Northwest Fishing Reports

Being fairly new to Bass fishin I'm curious as to what size line people use.I just use my trout pole with 6 or 8 lb test on it.Is that pretty risky.Lures arent cheap.I've lost a couple allready.So my first question is line size.My second question is when you put on crank baits or plugs do you use a swivel like you would for spoons or spinners? I tried a swivel on a bass lure once and it kept moving all over the wire. I dont remember the name but it has a blade that spins and a hula skirt with a hook on the upper part.
Today alone I hooked into 6 SMB and cnr' ed everyone.Its been a blast and thanks alot in the biggest way to all you guys that have been schooling me kinda in techniques.Its been a great help.Also I see now and I've learned the importance of CNR.I might have to change my ways now.

I fish around pads and trees a lot, so the minimum I'll use is 20#, braid or fluoro. You can get away with lighter line but I'd rather catch the fish than break off and leave a plug stuck in its mouth.

Also, you may want to invest in a decent bass rod. Joe's has a Mitchell 300x combo reel and rod for about $35, and I use one. Works great, holds about 120 yards of the 20# fluoro, which is more than enough for my needs. The rod is medium action, good backbone, lots of play in the tip which is exactly what you need for WA bass.

As for swivels, I won't recommend using one. It causes your presentation to go screwy, especially when using crankbaits and stickbaits. If you're fishing plastics Carolina-rigged you can get away with a swivel right below the bullet weight, but if you're fishing lizards or anything with "legs" it'll still impact the presentation. Best to stick with worms if you Carolina-rig and use a swivel. Anything else, leave it off.

I grew up fishing with swivels when I was younger because the ease they provided when swappin lures, but after a plastic frog that I had attached to a swivel I will never use one again unless I am fishing with a nightcrawler. The bass which I estimate being aroudn 4.5 lber broke the swivels and ended up getting off luckily the lure stayed on. I use 10lb braid on my pole that I use to target the bigger bass. On my swimbait rods its 30lb and on my other baitcasting setups its 14lb

By no means am I telling you to do this...
I have a few "bass" rods but recently have been leaving them at home since I've been doing more muskie trips.
Anyhow,I've been catching alot of lmb's and smallies on my "muskie"setup.
I'm using 80lb stealth spiderwire with a 150lb fluro. leader. Now this is not a setup I would suggest to anyone targeting bass
but found it interesting,I figured bass were very leader shy.

It sounds like your fishing Lake Washington for smallies. I use 8lb pline fluorocarbon for dropshots, I don't use braided with a leader, some guys like it for the sensitivity, I think fluorocarbon is sensitive enough. I use 10lb mono for cranking. And I'll use 12lb for football heads, carolina rigs (10lb leader), and spinnerbaits (I believe that was what you were talking about "blade that spins with hula skirt").

If you only have one rod, and if its a spinning reel, just stay with 8lb line, prefer fluorocarbon. A little warning P-line does have a little memory to it, don't recommend Vanish.

Have fun catching those smallies! They're very addictive fish.

Power Pro all the way for me,..Pflueger MAXX Baitcaster 6'6 #20 Braid,..Shimano Scimitar Baitcaster 8'6 Callisto #30 Braid,..Mitchell 300XE 7' Spinning #20 Braid,..all with PP,..I throw alot of Top-Water gear and that stuff's not cheap,..plus I fish around alot of "salad" so it helps having Braid on when doing so,..I never use swivels or a leader,..I probly would use a leader if I were D-Shottin,..but I rarely D-Shot,..that's just me! I also use Pflueger President 7' Shakespeare #6 Mono for my light gear set up. Keep tossin that line racfish and since we're pretty close 2 eachother when we gonna wet a line?

BB

Its funny but I wasnt targeting smallies at all.I was targeting perch.The perch did not hit yesterday but on my perch tightline set up the smallies were ravaging my half piece of worm something fiercly.It was like 4 smallies in my first 45 minutes.One was big.I thought I hooked into a cutty or a sockeye.But it fought way harder then the boring sockeye roll.For that size I guess 3-4 lbs it was a blast.A guy in a yacht stopped while I played this fish.(I thought that was hella cool on his part).This weekend its the Pontoon boat out by the SYC for me.I target anything willing to bite.In that part of the lake I'm a bit leary to eat them.I've used Maxima Chameleon in the past.I use 8# test .I didnt lose gear yesterday but I did in the lilys in front of the house the other day.I bought a 3' pick up grabber at Costco so I can reach stuff off my toon.
I use swivels for the reason of quick lure change but also so my line dosent twist.W/O a swivel wont the line twist and get weak?I tied to my crankbait like w/o a swivel and the line twisted.
Hey BB tell me when and where .Im there.Im ready to get some hawg action.

kevinb wrote:By no means am I telling you to do this...
I have a few "bass" rods but recently have been leaving them at home since I've been doing more muskie trips.
Anyhow,I've been catching alot of lmb's and smallies on my "muskie"setup.
I'm using 80lb stealth spiderwire with a 150lb fluro. leader. Now this is not a setup I would suggest to anyone targeting bass
but found it interesting,I figured bass were very leader shy.

im curious to know how big these fish were, and how did they hit? were they aggressive, or just smacking the lure and hooking themselves? can you also describe the water conditions and clarity.

