Northwest Fishing Reports

I always hear of bass fisherman talking about bass feeding on baitfish. But I'm not so sure the lakes I fish for bass has bait fish.(I should say not enough to matter.) I mainly fish local small lakes in the thurston county area like offut, black, long, summit.... etc. What kind of baitfish would these lakes have? And would the bass even go after them? the only thing I can think of as far as baitfish for these lakes would be trout, perch, blue gill, and kokannee. Now i know that smallmouth will go after them but I have never seen a LMB do that. I believe most of these bass go after crawdads and snails. Corect me if I'm wrong. Also if these fish do go after these baitfish, do they go after them enough for us to focus on finding these baitfish?

Yup.

LOTS of diffent types of 'baitfish' /minnows in this state. Sculpin, and such.

How do I find out if my lakes have these and then find them

Maybe call WDFW.

Might be able to do an internet search on 'minnows of Washington State waters', or something like that.

K cool thanks

minnows of Washington State waters

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fish species in Washington State waters

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Washington State fish species

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Like AMX has indicated, bass (both large and small mouth) will feed on any fish that is smaller than themselves, including other bass, so all fish are pretty much "baitfish" to a bass. I would guess that juvenile perch, bass, and trout would be the main targets in the local lakes. I know that juvenile carp are a big food source in many eastern Washington bodies of water. I routinely use Rapalas in both perch and rainbow trout patterns on Beaver and Pine lake with good success.

Another good source to check is the trout stocking reports from the state hatcheries. They will list which lakes are stocked with fry, which become food for predators both fish and fowl. But just about every body of water will have "baitfish" of some sort, that often will be schools of any species of fry. Keying in on a baitfish pattern can be one of the most exciting fishing experiences that you can have. When you find multiple bass, often refered to as wolfpack bass, that are keying in on a school of fry, it's on! Use a presentation that mimicks a wounded member of the school, and hold on tight, because they will smack it hard. Flutter spoons, swim baits, wake baits, jerk baits, poppers, spooks, and the now popular umbrella rig all fall into this catagory of baits.

Trout hatchery lakes will produce the trophies.

Be observant when you're out there next time. Look for anytime of small fish swimming or splashing around, best if you can find a dead one and look at it's details. When I start seeing baitfish around, I'll start throwing spinner baits, jerkbaits matching color patterns,and I'll start throwing topwater if I see baitfish splashing around. Where there's food, there's typically bass.

Also be aware of the time of year. Early spring may not have small baitfish swimming around. Late spring when the eggs start to hatch will produce a lot of small baitfish. Then as the summer and fall comes, baitfish will be larger in size.

Lots of clues out there, just need to pick up on them when you're out there.

Depending on the body of water and the side of the state you are fishing, some of the key forage fish may include: yellow perch, juvenile bass and walleye, peamouth chub, salmon smolt, longfin smelt, stickleback, sculpin, bullhead cats, shad (Columbia River), juvenile carp, juvenile squawfish, bluegill, pumpkinseed, crappie, kokanee, rainbow trout, etc.

There are two schools of thought and I recommend experimenting with both on a given day: Match the size and color of the prevalent forage the bass are feeding on. Or, throw something completely different than what you believe the bass are keying on, so your offering stands out from the crowd. Both approaches can be very successful when implemented properly.

Good luck!

tagwatson360 wrote: Or, throw something completely different than what you believe the bass are keying on, so your offering stands out from the crowd. Both approaches can be very successful when implemented properly.

Good luck!

Case in point:
I was in my toon on one of the little local lakes. I could see tons of bass hatchlings schooled up all around the lake all of em around 1". In one spot I caught site of the tail of a 4# bass as he summersalted throught the school. I had nothing to match, so I threw a 6" weightless senco into the middle of the school, it dropped about 1' before he inhaled it.

The bass fishing sucks here move!