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Winter 2023
Timber
Shad Shaped Worm Quick Drop
Largemouth Close-up
Sunk Dock
Largemouths 3 Casitas
Bass Tail
Christmas Tree Bump Bass
Largemouth Close-up
Autopilot Route
page 68
For several months I milked that spot, and my friends were in disbelief at the bass I was catching at this lake. Then just as suddenly one day the bass were gone again.
I lowered the underwater camera and verified there were no bass on the spot.
They literally vacated this spot overnight and didn’t return until six months later. That morning I spent two unsuccessful hours fishing different locations in search of the bass. Then I started searching with my underwater camera to speed up the process. Just when I was about to give up, I decided to search under a dock despite not expecting the bass to be shallow.
UNDER THE DOCKS
When I lowered the camera under the dock, I was shocked to find a school of smallmouths. I backed off and fished Ned Rigs, dropshot rigs, and then I cleaned up with a Lucky Craft Lightning Pointer jerkbait and had the best da=y of the year. Never would I have fished there when I did without first finding those bass with my underwater camera.
There are other lessons to be learned with an underwater camera. As bass anglers we have learned to key on different bottom compositions at different times of the year. A camera makes it simple to determine if a spot has a gravel or rock bottom, sand, silt, mud, or vegetation. You can tell the type of vegetation and if it is alive or dying. You can determine if bass and/or baitfish are using it or not.
One day when fishing Lake Washington in the fall, I found a mud flat that had lines crisscrossing the flat dug into the mud. By following the tracks, I saw big crawfish were making the tracks as they moved across the bottom in preparation for winter. That discovery has led to catching big smallmouths in the area on Yamamoto Hula Grubs.
There is an old saying if you want to learn to catch more bass study the mouse, not the owl. Determine where their meal is, and what menu item they prefer. For bass there is no better way than seeing firsthand with an underwater camera.
Is the bait tight to the bottom or suspended?
Are the bass below the bait, at the same level, or even above the bait? Putting your lure at the level of the bass, or