Northwest Fishing Reports

Hey im austin,
one of the things i have always wanted to fo is bass fish
I have no idea how, what, or where to go to bass fish. I live on the west side tacoma seattle area and am looking for some one that can teach my buddy and i the ropes.
Thanks
Austin

First off, where do you live? Tacoma/Seattle is a large area.

Read some of the threads here in the Bass Fishing Forum, watch vids on Youtube, read some magazines, and books.

Google it... haha. but like AMX Said just start reading through the threads on the bass forum. Also pick out some lakes local to you and look them up on lake index then search by species and that should help.

Bass fishing huh? I guess the first thing about bass fishing is patience. Most sites won't talk about this but other than knowing how bass react to conditions and food sources patience is - in my opinion - the most important thing to learn. You may cast hundreds of times one day with little to no results and the next day nail them. As far as where to fish (lakes) google is a good source and posts on sites such as this one. One thing common for bass is structure. Bass like structure to ambush prey, hide and to escape the sunlight. So docks, underwater logs, lilly pads and weed beds are good places to start looking for bass. When it comes to gear I would have to write a book to cover this. My go to is a Texas style rig (4-6 in plastic/rubber worm) usually in a darker color like purple. I've caught more and bigger bass using this set-up but it's probably because I use it alot. Try different set-ups and get to know your lakes of choice. Remember - PATIENCE. One other thing - think about catch and release as bass fishing for the most part (WA westside) seems to be on the decrease for quality fish. Good luck.

Some of the decrease is because no one keeps bass and they are too overpopulated and systems cant support more larger fish. I think more people need to keep bass in the overpopulated lakes/rivers (smaller ones in the size limit range) and only if they eat them. I C&R my bass. 99% of my fishing is for sport.

fisherman92
You may have a point about too many bass - but not sure how you know this. My experience in lakes that are "catch and release" only for bass (especially in some other states) are by far the best bass fishing I've had. I guess maybe a slot limit might work. My thought is if more people kept bass less would be around to grow larger. Keep in mind small bass are a consistent source of food for larger bass. One more thing - most won't keep a 6-10in or so bass but when larger may do so.
But on the flip side I'm certainly not against others keeping their fish if legal. Although I catch and release bass - and respect that you usually do - when new bass fishermen enter I always like to let them know "catch and release" is an option. I guess my question for you is - When you do keep a bass 1% of the time how big is it? Not to upset you but again most will keep the larger fish.
Thanks for your response.

Largies - Back when I was keeping a fish now and then the Largie 2 lbders were the best eating, The 6 lbder was too tough and didn't taste as good. And the fish came from the same lake and same time period. The 12"ers didn't have enough meat to try to get a meal out of, and too many would have to be kept for a decent meal. So back then I limited the kept fish to between 2 and 3 pounds. And now that the 2 and lots of the 3 pounders are in the slot limit we can't keep them anyway. Altho some 3 pounders are 18" and so on, it doesn't matter as I don't keep Bass anymore.

Now Smallies are a different story, if I wanted to keep a fish these days I'd keep a Smallie as they push out the Largies.

No at all Fishin Daze. I hope no one is offended by my posts either. Just education & opinion as far as I'm concerned. I really don't keep bass. Maybe once a year if its in a nice clean water system where they are a nuisance fish, such as the Columbia trip I have coming up in May or camping trips. For Largemouth the limit is 5 each. Must be under 12" except one may be over 17". I have never kept a bass over 12". I fish with people who keep their limits sometimes but they eat 100% of the fish they catch. And when they keep their limit or a few bass they are all under 12", we release the big ones always, good to keep a good gene pool! And When I say I C&R 99% of my fish I'm usually referring to salmon since I will keep nice bright ones.

fisherman92
Again thanks for your response. I've read alot of your other posts and by your responses it's clear your a responsible and serious fisherman. Didn't mean to question your opinions - as we all have our own - but just wanted to give a newby some ideas. You do have a point however - some lakes do get over populated with some species of fish. Thanks for your thoughts and maybe someday see you out on a lake.

Fishin Daze,
Its nice to have discussions on here without people jumping all over ya! Everyone has opinion and techniques they like and use and its nice when you can have a nice discussion like this without people being rude and act like theyre the game warden hahaha. I give a lot of credit all of the OGs on here for information that's helped me throughout the years become a more responsible fisherman even well before I was a member.
I'm out all the time bass fishing from Woodinville to Ferndale on lots of lakes. Until salmon season starts of course haha.

