Kvd Big Bass Classic May 17/18

[abkeenan]

Your spot on Jason, the majority of them are done. Without sounding like a windy fish story I slaughtered the smallmouth in the dam area Thursday, Sat, and sunday. Caught plenty in the 3 to 4 pound range and all were thin and spawned out. Didnt have much trouble with the tournament guys. Most spots had it all to myself. I was blind in the front of the boat as evidently the Lowrance gen 2 cant get wet in the rain, it quit working the day after fishing it in the rain all day, just a gray screen . The smallies are on there way back out to the briny deep, still shallow now but have there noses pointed to deeper water.

Uncle's caught them up shallow right in the bushes on a fluke. I didn't have any bite that shallow and most of my fish came in the 15-22 foot range dragging a wobble head with a d-bomb on it.

[dtrs5kprs]

Your spot on Jason, the majority of them are done. Without sounding like a windy fish story I slaughtered the smallmouth in the dam area Thursday, Sat, and sunday. Caught plenty in the 3 to 4 pound range and all were thin and spawned out. Didnt have much trouble with the tournament guys. Most spots had it all to myself. I was blind in the front of the boat as evidently the Lowrance gen 2 cant get wet in the rain, it quit working the day after fishing it in the rain all day, just a gray screen . The smallies are on there way back out to the briny deep, still shallow now but have there noses pointed to deeper water.

That is what I was told on those Lowrance units. Bill Richey kept me from making a mistake when I was looking at replacing my X15/X17 with those. Hope it comes back for you.

[denjac]

That is what I was told on those Lowrance units. Bill Richey kept me from making a mistake when I was looking at replacing my X15/X17 with those. Hope it comes back for you.

Thanks, I really think if I had it flush mounted it wouldnt have done it. Its on a ram mount. The console unit is the same thing and it got just as wet with no problems. But they should still be waterproof regardless.

[snakem]

sounds like they have a prob.with them.they need to make good on them for the price we pay.

[merc1997 Bo]

back to the spawn. i have noticed several posts about not finding any topwater bite. nomally, after spawn, there are at least males still guarding nests, and will cream a topwater presentation. i have not talked to anyone that has seen evidence of fry.

i did get the chance to run some banks in big creek on thursday night, and saw a few kentuckies on beds, but not one large mouth. not one of the fifteen keepeers that i caught after dark were skinny or had any sign of fanning a nest. they were all slcik as could be. i did have a couple of bass in the 6 lb. range, that were fat, and not a blemish on them.

now, maybe the bass have spawned for the most part, but tournament weights have not reflected that, and at least to me, all the other signs such as missing topwater bite, fry and so forth, have not given me the indication that the major spawn has occurred yet.

we have had such a screwy spring with the temps yo-yoing back and forth, it is really hard to discern just what those green critters are doing.

i have caught bass from cow creek to eagle rock, and just have not caught one that has been even fanning let alone skinny and spawned out. i will say that i have not caught hardly anything from a flatter pocket or cove.

very interesting to read what everyone is doing though.

bo

[Alex Heitman]

Bo good post. I have seen tons of fry and lots of busting in the early morning. It seems like they want different topwaters from day to day. It is hard to get the topwater bite to materialize for some reason. Personally I think a majority of them have spawned or a big wave is about to move in. I caught some big LM 2-3 weeks ago that were spawning out in 15 ft of water on the backs of coves with ledges.

[5bites]

I was sight fishing three Saturdays ago around eagle rock. The major spawn is over.

[Quillback]

Yeah a couple of weeks ago I caught several spawned out 2 - 3lb. females. But last week, caught several that were fat and had undamaged fins and were out on the cove mouths, I'm assuming they were waiting to move in and spawn (this was during the cold spell last week). So my 2 cents are that we've had one wave of spawners that have finished and are going to get a 2nd push soon.

[dtrs5kprs]

Bo...could very well be the difference between flat and steep places. We caught several spawned out blacks around flatter gravel as early as last month.

No doubt there are still some spawning, and may be for a bit given the cold year. With the cold snap last May, we still caught a few brown fish on beds in early June.

[merc1997 Bo]

this has been a very hard year to predict anything about where and when the bass are going to be. just from the lack of numbers of big bass that have not shown up, i can not help but think that many of the big ones, have not made it in yet. i guess we will see how things progress. one thing about the big ones for me this spring is they have been pretty deep. most of the big bass have been close to 20ft. it is still cold at 20ft. spring is the most difficult season to keep up with bass. they are like a pack of wild dogs let loose, and when you throw in all the weather changes we have had this year, it is very hard to keep up with them. i do believe that in the kings and long creek a good percentage of bass got their spawning done early. i definitely will be filing this season into the memory banks.

bo