FBYIOANSUDSR!
JuneinthePacificNorthwest
L
by Marc Marcantonio
ocation, location, location. Success in
catching bass depends on how well you
heed this real estate advice, especially
during June in the Pacific Northwest. Find the prime bass real estate and you are money. During the month of June, both the largemouth and smallmouth bass inhabit the shallow zones of the lakes and rivers, so leave the deep tackle at home.
Understanding bass biology leads to better decisions in developing a game plan for success.
Because the latitude of the Pacific Northwest is more
northern than much of the country, the spawning
season of bass (both largemouths and smallmouths)
is later than in southern latitudes. June typically marks
the ending stages of the spawn, and the beginning of
the post spawn phases. Spawning bass can be easy
to find and catch, yet post spawn bass fishing is often
challenging. The key point is to focus your search in the
shallow flats in or near suitable spawning habitat.
Bass spawn on firm substrates like gravel, sand, rock,
and even logs, stumps, or any other hard surface where
the eggs will be above oxygen-robbing silt. A calm cove or
other location out of the wind and waves is preferable,
and is prime real estate to search. Early in the
spawning season the northern end of a lake
or northern shore of a river slough will be
the first area bass will spawn. Southerly
winds push the warmer surface water
against the northern shorelines,
and these same shorelines have
maximum exposure to the sunlight.
This is where the warmest water
is first located. As the spawning
season progresses, bass will spawn
both later and lower in the lake as
the days pass, making the timing
of their spawning predictable.
So if you locate spawning
bass in early June at mid-lake
regions, expect to find spawning
bass in the lower sections of
the lake in late June. If you
were catching spawning
bass in early June, and
now it is mid-June, then
continue looking for the
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