... im moving from 50+ lbs and stepping up to 80+ lbs braid very soon.



TIA

More dinks I would say,nothing big.
Most hit hard like they wanted dinner. The first time it happened was at Silver in Spokane County,I thought I had a small tiger
at first. The water was clear with sunny skies. I ended up catching several more through out the day
It happens at Tapps alot. There, the water is always clear but have caught smallies on the muskie setup with all kinds of weather conditions,early morning to sunset.

Its happened at a few others.. but nothing really big and I'm not suggesting anyone to do it. Probably more dumb luck if anything.
All were on cranks...x-raps,husky jerks etc

I don't mean to ramble but come to think of it

I even took my gear to Trout lake(king county)Cushman also clear water but was catching a few lmb's at Lost and Naughwatsel and a little 55acre lake thats stained with visibility less than3-5feet.

kevinb wrote:More dinks I would say,nothing big.
Most hit hard like they wanted dinner. The first time it happened was at Silver in Spokane County,I thought I had a small tiger
at first. The water was clear with sunny skies. I ended up catching several more through out the day
It happens at Tapps alot. There, the water is always clear but have caught smallies on the muskie setup with all kinds of weather conditions,early morning to sunset.

Its happened at a few others.. but nothing really big and I'm not suggesting anyone to do it. Probably more dumb luck if anything.
All were on cranks...x-raps,husky jerks etc

great thanks for the info.

there are alot of ppl on this type of setup, but its not for everyone.



im going to make that move!

Yes dinks sounds right to me.they were almost like Bullhead nibbling.Then I set the hook.I use 7'0'' Fenwick 1972 rod.No ceramic guides except the top guide that got closed in my old 280Z.The nibbled I set at first it didnt feel like much but then it took off.I usually like a lil looser drag .Im using a good Shimano Sedona spinning reel. I was actually quite suprised on how these smallies ran off. It was very fun.I could vision myself in a tourney soon.hahahaha.

gotta love the fight in smallies. An amazing fish for sure.

The set up will catch bigger bass,I just havn't yet. Muskyhunter and Deadeyemark have almost the exact setup,I have seen both of them catch very big bass...smallies and bucketmouths with cranks and bucktails

Oh Oh racfish,..sounds 2 me like you got the BUG,..welcome 2 the "Dark~Side" my freind,..about wetting our lines,..I'm thinking sometime after Labor Day when the kids get back 2 school,..I'll let you know when's good for us,..Bassfanatic usually hits the water with me so I'll check with him 2!

BB

Hey Kevin,..I use alot of what you mentioned for Bassin!

BB

You and I have the same gear and have the same questions! I lost several larger smallies over the past weekend and I use my trout pole but I use 4# test...and lose my gear all the time..due to snags, but 2x's a smallie snapped my line just as I was getting it close to shore..once down on the Columbia and last monday at mardons..some nice fellas on here gave me some advice and I plan on spooling some on tonight after work-

I usually use 12 pound mono for cranking and 20 pound braid for the thick stuff seems to work pretty well for me never lost any gear with those two setups I use

I'm re-spooling tonite getting ready for morrow morning.Im so ready to try this whole bassin thing out.

I see everyone selling bass lures and gear here in the Classifieds.Im not trying to take anything away from this forum but what about a site sponsored gear swap meet?Much like a baseball card show where you rent a table trade off or sell gear.It would be good to help promote this great site and a good way to check out gear used by the best bassers in the state.Namely y'all.We can hear first hand on the gear and type of fishing.Just a tad hint.

BrownBomber wrote:Hey Kevin,..I use alot of what you mentioned for Bassin!

BB

Your ready for war too? haha

I figured it was just luck for me,someone will ask me about my setup and they usually get a laugh.
I normally wouldn't use this if my sole intentions are bass but I'm getting more confidence in this system and
my muskie/pike rods seem to do the trick(not exactly the most sensitive)but I use these rods the most often and can
lob,pitch or fire out line pretty much any where and often I'm throwing into heavy cover or pitching fast under docks etc..
Whenever I pick up my other rods,its like learning to cast again. Thats only because overtime I have really adapted to a heavy setup.
Ok,enough of my bs'n....I'm going bass fishing:cheers: