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To say I was looking forward to today’s fishing trip on Lake Roosevelt was an understatement. It had been way too long since I last fished with Big Bass Dez or for bass. Bass fishing to me is one of the more hands on, “thinking man’s” kind of fishing. Every cast involves thought processes that fully involve mind and body. And when mind and body are engaged fully spirit follows. Bass fishing takes me to peaceful Zen states of mind like no other fishing does.

I stayed the weekend in Electric City with a friend of Dez’s, Tom, an accomplished bass angler and tournament frequenter. So I was in a good company of two experts guiding my intermediate bass skills.

We launched at Spring Canyon just up from Grand Coulee Dam, and Tom ran us several miles up lake to a shallow area for some serious bed fishing. Bed fishing is the art of locating and then casting a small plastic bait on to an active bed. If there is a bass there protecting the bed, odds are quite good they will pick that bait up and move it off the bed. Sounds simple, and it can be, but it can also be frustrating, as you get to watch the fish ignore your offerings.

I did learn several things from Tom and Dez today. For one thing, I learned that persistence pays off. If you see a fish on a bed and work the fish, eventually most will bite. Dez told me there is usually a “sweet spot” on the bed that the bass is guarding, and moving around your bait to different spots on the bed can cause a bite. I witnessed this myself today. Drop-shotting is the most common approach, although some do use jigs when bed fishing. We used a 6” leader from hook to weight, and a 4” white tubular worm for the bait. The white plastic makes it easier to see your bait on the bed.

We caught probably a dozen fish over the course of the morning. Nice ones too, 2-3 pounders. Sun is an important part of bed fishing as it makes it much easier to see the beds and the fish. As the day progressed it got cloudy, and harder to see the beds, so we switched over to other methods like football jigs and crank baits. Tom and Dez had great success, me, not so much, but even so enough fish to have an enjoyable day on the water. The bigger fish definitely came off of beds.

One thing to mention, after catching the fish they would immediately be released and returned to their beds. No bass were harmed and all returned safely to guard the next generation.

Thanks Tom and Dez for a fun day on the water!

Amx

6/2/2015 8:03:00 PM

Yup, Bass Fishing is the only way to go.

Bigbass Dez

6/3/2015 9:30:00 AM

Thanks for the kinds words Mike , As you know It is always a pleasure of mines to fish you !!
I was very excited to see everyone faces lit up all day long as we targeted those smallmouth bass . This trip is one that I will never forget for many reasons (NO SPOILER ALERTS AS PROMISED) HAHA ...Tom was a wonderful host and guide for us all weekend and big thanks to him for making this past weekend very peaceful and exciting , YOU DA MAN TOM !!

the quote of the weekend came from Mike Cary himself " DEZ , I DONT SEE MY BAIT ANYMORE " LOL ... WOW , what a great trip !!

Mike lets talk about another fun ideal for a super fun Fall bassing video ..stay tuned

bluegrouse bill

6/4/2015 12:00:00 AM

Very nice, look like some quality Smallies. There are only a few things that are better than bed fishing for Smallmouth. Most all fun things involve a bed of some sort... rimshot

Mike Carey

6/6/2015 9:22:00 PM

ha ha ha. :-)

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