Upgrading Your Catch
Part One
I’ve spent most of my fishing career chasing green and brown bass around the clear, deep waters of Northern California. Specifically, I learned how to bass fish on Folsom Lake.
Folsom Lake is a small lake just outside of Sacramento located partially within the city limits of Folsom, California. This is one of the busiest state parks in northern California, with estimates of over one million people visiting every year. To say that this lake gets a lot of fishing pressure is like saying summers in Sacramento can be hot.
Folsom Lake has a lot of structure and at times, very clear water. I feel strongly that if you can consistently catch quality fish there, you will be well suited to catch quality fish from any reservoir in the country.
Over the years, I’ve been asked numerous times how I catch quality fish in Folsom. It's simple: you have to spend your time fishing for quality bites and eventually they will come. Sounds easy, doesn’t it? Let’s spend some time actually breaking this statement down and see if we can’t find ways to put more big bass into your livewell.
We all know the old saying, “Big baits catch big fish” right? Well of course that’s true, but guess what…small baits catch them, too. Big baits just take away the competition from most of the smaller fish allowing the larger ones first shot. Here are some general traits I’ve noticed with big fish over the years:
Big Fish Want Deep-water Access Nearby
This allows for an easy escape route and provides a sense of security from other predators. Now when I say big bass want quick access to deep water that doesn’t necessarily mean they will be deep. Sometimes it’s just the opposite.
It’s important to remember that really big bass can be found in just inches of water. I mean so shallow that their backs may be out of water! This is especially true in the spring when there is a mud line on a warm rocky or sandy bank with gin clear water outside of the mud line.
Big Fish Like to Suspend
They spend most of their time just suspending off some form of structure, whether it’s a creek channel or a long tapering point. The times they’re not set up on structure actively feeding, they tend to be floating over deep water loosely relating to some form of structure. Think about the guys that win the majority of tournaments around your area. I will bet they are the same guys who can go out and catch those suspended fish better than the rest of us.
Big Fish Really Do Like to Eat Big Baits
Not necessarily big in inches as much as big in profile. If you think about it, a jig and pig is not a “big” bait, but with all that bulk, the profile is large. Another example that comes to mind is the old zipper worm. Remember those? There was a time when you had to have those to catch fish. They were only four to five inches long but the “zipper” portion of the bait caused the worm to move a lot of water and that’s what seemed to attract the larger fish.
Big Bass Are Lazy
They don’t want to work hard chasing down their prey. They want to ambush or trap their food and push it into or trap it against an object. Pin it down so to speak. That’s why frequently the largest fish of the day seems to get hooked or at least be seen just as your bait is almost back to the boat or as you’re picking your bait up out of the water.
This is one of the reasons topwater baits work so well. Yes, the water surface is like a wall in that bass pin their prey against the surface of the water limiting the escape routes for the bait. Keep this in mind when you are working your bait around cover or structure and see if it doesn’t help you catch more fish.
Big Bass Baits
Now that I went over some of the traits of big bass, let’s go over the baits to use when targeting larger than average fish. The first and most enjoyable way to target big fish is with topwater baits. Baits like a Super Spook from Heddon, or a Sammy 128 by Lucky Craft. These baits show a larger than average profile. More importantly, they move a lot of water as you “walk the dog” over the heads of the fish.
A trick to remember with these baits is after you throw your bait past whatever your target may be, when you are about even with the target, speed up your retrieve. This would be a natural response for the bait to flee and triggers a reactive “it’s getting away” response that forces fish to commit.
Crankbaits buzzbaits and spinnerbaits all do the same thing. They show larger profiles and move lots of water, which triggers the killer instinct and therefore, produces larger fish.
Now, when there seems to be a race for the next world record bass, everyone is throwing swimbaits. Swimbaits do produce monster, double-digit bass, but along the way to catching those trophies, lots of smaller, yet still very impressive bass get hooked and landed.
Bottom line - swimbaits are a must for anyone chasing their fish of a lifetime. While searching for that monster fish, you will be surprised though at the number of smaller two to three-pound bass you will catch on these large baits. The aggressive nature of bass sometimes just amazes me. It’s no wonder they are frequently at the top of their food chain in the waters where they roam.
Lastly, jigs are notorious for their ability to catch tournament winning sacks of bass. They’ve been doing so for over 30 years, and as long as bass continue to eat crawdads and bream, they will continue to do so. Nothing seems to represent a crawdad better than a jig and craw combo.
To Be Continued - Next week: Jim's personal "hit list" of baits that helped him land bigger fish!
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