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advantage as well. Bass will often concentrate and feed on schools of wakasagi in shallow areas early in the day, frequently in similar areas.
Prevailing winds often dictate these regular “feeding areas”. Alternatively, as wakasagi move deep under the light of day, they seek out intersections of structure and the thermocline (deep points, big bends in river arms, etc.).
Personally, I prefer to utilize reaction baits like rip baits, spinnerbaits, crankbaits and umbrella rigs, fishing hard and fast, to seek out these actively feeding bass early in the day chasing bait shallow, then transition to other bait imitations, fishing deeper and slower.
Sometimes I try and match bait size and color to wakasagi and sometimes I throw much larger and flashier colors… it depends on how aggressive the bass are feeding (less aggressive, smaller and similar colors). With the advancement of sonar technology, our ability as anglers to quickly locate bait, bass and cover is a big advantage.
Hopefully you were able to learn something about wakasagi and apply it somewhere, somehow. I wanted to make this article brief, but informative, without on over abundance of dry, factual textbook information. I look
forward to our next article where we will look at another forage species on the bass dinner menu.
The following sources were used to prepare this article. You may contact Mike at californiablackbass@gmail.com to request a complete bibliography.
Mike Gorman is a fishery biologist with 17-years of experience working throughout the western states in both the public and private sectors. He is a strong advocate for reservoir fisheries and anglers. Having grown up in northern California he has 30+ years of experience fishing and working on the lakes and reservoirs that make up our great state. He is the president of a fledgling non-profit organization dedicated to warm water game fish advocacy and research.
Arsen 1998, Courtenay et al. 1984, Dill and Cordone 1997, Fuller 2014, Moyle 1976, Moyle et al. 1986, Moyle 2002, Wales 1962.
Photo Credit: Renè Reyes – U.S. Bureau of Reclamation
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