 10-15 feet of water with nearby shallows. I've been banging the Rapalas off the bottom of the shallows, when it gets to deeper water where it's not hitting bottom, I stop for a second, start, then stop again. The strikes have always come on the stop. The lipless crankbait came from Cabelas, it's a cheap generic brand that doesn't rattle much. I have been casting it out near pilings, letting it flutter down to the bottom, then retrieving it up to about mid-column, then letting it fall again. This has resulted in my biggest fish this season. I didn't have a scale, but it measured 25 inches. My son also caught a nice fish in the three pound range last Saturday, using a Yamamoto grub on a swimming jig head.

The bigger fish I have caught show no signs of being on beds yet, but they are very fat. The trout also seem to like these baits; they've been absolute pests out there. I think we caught seven trout at the open. I haven't been able to catch anything except small fish near docks, and nothing under docks. I've tried Senkos, tubes, grubs, flukes and jigs. I've also caught a couple of larger males on spinner baits fished near the shore in about five feet of water.

I've also tried dragging a hula grub on a mojo rig in what has usually been productive areas. The fish I have caught have been in the 12-16 inch range, but mainly appear to be males. The water temps have been in the 58 degree range. Last week the temperature was 60 degrees, and the fish were hitting everything I threw at them for about an hour. Then, a front came through, the temp dropped to 58 degrees, and the bite shut off like a switch. I know that's pretty radical, and I wonder, in retrospect, if I just wasn't in a warmer area of the lake. The front wasn't that nasty, but it did become very cloudy with a lot of rain. And it did get colder.

I have fished Whatcom for years, and have always been frustrated with my early-season results--until this year. I threw a lot of plastics in previous years, and stayed close to structure. This year I'm fishing noisier crankbaits in shallow-to-deep areas with lots of rock. Hope this helps. JB

Last year at the open we had a 18+ pound bag; this year we were ten pounds lighter. Obviously, the big girls haven't decided to make their appearance yet.

Permalink Reply by Graham Dahl on May 26, 2010 at 11:11am

Thanks for the detailed insights Joe...I will see you out there no doubt.

Joe Boyd said:

Since I live near Whatcom and am semi-retired, I've been fishing it a lot lately. I've found some beds, but mostly small males on them. However, I've caught some nice fish (2.5-4+ pounds) on crankbaits --silver lipless and craw-colored deeper divers that suspend. The key for me has been a stop-and-go retrieve in 10-15 feet of water with nearby shallows. I've been banging the Rapalas off the bottom of the shallows, when it gets to deeper water where it's not hitting bottom, I stop for a second, start, then stop again. The strikes have always come on the stop. The lipless crankbait came from Cabelas, it's a cheap generic brand that doesn't rattle much. I have been casting it out near pilings, letting it flutter down to the bottom, then retrieving it up to about mid-column, then letting it fall again. This has resulted in my biggest fish this season. I didn't have a scale, but it measured 25 inches. My son also caught a nice fish in the three pound range last Saturday, using a Yamamoto grub on a swimming jig head.

The bigger fish I have caught show no signs of being on beds yet, but they are very fat. The trout also seem to like these baits; they've been absolute pests out there. I think we caught seven trout at the open. I haven't been able to catch anything except small fish near docks, and nothing under docks. I've tried Senkos, tubes, grubs, flukes and jigs. I've also caught a couple of larger males on spinner baits fished near the shore in about five feet of water.

I've also tried dragging a hula grub on a mojo rig in what has usually been productive areas. The fish I have caught have been in the 12-16 inch range, but mainly appear to be males. The water temps have been in the 58 degree range. Last week the temperature was 60 degrees, and the fish were hitting everything I threw at them for about an hour. Then, a front came through, the temp dropped to 58 degrees, and the bite shut off like a switch. I know that's pretty radical, and I wonder, in retrospect, if I just wasn't in a warmer area of the lake. The front wasn't that nasty, but it did become very cloudy with a lot of rain. And it did get colder.

I have fished Whatcom for years, and have always been frustrated with my early-season results--until this year. I threw a lot of plastics in previous years, and stayed close to structure. This year I'm fishing noisier crankbaits in shallow-to-deep areas with lots of rock. Hope this helps. JB

Last year at the open we had a 18+ pound bag; this year we were ten pounds lighter. Obviously, the big girls haven't decided to make their appearance yet.

Permalink Reply by Chad Simon on May 26, 2010 at 1:14pm

a 25" smallmouth!!! Wow, to bad you didn't have a scale! did you take a girth measurement? if so what was it?