Well. I did a lot of bass fishing when i lived down south.i always when catching a striper or a large mouth in the arkansas river id bring them to my pond lol. I dknt know how to post a picture on the thread . but i got a pic of the biggest bass i ever caught in my life.

Joining a club is a good way to get started bass fishing. There are probably a few not too far away, but be aware that they are all different and have various goals, ambitions, and costs. A lot of fun can be had for a little money, or a lot of money can be spent for a lot of frustration, so choose wisely, Grasshopper!

As for transporting live fish to other waters...this is seriously illegal in WA, so you have to be willing to face the consequences. I have never done it, and would discourage everybody else from doing it.

Glad to see you and your buddy getting into bass fishing! My best friend and I grew up learning this sport together and had so many good times I couldn't count them all if I tried!

Bassin' basics:

Structure and cover: Contrary to some beliefs structure and cover are two entirely different things but work together to position bass throughout the year. Structure is the shape of the lake if you will, remove everything from a given lake including the water and you will see the "structure" or layout of the lake, for example: flats, drop offs, humps, channels, ledges, points, transition banks etc. NOW, mix "cover" in with those features like: logs, rocks, docks, weeds, grass, reeds, laydowns, pilings, old cars, boat houses, picnic tables, tires, basically anything that is not natural to the structure of the lake. Now you're getting into locating bass! Put a weed line together with a drop off, a dock with a channel swing, rocks on a point, lily pads on a flat, a laydown on a transition bank and any combination of all of it and you now start finding ambush points and therefore bass. Bass want cover to ambush food, in the absence of good cover they will typically seek out irregular structure features and use those to their advantage but when they can use both it's optimal for survival and typically high percentage areas.

Bass: The bigger the lazier. Bass want food to come to them and then ambush it, especially largemouth. Smallies will pursue farther and are generally more aggressive. Bass will follow schools of perch and bluegill in the summer and even feed heavily on the trout we plant every year. Just about anything that fits in their mouths but typically exclusive to the forage that is present in their environment (lake), research a lake and not just if it has bass but what else it has cause that's what the bass will key on.

Water: Clarity is the biggest deal here. Whether it's clear, slightly stained, stained or muddy it affects not just presentation but lure and color choice. Breaking down water is pretty easy if you think of it in three zones: 1) 0 - 5 feet. 2) 5 - 10 feet. 3) 10 feet to 20 feet. Time of year, water temp, clarity and condition all affect where a bass will be at a given time. Clarity will affect what you fish and how you fish it.

You guys are lucky right now cause the bass are heading shallow for the spawn and are the easiest to catch typically. Baits that imitate smaller fish and crawdads are great right now and will continue to produce well into June before the bass head out deeper for the post spawn and summer.

Remember the 3 basic rules: DEPTH, CADENCE, COLOR! Learn it, live it

Hope that helps a little, feel free to reach out should you have any questions in the future.

Abaustinball9 wrote:Hey im austin,
one of the things i have always wanted to fo is bass fish
I have no idea how, what, or where to go to bass fish. I live on the west side tacoma seattle area and am looking for some one that can teach my buddy and i the ropes.
Thanks
Austin

You are doing the right thing asking on the forum. There are also some great YouTube videos from our area that will show how we fish here in the Northwest. This site has some great reports and info to help you locate good bass waters.

I would also check out the Navionics Chart Viewer to look for lakes and find new lakes to try and also get the contours of the lake. It is at Navionics.com

I cant catch jack squat when I try bass fishing. great at trout though

Find the video section here on NWFR, and watch all the Bass vids. Go to YouTube and watch lots of vids on Bass fishing, search for vids that cover the following;

worms, dropshot, top water, crankbaits, jerkbaits, spinnerbaits, jigs, and anything else that you find, such as How to Catch Largemouth Bass, and How to Catch Smallmouth Bass.

Watch the vids that Elijah made;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OcmdK3sRmnA&t=1s

And watch the videos that these people put out;

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wgQ26c ... ploademail

And tbrinks above has some great vids also.

Oh ya, you are in Puyallup? Go to Limit Out in Pacific and talk to Russ, the owner, or Chris, the general Manager. They can help a LOT.

http://limitoutmarine.com/

8theB8,
Thanks for the great input, even a few regular bass anglers like myself can be reminded of important basics like this once in awhile.
I found myself applying your structure/cover points, to my home lake.

Appreciate it Quad!

well, there are many lures and methods to catch bass but what I do is fish a inline spinner bait near cover, ( lily pads, weeds, wood, downed trees,) but all lakes are different. just some ideas to try out, tight lines and good fishing.