Northwest Fishing Reports

I would probably say that most fisherman under estimate the bass because I know I did when I first started. I thought I could throw anything and hook into one but then I learned that it takes patience, determination and studying to be successful and yet im not as successful as I want to be thats why I am still doing the studying part. In my opinion, in order to catch the bass you have to know the bass.

Pretty simple in my opinion. Most fish way too fast, myself included.

i like that golf analogy fishinislife.

all the guys at school dog on me for saying that fishing is more skill than luck. they're always like you just huck out something a let it sit and wait. that really ticks me off because it's the farthest thing from the truth! i've done a lot of research and put a lot of time in on the water to be able to catch fish on a regular basis. the first couple years were tough with lots of lows and not to many highs. but now, whenever i have a bad day where i only catch a couple dinks or something, i always think back to a couple years ago when it would have been a great day.

i think people also give up to easy when fishing bass (guilty as charged ). it's easy to do but sometimes they aren't hitting good and you need to suck it up and grind it out.

I think it's fishing too fast and not setting the hook...Both of which I'm working on....I do a lot of my fishing for trout and I troll 95% of the time, so when that fish hits your lure, you don't need to give that hook a set into the fishes mouth...You just need to pick it up out of the rod holder and apply tension....So I have beeen forgetting to set hooks for bass and its costed me many times already...Oh well, only part of the learning process...

UHM....nevermind!!

the biggest mistake i have seen bass fisherman do is fish dead water for way to long and fish hot spots way to fast. a bass will eat almost everything you throw at it. but you have to fish certain spots at certain times and know WHEN to throw the right bait is key. this weekend we had a awesome crankbait bite on rocks. if you didnt have a crank tied on the fishing was definately slow! this was at silver lake in cowlitz

time and place, time and place. i also agree that if you can find the spots more things seem to work than not, but bait selection I feel isnt as important as finding the fish in the first place.

Many bass fishermen over think the process. Now I'm all for being prepared, but 15 rods? I have one lure, one color, and I catch lots of 2+ pound fish with two casts. I'm not trying to brag, but I can't see why people would get bored of something this good. They may not be huge, but I can't justify spending $20 on just one lure so I can catch bass three pounds bigger. My views may be skewed in favor of quantity over quality, but I still can't see $20 on one lure being a good thing. I didn't spend more than $20 for my whole all-purpose setup. Some of the time, these lures need lots of knowledge of the 'prime situation' to use them, and if you don't have it, they usually don't work very well. Notice I said some and usually (so these lures do have merit, don't get me wrong). Many of you will attack this view, and this is not the end-all be-all answer, but I think it is a good start.

i agree people think bass are smarter than they really are.... but one lure and one color isnt the way to consistantly catch fish. yes you can catch some.

One lure is not enough to consistently catch fish, but you can get other more or less productive lures for the same price. But when it comes to crankbaits, the money is definitely essential.

okay to address the one lure comment .. First of all if i only had one lure to fish with it would have to be a lure that can cover all the water commons .. top , middle , bottom .. and the narrows downs lure selections ..jigs , spinnerbaits , weightless worms .. not a crank bait ..

as to common mistakes , i watch the pros on t.v. alot and i even i an oppertunity to fish with a pro in nashville, tn for two weeks straight while he was in his off season .. "BEING ABLE TO KNOW WHEN TO ADJUST" thats the whole game .. Bass never keep there mouth close to an easy prey , it 's knowing what there feeding on at the time , how much of what there feeding is in the area and are the bass following the prey .. this no easy task period .. really the only why to track these patterns is simple .. pick a lake and fish it every single day or become a guide and get paid for what you seek .. as to all the weekend anglers and every so often bass fisherman , my only advise is to do what i do , apply every possible presention and dept untill you find what works for that day and go with it .... The reason why KEVIN VANDAM is so good in this sport is because he is the only angler on tour that can adjust to the bass faster than anyone other pro that i have seen .. not including the pros that are fishing there home lake ... ( hint hint ) home lake so they know what the bass are always doing all the time .. okay thats it now lets go fishing

Have you ever heard " 90% of the fish are caught in 10% of the water"? I think one of the big mistakes is not understanding the body of water, and knowing were to fish! This includes me. I sometimes think I will just luck into finding the spot. Second I think I tend to fish to fast.