Saturday Bass Fishing

[MissedAnother]

Hit the water at about 9:30 am from Mutton Creek. We started fishing shallow standing timber. On my second cast to the base of a stump I hooked up with a nice 3.5 lb largemouth. We were out until about 8:30 p.m. and I lost count at about 15 for me and 6 or 7 for my father-in-law. Most of the fish we caught were dinks, but we caught 7 keepers between us. One solid 4 pounder came late in the day. All were largemouth and none came out of water deeper than 6 feet. We tried Crankbaits, worms, creatures, flukes, jerkbaits, and spinnerbaits; but all were caught on jigs. Most came on a 3/8 or 1/2 oz War Eagle heavy finesse jig in Green Pumpkin Orange. Looks like they've started moving back in the creeks preparing for fall, at least some are. If we can get another few weeks of cool nighttime temps fishing should be pretty darn good.

I think we would have done better but we had to leave our spot to go back to the dock to pick up our wives about 2 hours into our trip. Oddly enough, my wife caught a 13 inch walleye in 3 ft of water on a KVD 1.5 crank at about 2:00 in the afternoon. Color me surprised.

If I can figure it out later I'll post a pic of the big fish of the day from my phone.

[Walcrabass]

I am always glad to hear people are catching them on Jigs. Sounds like you did pretty well. One thing that confuses me is a "HEAVY" Finesse jig. Sounds like an oxymoron kind of thing. I like the finesse Jigs when they are shallow but I use light weights and maybe a craw or chunk to soften the landing in the water. I have also found that if they are biting well the finesse is not necessary. This lets me use a full size skirt and also softens the landing even further. I also prefer the Stand Up Jigs as I have found they are much more visible to the fish and easier for them to pick up. Keep up the good work. I believe in the next two weeks we will be on fire with the Jig Bite at Stockton. Can't wait!!!!!!!!!

[MissedAnother]

I tried a 1/2 oz arkie style jig on and off throughout the day but it just seemed like they were wanting the smaller profile of the finesse jig. I prefer the arkie style because it seems to get wedged less than the ball or football heads do in all the rocks. But they just didn't seem to want that. Either that or they were just really into the yamamoto craw I was using as a trailer for the finesse jigs.

[Walcrabass]

I can see where they were wanting the Finesse because there was a storm rolling around in the area according to the weather. As you know that has a tendency to lighten the bite sometimes. I used Arkie style Jigs and others for years and they are much better about not getting hung up than a ball or football head. I do believe although that the Stand Up Jigs in the right variety are better yet about not getting hung up. I have watched the fish pick up Stand up Jigs and other types of heads in clear water. In the winter especially I have noticed that they can kind of "Pluck" the Stand Ups but they have to scoop or inhale the others. It is just my personal opinion that they can get a hold of the Stand Up Jigs easier. My two cents worth again.

[Kevin Wagner]

Thanks for the report. I mostly fish at night, but have thought about trying the daytime fishing. Did you catch any bass on the squarbill? I had caught caught some before dark on a deep diver, but didnt' have any strikes on a squarebill.

[MissedAnother]

Kevin, we didn't get any on cranks. I started with a rattle trap and felt a few slaps so I switched to a squarebill to give them a different look and no dice.

Walcrabass, do you mold your own Stand Up jigs or do you use a specific brand? You've got me curious.

[Walcrabass]

Mold my own. Send me a P.M. and I will try to answer.

[Kevin Wagner]

Kevin, we didn't get any on cranks. I started with a rattle trap and felt a few slaps so I switched to a squarebill to give them a different look and no dice.

Walcrabass, do you mold your own Stand Up jigs or do you use a specific brand? You've got me curious.

Thanks for the reply. I am looking forward to the squarebill bite getting better.