Spotted Bass Numbers?

[Bill Babler]

Guys and Gals, we are just finishing up the spawn here and usually this is early morning topwater time and also easing into dropshot fishing. All my redfin fish have been Jaw's and LM.

I have been on the Rock many, many days since the first of the year, and have visited with both guides and clients that have and are fishing here.

Most are saying the same thing, Where are the Spotted Bass?

On three trips in the dam area last week and one out of Baxter, with over 120 fish caught and released we only had one K. I fished three days here at the dam that did not produce a single K. All Brown and all pretty young, from the spawns of 08 and 11.

Did my early season stuff of topwater at first light then swimming a grub deep to try and catch them. The boys are reporting some, dragging a fish dr. in 30 ft. but not many. Mostly Jaw's.

I have about a 1/2 dozen different bluffends in front of huge spawning coves that this time of the year I can set the boat out and swim that grub in the 20' range to suspended fish. This has worked for me for 25 yrs. All I'm catching now is SM.

The SM are out where the K's used to be. Normally I would not complain about catching Jaw's, but I'm concerned about my K's.

I sat off Sawmill Slide the other day with the boat in 80' swimming a grub to suspended fish that were in 20 over 40. 99% of the time these are K's. We caught 12 keeper SM all 15" stuff and skinny and about that many shorts in the hour and a 1/2 we spent there. I have never caught a jaw there before and it always holds K's.

From Campbell Point to Long Creek, keep a count and see how many and if you are catching the K's where you always have and in the same numbers. We should know something soon as the dropshot is the way to catch them.

Let us know. Good Luck

[Quillback]

Interesting. There seems to be the normal amount of K's up in the White channel, above the Kings to Eagle Rock. But I have noticed that there seems to be more LM up in that area his year. Not many smallies like you guys see down lake. Next time out I'll try to remember how many K's I catch and let you know.

[magicwormman]

Bill,

I also have noticed very few spots...........mostly jaws and LM. The few good spots I've caught recently, still had eggs, so hopefully the spots are still spawing or resting from the spawn. We will have a answer very soon. This might also explain the slow topwater bite.

[tapout]

Interesting!

FYI: Several trips for me this Month (5) have produced probably 50% k's and 50% sm. Almost exclusively fishing 15 to 30 fow on long main lake points with anything small and green and sitting real still. I can't say I was worried but definately a larger percentage of sm than usual.

Hopefully just an oddity and not a problem.

I'm a nobody (I don't fish 300 days a year) but I never caught the K's dropshoting last year, not even close to the numbers I had been catching in the previous five years. But I always assume it's me not adapting. I lived with the dropshot mid june through late august in years past (catching K's). It did horrible for me last year.

[Lancer09]

We have a few real Nice K's spending time under out dock ramp.

Even still guarding nests in 4 fow

[Quillback]

Interesting!

FYI: Several trips for me this Month (5) have produced probably 50% k's and 50% sm. Almost exclusively fishing 15 to 30 fow on long main lake points with anything small and green and sitting real still. I can't say I was worried but definately a larger percentage of sm than usual.

Hopefully just an oddity and not a problem.

I'm a nobody (I don't fish 300 days a year) but I never caught the K's dropshoting last year, not even close to the numbers I had been catching in the previous five years. But I always assume it's me not adapting. I lived with the dropshot mid june through late august in years past (catching K's). It did horrible for me last year.

Drop shot bite was lousy for me last year also, as was the deep jig fishing, but, shallow fishing held up well into August. Last summer was weird.

[Jacob W]

My problem this year has been catching the bigger sized kentuckys. I've yet to catch them consistently, just on here and there. On the other hand, I've had no problem catching the 11" to 14" spots.

[Bill Babler]

My problem this year has been catching the bigger sized kentuckys. I've yet to catch them consistently, just on here and there. On the other hand, I've had no problem catching the 11" to 14" spots.

That is completely opposite of what we have been seeing the last couple of years. I have caught really about as many keeper K's as I have caught shorts. In particular not many of the 11" and under K's.

In speaking with most of the Big Cedar Guides and they make their living catching Spotted bass, they are not catching the last 2 yrs. as many short fish as they think they need in the 10 to 13 inch range, that for clients are just as fun as 15 and 16 inch fish. Most of the K's we are catching from Baxter to LC are in the 13 to 18 inch range and not nearly as many as in past years.

Catching suspended SM in traditional Spotted Bass locations is also somewhat of a bother. It has been posted that we may be running behind and they may still be on the beds and that does happen. Especially up the White River. I have caught bedding K's as late as early June. Not time to panic by any means, but there does seem to be a changing of the guard from the 08 and 11 floods that have somewhat changed the populations, increasing the Jaw's and LM and to an extent either changing or decreasing the Spotted bass populations. It has for sure knocked out at least 2 yr. classes of these fish, 08 and 11,which I believe put to much water over their traditional spawning range and created 2 short year classes.

I'll know in June, as it is not uncommon for the guides to have 40 to 100 days on K's post spawn. These fish move to main lake locations where entire lake sections gather to rebound and gain weight after the spawn. We will see if they are on the locations they have been since I started chasing them in the 1970's

I'm going to go with magicwormman on this and see. I am hoping this is the case and we see our usual numbers post spawn in June.

[Hunter53]

I obviously don't know squat about TR. With that said however here is a thought. It seems you all had a huge die off of shad this year; maybe the K's are not in their usual places due to this?

On our trip down earlier this year(first part of May) we caught about the same number of K's as we did smallies. Most all fish were caught between 5-20 feet of water with the K's coming on the deeper end.

[Moswimb8slinger]

I'm still throwing the swimbaits on Table Rock. Say i get 10 followers in 10 casts, out of that 10, 9 have been Kentucky's. Some have slapped the bait and sometimes a wolf-pack of 3 or 4 will follow it. They dont seem so aggressive as the smallies or LM's. They are there, we just need to change something in our techniques, color, shape, size.