Joe Boyd said:

Since I live near Whatcom and am semi-retired, I've been fishing it a lot lately. I've found some beds, but mostly small males on them. However, I've caught some nice fish (2.5-4+ pounds) on crankbaits --silver lipless and craw-colored deeper divers that suspend. The key for me has been a stop-and-go retrieve in 10-15 feet of water with nearby shallows. I've been banging the Rapalas off the bottom of the shallows, when it gets to deeper water where it's not hitting bottom, I stop for a second, start, then stop again. The strikes have always come on the stop. The lipless crankbait came from Cabelas, it's a cheap generic brand that doesn't rattle much. I have been casting it out near pilings, letting it flutter down to the bottom, then retrieving it up to about mid-column, then letting it fall again. This has resulted in my biggest fish this season. I didn't have a scale, but it measured 25 inches. My son also caught a nice fish in the three pound range last Saturday, using a Yamamoto grub on a swimming jig head.

The bigger fish I have caught show no signs of being on beds yet, but they are very fat. The trout also seem to like these baits; they've been absolute pests out there. I think we caught seven trout at the open. I haven't been able to catch anything except small fish near docks, and nothing under docks. I've tried Senkos, tubes, grubs, flukes and jigs. I've also caught a couple of larger males on spinner baits fished near the shore in about five feet of water.

I've also tried dragging a hula grub on a mojo rig in what has usually been productive areas. The fish I have caught have been in the 12-16 inch range, but mainly appear to be males. The water temps have been in the 58 degree range. Last week the temperature was 60 degrees, and the fish were hitting everything I threw at them for about an hour. Then, a front came through, the temp dropped to 58 degrees, and the bite shut off like a switch. I know that's pretty radical, and I wonder, in retrospect, if I just wasn't in a warmer area of the lake. The front wasn't that nasty, but it did become very cloudy with a lot of rain. And it did get colder.

I have fished Whatcom for years, and have always been frustrated with my early-season results--until this year. I threw a lot of plastics in previous years, and stayed close to structure. This year I'm fishing noisier crankbaits in shallow-to-deep areas with lots of rock. Hope this helps. JB

Last year at the open we had a 18+ pound bag; this year we were ten pounds lighter. Obviously, the big girls haven't decided to make their appearance yet.

Permalink Reply by Joe Boyd on May 26, 2010 at 2:24pm

No, sorry Chad. She was plump. I estimate her weight to be high 4 to low 5 pound range.
Chad Simon said:

a 25" smallmouth!!! Wow, to bad you didn't have a scale! did you take a girth measurement? if so what was it?

Joe Boyd said:

Since I live near Whatcom and am semi-retired, I've been fishing it a lot lately. I've found some beds, but mostly small males on them. However, I've caught some nice fish (2.5-4+ pounds) on crankbaits --silver lipless and craw-colored deeper divers that suspend. The key for me has been a stop-and-go retrieve in 10-15 feet of water with nearby shallows. I've been banging the Rapalas off the bottom of the shallows, when it gets to deeper water where it's not hitting bottom, I stop for a second, start, then stop again. The strikes have always come on the stop. The lipless crankbait came from Cabelas, it's a cheap generic brand that doesn't rattle much. I have been casting it out near pilings, letting it flutter down to the bottom, then retrieving it up to about mid-column, then letting it fall again. This has resulted in my biggest fish this season. I didn't have a scale, but it measured 25 inches. My son also caught a nice fish in the three pound range last Saturday, using a Yamamoto grub on a swimming jig head.

The bigger fish I have caught show no signs of being on beds yet, but they are very fat. The trout also seem to like these baits; they've been absolute pests out there. I think we caught seven trout at the open. I haven't been able to catch anything except small fish near docks, and nothing under docks. I've tried Senkos, tubes, grubs, flukes and jigs. I've also caught a couple of larger males on spinner baits fished near the shore in about five feet of water.

I've also tried dragging a hula grub on a mojo rig in what has usually been productive areas. The fish I have caught have been in the 12-16 inch range, but mainly appear to be males. The water temps have been in the 58 degree range. Last week the temperature was 60 degrees, and the fish were hitting everything I threw at them for about an hour. Then, a front came through, the temp dropped to 58 degrees, and the bite shut off like a switch. I know that's pretty radical, and I wonder, in retrospect, if I just wasn't in a warmer area of the lake. The front wasn't that nasty, but it did become very cloudy with a lot of rain. And it did get colder.

I have fished Whatcom for years, and have always been frustrated with my early-season results--until this year. I threw a lot of plastics in previous years, and stayed close to structure. This year I'm fishing noisier crankbaits in shallow-to-deep areas with lots of rock. Hope this helps. JB

Last year at the open we had a 18+ pound bag; this year we were ten pounds lighter. Obviously, the big girls haven't decided to make their appearance yet.

Permalink Reply by Zach Chandler on May 26, 2010 at 4:07pm

A "plump" 25 inch smallmouth, 4-5 pounds????? I would say more like 7-8 pounds. But with no pic to see its hard to say. Sounds like a doozy though.