Bass Opener

[NADO]

Where are all the Bass pics this year? I have been waiting for a thread to add my pics too and I havent seen anything so far! Maybe everyone is doing the same thing? lol I guess I will get the ball rolling.

It was a slower opener for me compared to recent years. We always head out to the mouth of the Maitland but since the tornado went through there last year and one man lost his life security has been ramped up and anglers are no longer allowed to drive to the mouth. Instead we had to park back by the boat launch and carry 100lbs of gear, lunch etc hopping from rock to rock to get to our spot without trespassing. If I ever go back there I will definately be packing much lighter! I may just need to find a new preferred bass spot until the heat dies down.

As for the fishing it was slow but still productive. I landed two large bass and lost another three large bass to the "death rocks". I love fighting Bass in deep water with large boulders, the bass fight so hard and all they try to do is get under the rocks for cover which will snap your line every single time. The only way to land them is to fight them really hard and keep em above the rocks, it’s a huge rush every time you get one on. We also caught countless bass around the ¾ lb size which also fought surprisingly hard.

On a side note I found that using a medium heavy rod can also be quite fun for smaller fish. I was able to feel the full force of every single tug on the line and by the end of the day my wrists were killing me! Ultralite is still probably the most fun but when comparing to medium I would almost prefer the medium heavy…

First two pics are the same fish.

 

[ProFishermanJones]

wow awesome pictures. that last smallie is huge! your right about how fun medium / mediumheavy action rods can be

hope some more bruiser small mouth and bucket mouth pictures arise !

 

[getin]

Thanks for sharing. Great shots of bronzes!

 

[salmotrutta]

Nice bass, what did you get them on?

I always thought my current 7' rod was a MH, but recently I noticed it's just a M. But it feels no different from my previous 7' rod which was labeled as MH.

I tried a 6'6 M rod for steelheading once, and there I noticed a huge difference from my 7' MH. The 6'6 was incredibly wobbly and just didn't feel right to me, being accustomed to a 7 footer. I've seen guys using 6'6 even for salmon, if that's what they've always used then it feels right to them.

I was in Goderich the day of the tornado and the day after, but I haven't been there yet this year. Ironic how the town labeled "prettiest town in Canada" gets totally decimated. I love violent and turbulent weather, so I was quite thrilled to witness the mayhem, minus all of the losses people suffered.

 

[NADO]

I got most of them on leeches and some on worms fished on bottom. I was using 20lb braid with a 12lb mono leader so I could muscle them in to keep em above the rocks. I tried using crank baits at the end to switch things up but I didnt really give it enough of a chance. It really is too bad they have closed up that road. It was one of my favorite fishing spots because you could drive your car right up and be close by to a cooler full of sandwiches and beverages. I guess I will just have to stop being lazy and start looking for a new spot this summer.

One thing about M vs. MH rods to watch out for is a canadian tire special "medium" rod will typically bend very easily, be wobbly and have little to no feel. I have one from my beginning days and it is complete crap!

 

[kaministiquia]

Thanks for sharing NADO we have some Smallmouth Bass water in the Thunder Bay area but no Largemouth Bass catching them would involve a long drive to Kenora (Lake of the Woods) or a long canoe trip in Quetico/Boundry Waters Park to Basswood Lake. :-D :mrgreen:

 

[diggyj]

Nice Smallies, well done,great report.

Dirk

 

[Blair]

Nice Pics and Report Nado!



I see that you got your "PlayOff Gotee" Going ....

So, you ended up with the LIVE BAIT (Worms and Leeches).

I agree with you that some areas have so many GOBIES, you almost have to go with the PLastics.



Glad you had a nice day out.

ps: I've notices that Toronto has more ACCESS to the Water than almost anywhere else.

I went up to Orillia on Monday (Ended up getting there very late). It's either a boat or knowing someone at the Marinas.

Very LIMITED shore spots.


Caught lots of little perch, rock bass and a couple 2 lbs Smallies.

Saw a guy with a beautiful 7 Lb Large mouth. (He caught at the Marina , around the Boats). He was using 10 Braid.

 

[NADO]

LOL thats just my regular couple weeks of scruff growing in because im too lazy to shave...the goat seems to grow in faster than the rest.

Gobies at this spot are usually brutal to the point where you cant even keep your bait out there long enough to catch anything. My plan this time was to start with live bait and if the Gobies were unbearable then I would just switch over to some plastic tubes and some senkos. Turned out I didn’t need em, im thinking the Bass on their nests must have forced most of them out or maybe the gobies stay deeper this time of year…either way I wasn’t missing them at all!

 

[getin]

LOL thats just my regular couple weeks of scruff growing in because im too lazy to shave...the goat seems to grow in faster than the rest.

Gobies at this spot are usually brutal to the point where you cant even keep your bait out there long enough to catch anything. My plan this time was to start with live bait and if the Gobies were unbearable then I would just switch over to some plastic tubes and some senkos. Turned out I didn’t need em, im thinking the Bass on their nests must have forced most of them out or maybe the gobies stay deeper this time of year…either way I wasn’t missing them at all!

Have you guys tried deep-diving crackbaits? Last year when fishing for SM I got skunked with every form of plastic bait and then tied a black cranckbait with gold belly and started smashing them. Caught 12 SM and 2 nice walleyes

This year I tried the same spot, but 2 vans, 12 people! were there before me and had loaded their buckets so it was not as nearly productive

 

[salmotrutta]

LOL thats just my regular couple weeks of scruff growing in because im too lazy to shave...the goat seems to grow in faster than the rest.

Gobies at this spot are usually brutal to the point where you cant even keep your bait out there long enough to catch anything. My plan this time was to start with live bait and if the Gobies were unbearable then I would just switch over to some plastic tubes and some senkos. Turned out I didn’t need em, im thinking the Bass on their nests must have forced most of them out or maybe the gobies stay deeper this time of year…either way I wasn’t missing them at all!

From my observations, bass do scare the gobies away when they are roaming an area and guarding their nests. Bass feed on gobies, so if there is a large concentration of bass in one area, there shouldn't be too many gobies while the bass are there. But as soon as the bass are gone, the gobies move in.

 

[NADO]

From my observations, bass do scare the gobies away when they are roaming an area and guarding their nests. Bass feed on gobies, so if there is a large concentration of bass in one area, there shouldn't be too many gobies while the bass are there. But as soon as the bass are gone, the gobies move in.

Exactly what I have been thinking. Last year on the days that the gobies were really bad I got hardly any bass. And the days I did well with bass I got hardly any gobies.