Northwest Fishing Reports

any good ideas on how to fish small ponds for largemouth around the end of february, beginning of march? i have a pond in mind that is supposed to have very nice fish and i would like to try fishing it in the next couple weeks.

Personally, I like fishing jigs very slow when it's cold. I use either black/blue or pumpkin. I've used Senko's very slow with success too. Just be patient.

dont rule out spinnerbaits or lipless cranks either.

tnj8222 wrote:dont rule out spinnerbaits or lipless cranks either.

A spinnerbait with a salty trailer will do the trick this time of year. The trailer slows the spinnerbait down and if you stop the retrieve it gives it just enough wobble to make some finicky cold bass hit it out of spite.

Swim Baits......

E

Or use crawdad jigs slowly or dropshots

early in the year is the easiest to catch them. starting in march they seem to bite about anything. as soon as they get spawning on the mind they almost completly stop eating.

The first thing you need. Get your self a crawfish trap. tie some bacon in the middle and toss it out in any Lk. Keep it in 2'-3' of water. Check your trap for bait. This is bass candy use it and you will catch Bass.

Spinnerbaits, rattletraps, and I've actually heard buzzbaits. Reaction bites will get you bites, just need to be there in the right conditions.

Find out what the main forage in the lake is and try your best 2 match it! "Match-The-Hatch"!

BB

yea, i would like to be clear, im not planning on fishing a lake like this, im planning on fishing a small pond (under 10 acres), as far as i can tell theres only bluegill and largemouth in it. but i have been reading more online and i decided to pick up a couple jerk baits/minnow crankbaits and some bucktail jigs.

Well it sounds like everyone has responded with just about everything you could use...I think the key is slowing things down....One thing I find interesting, We are giving advise for ponds right? The lake is not as deep as most, probably at most 35 ft, fishing along the shore lines wouldn't be the best bet, going slow along a good drop off point in the pond would do well with whatever lure/bait mentioned above....Great advise from everyone!!!!!

Trent Hale wrote:The first thing you need. Get your self a crawfish trap. tie some bacon in the middle and toss it out in any Lk. Keep it in 2'-3' of water. Check your trap for bait. This is bass candy use it and you will catch Bass.

There is no question that live crawfish are an effective big bass catcher in places where they are legal to use as bait. However, live crawfish are illegal to use as bait in Washington State if I'm not mistaken. I don't believe the regulations on this have changed. Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

No problem....a properly presented jig-n-pig is a pretty good imitation!

All of the above work, however I prefer a suspending jerk bait (Lucky Craft or Strike King Wild Shiner). The trick is to fish them along points or drop offs. On this little pond you will more than like have contour changes rather than points. The trick is slow your retrieve. Jerk count to 5, jerk again. You have to slow down. They will nail it on your third or fourth jerk if they are sitting suspended.

tagwatson360 wrote:

Trent Hale wrote:The first thing you need. Get your self a crawfish trap. tie some bacon in the middle and toss it out in any Lk. Keep it in 2'-3' of water. Check your trap for bait. This is bass candy use it and you will catch Bass.

There is no question that live crawfish are an effective big bass catcher in places where they are legal to use as bait. However, live crawfish are illegal to use as bait in Washington State if I'm not mistaken. I don't believe the regulations on this have changed. Someone please correct me if I am wrong.

No problem....a properly presented jig-n-pig is a pretty good imitation!

i asked the game department about that a couple years ago, they said they dont consider it a fish and its fine to use. if they change the rules to no live aquatic species though, then im sure it wont be legal.

Trent Hale wrote:i asked the game department about that a couple years ago, they said they dont consider it a fish and its fine to use. if they change the rules to no live aquatic species though, then im sure it wont be legal.

Thats good to know.

A little birdie told me that they were legal to use.

Trent Hale wrote: A little birdie told me that they were legal to use.

Your little birdie was correct, but check regulatons out every year for changes. One never knows what and when things will change.

Re: Craws

There appears to be a calendar season & minimum size limit. In addition I've seen signs at a couple of lakes prohibiting the transfer of craws between different lakes.

The following was copied from the 2008 regs.

CRAWFISH
ALL WATERS CRAWFISH 1st Mon. in
May-Oct. 31
Min. size 3¼" from tip of rostrum (nose) to tip of tail. Daily limit 10 lbs. in shell. All
females with eggs or young attached must be immediately returned to the water
unharmed. No Shellfish/Seaweed license is required. See gear rules on page 141.