catch bigger bass. Every time I find big cats and squaw fish, I almost always find BIG BASS in numbers and it always seems to be associated with big bait.
The subject does not differ much when we are talking about the bait fish being trout. I have found that big bass don’t seem to like big trout or salmon much. You will find that out quickly if you’re fishing bait and all you’re catching is salmon and big lake trout. When that happens you just have to leave that area. But if you are catching or snagging 6” to 12” trout out of what you thought was a school of shad (STAY, DON’T LEAVE) you have just found the perfect spot to catch a lot of big bass. Of course that does not always mean the bass have found them yet. This is why it is so important to spend the time on your electronics prior to actually fishing, if you can pull that off. After all, if you plan on locating schools of big bass this will take some time that can seriously pay off.
Clear Lake is not much different. Keep in mind that big fish feed on big bait no matter what species they are. Spotted bass, large mouth smallies, catfish or whatever, except carp and sturgeon that feed differently, all like bigger bait if they are large as well.
Clear Lake has shad that vary in size as well. Clear Lake also has many varieties of forage. Silver sides, thread fin golden shiners, bluegill and crappie all play a role there. But the number one food that will draw huge Bass in numbers are the hitch. They are the Clear Lake version of trout. They are not much different than shad, just a lot bigger. These fish live primarily in the open water of Clear Lake and way off shore, in as deep water as is available to them. This makes it very hard to target the big bass, except during the rainy months of late winter through spring. They are like clock work; you can easily find them schooled up in giant schools not far from any running water creek. Use your GPS maps to find the creeks coming in, start graphing in close and work your way deeper and deeper, broadening your search as you get further out so you don’t miss them. Again, do this early in the a.m., very early. This will allow you to spot them better when they are suspended. Once they lie back down on the bottom it’s much harder to see them. Once you locate several schools, you can come back and throw swim baits on them to determine if those schools of hitch are holding schools of Big Bass.
Tight lines to all.
Repair Shop
We specialize in high quality propeller repair and sales of both new and used marine propellers in stainless, aluminum and bronze. Also we have the ability to repair skegs and cavitation plates on both out- boards and I/O’s and offer quality instalation of marine electronics,
trolling motors, downriggers and deep cycle batteries.
Tackle Store
At Phil’s we carry a large selection of fishing tackle for all species
(including live bait) in both fresh and saltwater. Brands like Yama- moto, Roboworm, Shimano, G-Loomis, Lowrance, Gamakatsu and LuckyCraft just to name a few can be found in store or on the web at
Philsprop.com where easy online ordering is available.
3037 Twin View Blvd. Shasta Lake, Ca.96019
800-462-3917 530-275-4939
www.philsprop.com
info@philsprop.com
Issue 1 April 2011
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