BCBass

I just got back from fishing one of Canada's few desert lakes in Osoyoos, BC and it was awesome! The water was clear and the bass were mostly under docks, so easy to target. I caught numerous smallies in the low 2-3 lb range but also a couple nice bass (one smallie, one largie) which are below. Both bit a 4" Tournament Edge black w/red flake tube on a 1/4 oz Bass Pro Shops XPS weedless tube jig. This smallie weighed 3 lb 13 oz. This largie weighed 4 lb 13 oz. Chad

My summer tactics are: Mainlake structure like humps and points, docks, laydowns, and over-hanging trees during the day. I use tubes (1/4 oz jig stuffed inside with hook exposed), grubs (1/4 oz jig), spinnerbaits (3/8 oz in white/yellow), and X-Raps (XR10s in perch or rainbow trout). In the early morning and night (sunset really) I stick to mainlake humps with surface lures such as poppers and walkers. Good luck! Chad

I fish for smallies in what I consider to be very clear water (12-20' visibility) and here's what I use: Lures: 4" tubes in black w/red flake or smoke w/purple&blue flake, XR10 X-Raps in perch or rainbow trout pattern (rip 'em hard), 4" grubs in black or smoke w/silver flake (herring-like?). I use the bigger baits because I'm not interested in the smaller fish, even though I do catch a few of them anyway. Line: 8-12 lb test Mustad UL MAX in the dark green on soft baits, and clear on X-Raps. Hope this helps you. Chad

Looks like a great catch! What was she using? Can't make it out in the photo. Chad

Way to go Idaho! Sorry, had to say it. Very nice smallie, especially from shore. Chad

Sorry man! I thought you were talking about IN-LINE spinners, not spinnerbaits. For spinnerbaits I use the Mustad Pro Stingers in the 2/0 size. I use a peice of surgical tubing (comes with the hooks) to keep the hook on the spinnerbaits main hook. http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0012130115213a&type=product&cmCat=search&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&QueryText=Mustad+Pro+Stinger&N=4887&Ntk=Products&Ntx=mode+matchall&Nty=1&Ntt=Mustad+Pro+Stinger&noImage=0 Another thing to consider is that maybe you're not using a stiff enough rod. Bass should rarely be able to throw a spinnerbait. I use a 6' medium heavy Quantum Tour Edition rod with a Accurist PT baitcaster spooled with 17 lb test Mustad Thor line. This way I can get a really solid hookset to drive the main hook and stinger home. Chad

I would buy some Mustad Triple Grip trebles in a size bigger than currently on the spinners. The triple grips are much harder for fish to throw due to their shape and bigger treble get a much better "bite" into the fish to reduce pull-offs. Chad

Birthday bassin' on Sunday was great! Here's the first one of the day: She was 3 lb 14 oz, spawned out, and I caught her on a mid-lake hump in about 6' of water. I was using a brown 4" Tournament Edge tube on a 1/4 oz jig. Between fighting her and the wind it was quite a battle. There were many others caught, but none this big, and no pictures for them. Chad

Thanks RRF! I'm hoping the fishing karma is in full gear because I'm going again on Sunday... Chad

A tournament angler from Ontario was out here on vacation with his wife and asked if I'd take him smallie fishing, so I took him out the other day. Let's just say we did OK. As you can see, Brian (from Ontario) caught a couple nice enough to photograph, plus another 15 or so we didn't take photos of. I caught a couple photo-worthy smallies too among the many smaller bass. Chad

I would say that both fish would count if legal where you were fishing. If you had the Tournament Director's cell number, I would call and get his verdict on the matter before keeping the fish for weigh-in. Chad

I bed fish for smallies every year and like bpm2000, I quickly release them in the spot they were, no worse for wear. It's a personal choice to do it or not, and I choose to do it. BASS has said for years that it's scientifically proven that fishing during the spawn doesn't affect the recruitment (number of baby bass that make it to maturity) in any way. I know from experience that no matter how many great anglers hit a lake at a given time, they will NEVER catch all spawning bass. Chad

That was a great post. It sounds like it's at least "based on a true story". Chad

Thanks guys! Ya, it was definitely a great day. That last one ran 5 lb, 15 oz and was 22.75" long. I skipped my tube up under a dock's walkway and my tube sank about 6'. I reeled up the slack and gave it a 6" twitch and my line jumped like it was struck by lightning. After I set the hook the bass ran about 20' PAST the walkway ripping off line like crazy, then after I while I worked it back to my side of the dock. THEN it tried to scrub me off in a bunch of heavy weeds, but I just maintained pressure until it pulled out of the mess. There were about 4 others I didn't take photos of in the 3 lb range, and even though they weren't big, they fought like they thought they were. Good luck to everyone else out there and I hope you're having a great weekend. Chad

Yesterday I went bass fishing on Shawnigan Lake (on Vancouver Island north of Victoria) and the smallies were feeding like crazy. Most beds I saw were silted over and the water was in the mid-60sF. Here are pics of my best 5 I took photos of. Chad