Northwest Fishing Reports

I saw something I'd never seen before, this evening. There was a swarm of lmb fry that were moving erratically all over in the shallows. I never saw them, as it was dusk, but I speculate this was a school of recent "new borns" as the water was a moving flutter of ripples going all around.
So in hopes they were being cannabulized by their own... I started throwing what I had on that direction. Unfortunately it was s crank bait. No takers. Suddenly, twice I saw what I hoped for, a large predator mr. Bass chomping on them.

Is it obvious that I should have thrown a little rappala in the school, or what would u have tossed that way?

I've watched Largemouths "herd" their babies in the shallows, working in teams to corral them in to a corner, then gobble'em up . These fish are often both well-fed and spooky, so a stealthy approach and subtle presentation is important. A floating Rapala is a good choice, but even better is a soft plastic minnow imitator that can be left to sit idle on the bottom then twitched into action when those roaming bass come cruisin' along looking for some minnows to chomp.

I'll never forget the 3lb. fish that belched a couple hundred squirming bass fry into the bottom of my boat , a couple years back. Bass will absolutely gorge themselves on fry during this time of the year , to the point where it looks like their guts are gonna pop.

Small white plastic jerk bait like a Zoom Fluke works great for this.

I was down at Seward Park earlier this spring and watched 6 bass corral a bunch of trout fry then all six attacked and chowed down on the trout. The bass just sat motionless till the trout were encircled. It was fascinating to watch.

i saw a swarm of small fry in the pads the other day on the lake, i fished by them thinking some fish would be stalking them but no takers.. i took some under water video of them. i'll be sharing soon'ish..

Small texas rigged grub. If you can cast on to shore and ease it in the water all the better, pull it right through the school and let it drop. Did this alot at trout lake.

tnj8222 wrote:Small texas rigged grub. If you can cast on to shore and ease it in the water all the better, pull it right through the school and let it drop. Did this alot at trout lake.

Sometimes the parent fish that is guarding those fry don't want a 'dead' lure. 3 years ago I tried that with a grub and a senko, the parent fish, a male, just stopped chasing and turned away. He only would chase a moving lure that was going thru or towards the school of fry. So I tossed out a spinnerbait and he grabbed it. A 2 pounder, but the action and fun is something I'll remember forever. So the moral of this story is if the fish doesn't take a 'killed' lure, then use something moving and maybe something that doesn't sink, like a suspending fluke, jerkbait, or such.

Many years ago I saw an active school of fry on Susan Lake and cast a floating Rapala towards it. Imediately a 3-1/2 bass grabbed the lure. She was blind in one eye and was released.

finished this up last night..

short edit ( 2minutes) from my fishing this past Saturday .. I spotted the fry swarm, stepped back and tried to fish the area with no takes, then i scooted in to try and get the swarm on video.. turned out kind of cool i think.. have a look see.. its the whole day but the swarm underwater is in there

The next thing you'll be getting is a bow mount foot control electric motor.

I had a bow mount.. The mount was janky and hard to keep the boat in the right direction so I got the transom mount one.. I dropped my main underwater cam yesterday into lake serene.. Lost forever :(

How deep can Serene be that you couldnt dive in after it or set up a large treble and try jigging for it? I thought the underwater cam had a large line attached to it.

oneshot wrote: I dropped my main underwater cam yesterday into lake serene.. Lost forever :(

Oh man, ouch!
Wondering if your transom mount camera caught you cursing and crying....

The Quadfather wrote:

oneshot wrote: I dropped my main underwater cam yesterday into lake serene.. Lost forever :(

Oh man, ouch!
Wondering if your transom mount camera caught you cursing and crying....

no but my son caught me cursing and crying.. mostly over the cool underwater footage we got and he helped get that we lost with the camera.. the cam was a free Contour i got for doing a focus group with them... but i did have a rad monopod and mount dialed in with it.. back to the old GoPro for underwater stuff now..

Hey man,
I would highly recommend a drop shot with a small bait fish imitation/ lure nose hooked. You can catch tons of fish before and long after the spawn this way. There is a new local company making fantastic lures by the name of ''Fisher Brother's Bait Co''. The D.S. Minnow is what I'm specifically referring to. You can get them at Limit Out Marine just south of Auburn and or check out their websight to order some if your busy. Hope your well man!!