Whatcom fish in anyone?

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by David Parnicky on July 28, 2010 at 10:52pm

I made it out in the late afternoon for a few hours last saturday. I could hardly catch a fish on swimbaits for some reason even though the stable weather seemed to favor it. There was a stout afternoon breeze and lots of boat traffic so that might have thrown off something in the kokanee/smallmouth relationship. Who knows. Dropshotting ledges on the edges of weedflats that are offshore a ways worked very well however! The fish are finally acting like its summer out there!! Well, except for not eating swimbaits!

Tyler Heffernan said:

I'm really interested in how your day turned out on Whatcom. I'll be there in two weeks time for a couple days and really hope to boat a couple smallies. Let me know how it went!

Permalink Reply by Harry Hardy on August 1, 2010 at 11:35am

The bite is on on Whatcom. I fished it Friday and Saturday and caught 57 smallies and most were in the 2 to 3# class. However I got to the north end launch on Sat and the ramp was closed off for the guys removing the pieling next to the ramp. Had to launch at the south end.

Permalink Reply by Tyler Heffernan on August 2, 2010 at 6:36pm

This is really exciting to hear. I have been looking forward to fishing Whatcom for months now and it's nice to hear that people ( at least you ) are catching some fish! Were your tactics similar to David's - dropshotting ledges and offshore weed beds - or were you landing them on swimmers? Perhaps I'm just being nosey and you'd rather not let your secrets loose? I'm from Ontario so, all the smallmouths I catch are on tubes, top waters, and crankbaits... this pacific north-west bass game is a different animal altogether it seems! Anyway, it seems like you had a great couple of days on the water! Cheers!

Harry Hardy said:

The bite is on on Whatcom. I fished it Friday and Saturday and caught 57 smallies and most were in the 2 to 3# class. However I got to the north end launch on Sat and the ramp was closed off for the guys removing the pieling next to the ramp. Had to launch at the south end.

Permalink Reply by David Parnicky on August 2, 2010 at 7:03pm

Hey Tyler,
I was out yesterday and the fish were behaving much differently than the last time I was on the lake. I could hardly get bit on a dropshot and spinnerbaits, swimbaits, and jerkbaits did most of the damage. Also, the fish were concentrated much more heavily in schools in open water. When I found a fish, there were many more in the same area. My advice for what its worth would be to move around a lot and fish baits both in the upper and lower portions of the water column. Don't spend a lot of time doing the same thing if you aren't getting signs (bites, followers, etc.) from the fish. My guess would be throwing swimbaits or reaction baits and covering water would be the best way to go at the moment (unless some weather moves through). It's so hard to know for sure though without being out there. I would start throwing a swimbait and if the fish are chasing and not biting, try triggering a reaction bite with a jerkbait or spinnerbait. If those presentations aren't working and you know you are on good structure, try a dropshot or tube. If you are around fish and throwing what they want you will know very quickly this time of year. I know thats kind of a cluster of ideas but the fish are out moving around lots right now and trying to eat whatever they can so its really hard to know on a given day unless you are out there. Good luck out there!

Tyler Heffernan said:

This is really exciting to hear. I have been looking forward to fishing Whatcom for months now and it's nice to hear that people ( at least you ) are catching some fish! Were your tactics similar to David's - dropshotting ledges and offshore weed beds - or were you landing them on swimmers? Perhaps I'm just being nosey and you'd rather not let your secrets loose? I'm from Ontario so, all the smallmouths I catch are on tubes, top waters, and crankbaits... this pacific north-west bass game is a different animal altogether it seems! Anyway, it seems like you had a great couple of days on the water! Cheers!

Harry Hardy said:

The bite is on on Whatcom. I fished it Friday and Saturday and caught 57 smallies and most were in the 2 to 3# class. However I got to the north end launch on Sat and the ramp was closed off for the guys removing the pieling next to the ramp. Had to launch at the south end.

Permalink Reply by Tyler Heffernan on August 2, 2010 at 9:01pm

@ Dana:

I am going to be in Sudden Valley from August 9-12. It would be amazing to fish with someone who knows the lake. I've only been to Whatcom once (last summer) and the boat was out of commission so I didn't even have a chance to fish. Do you want to email me some kind of contact info?

theffer2@uwo.ca or in_music_we_trust@hotmail.com

I can't thank you all enough for all the tips and information, maps, pointers, etc.

Let me know if or when you are available, Dana.



Dana Steiner said:

Tyler,
When are you going to be here? I grew up fishing Lake Whatcom and live in Bellingham (I think Tag Watson can attest to that) I can't make any promises yet, but it may be possible to take you out and show you a couple things.

Regards,
Dana Steiner

Tyler Heffernan said:

This is really exciting to hear. I have been looking forward to fishing Whatcom for months now and it's nice to hear that people ( at least you ) are catching some fish! Were your tactics similar to David's - dropshotting ledges and offshore weed beds - or were you landing them on swimmers? Perhaps I'm just being nosey and you'd rather not let your secrets loose? I'm from Ontario so, all the smallmouths I catch are on tubes, top waters, and crankbaits... this pacific north-west bass game is a different animal altogether it seems! Anyway, it seems like you had a great couple of days on the water! Cheers!

Harry Hardy said:

The bite is on on Whatcom. I fished it Friday and Saturday and caught 57 smallies and most were in the 2 to 3# class. However I got to the north end launch on Sat and the ramp was closed off for the guys removing the pieling next to the ramp. Had to launch at the south end.

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