Northwest Fishing Reports

Well fellow bassers the time is apon us. This week the temps will rise 20* from where they are now. The spawn will start within a short time,I'm thinking by this weekend to next week you should start seeing male bass on there beds. Stay off the fish, cast to the bed and bring it through the bed fast and let it sit. You don't want to catch the male if you do the pig female will not bite. If the male gets your lure let it run but don't set the hook, he will spit the lure. After he spits it start the slow retrive and let it sit she is watching. Always C&R as soon as you can so the fish will spawn. Good luck!

Trent

Thanks HAWG HUNTER! I wouldn't have even thought twice about catching the male first. Good info!

Good advice. However I have gotten both the male and female off a bed many times. If you do get the male, release him and go right back at that spot. Usually when the male is taken off the bed the female will move out and cover the bed while he is gone. Either that or follow the male to the boat and wait for you to release him. At that point you probably wont be getting the female to bite. All the more reason to try to avoid hookin the male. That feeling of staring in the face of the fish that you could have got is frustrating, but kinda cool in the sense that you rarely get to see those big piggie females face to face. Amazing how bold they get when you take their man! Getting both fish has always happend for me when the bed is adjacent to significant cover, like a dock, wood, or rock pile. Many times it was pulling the male off of one side of a dock, and going around to the other side and pulling the female. I love that!
Club tourney on Moses this weekend for me! Should be full on bed fishing. Was kinda hoping for pre or post spawn because I dont like keeping spawning females in the livewell all day, especially if you have a couple of 20 # sacks on board. But with this weather it looks like we're gonna hit the weekend that they all hit beds. It'll be fun one way or another as I have never fished Moses before, not really sure what to expect.

"If the male gets your lure let it run but don't set the hook, he will spit the lure. After he spits it start the slow retrive and let it sit she is watching."


Just curious how are you suppose to know if you have male or female on the hook? Is this in clear water above the beds from a boat? And besides a fat belly, how do you tell male from female? Just trying to get familiar with bass tactics. Thanks.

swayner23 wrote:"If the male gets your lure let it run but don't set the hook, he will spit the lure. After he spits it start the slow retrive and let it sit she is watching."


Just curious how are you suppose to know if you have male or female on the hook? Is this in clear water above the beds from a boat? And besides a fat belly, how do you tell male from female? Just trying to get familiar with bass tactics. Thanks.

You`ll know. The female is much larger then the male. Just this weekend I caught a male and the female chased him to the boat she was so big I thought she was gonna eat him while on my lure. Trent I think your right. This little warming Trent should stabilize things. I hope it stays like this but it is Seattle. From the pics I`ve seen looks like some lakes are well on there way.

swayner23 wrote:"If the male gets your lure let it run but don't set the hook, he will spit the lure. After he spits it start the slow retrive and let it sit she is watching."


Just curious how are you suppose to know if you have male or female on the hook? Is this in clear water above the beds from a boat? And besides a fat belly, how do you tell male from female? Just trying to get familiar with bass tactics. Thanks.

Swayner, I think he's refering to when you are sight fishing beds. The male will be the one setting on the bed, and the female will be hiding somewhere close by. You cant always sight fish for bedding bass, because they often will bed under docks, or in other heavy cover areas. In this case you wont necesarily know if you've got the male or female, but you will be having such a great time catching fish, you probably wont care!:cheers:

Good luck to those that get out and utilize the conditions. As per usual, work conflicts with decent weather and potential big fish days. Hope some of you catch a toad.

f1sh1nf00l wrote:

swayner23 wrote:"If the male gets your lure let it run but don't set the hook, he will spit the lure. After he spits it start the slow retrive and let it sit she is watching."


Just curious how are you suppose to know if you have male or female on the hook? Is this in clear water above the beds from a boat? And besides a fat belly, how do you tell male from female? Just trying to get familiar with bass tactics. Thanks.

Swayner, I think he's refering to when you are sight fishing beds. The male will be the one setting on the bed, and the female will be hiding somewhere close by. You cant always sight fish for bedding bass, because they often will bed under docks, or in other heavy cover areas. In this case you wont necesarily know if you've got the male or female, but you will be having such a great time catching fish, you probably wont care!:cheers:

f1sh1nf001 your right my mind is in the gutter right now.:bounce:

f1sh1nf00l wrote:Good advice. However I have gotten both the male and female off a bed many times. If you do get the male, release him and go right back at that spot. Usually when the male is taken off the bed the female will move out and cover the bed while he is gone. Either that or follow the male to the boat and wait for you to release him. At that point you probably wont be getting the female to bite. All the more reason to try to avoid hookin the male. That feeling of staring in the face of the fish that you could have got is frustrating, but kinda cool in the sense that you rarely get to see those big piggie females face to face. Amazing how bold they get when you take their man! Getting both fish has always happend for me when the bed is adjacent to significant cover, like a dock, wood, or rock pile. Many times it was pulling the male off of one side of a dock, and going around to the other side and pulling the female. I love that!
Club tourney on Moses this weekend for me! Should be full on bed fishing. Was kinda hoping for pre or post spawn because I dont like keeping spawning females in the livewell all day, especially if you have a couple of 20 # sacks on board. But with this weather it looks like we're gonna hit the weekend that they all hit beds. It'll be fun one way or another as I have never fished Moses before, not really sure what to expect.

It's a good Lk when I went we caught fish from the time we hit the water from the time we left.Good Luck!

swayner23 wrote:"If the male gets your lure let it run but don't set the hook, he will spit the lure. After he spits it start the slow retrive and let it sit she is watching."


Just curious how are you suppose to know if you have male or female on the hook? Is this in clear water above the beds from a boat? And besides a fat belly, how do you tell male from female? Just trying to get familiar with bass tactics. Thanks.

You can see the beds even in dirty water and you can see the male fish on the bed a boat is better but you can see them from the bank also. Gotta wear shades!

Thanks all for the info. Might be a challenge not setting the hook right away but will keep it in mind, thanks. And I'll be keeping my my eyes peeled and shades on

Another thing to consider is that not all males sitting on beds will have a female that commits to that bed. Many males will instinctually fan out beds in hopes that a female will choose them to fertilize and protect their eggs. But I have come across alot of smaller males that go through the ritual only to be snubbed by the females, I'm assuming because they dont measure up to their standards(kinda like with people...). There was one little guy that I visited many times on American last year who waited on his bed for a long time, and never did get any action. Finally he gave up and moved on. I'm interested to see if he trys again in the same spot this year, they say persistance pays off.....

Should be a good batch of fish coming in, warm weather and the full moon are good combos.

It may be in two weeks with the new moon.