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

I've been fishing clear water smallies up here lately and what has been working is perch coloured X-Raps and 4" black w/red flake tubes on 1/4 oz jigs. The X-Rap has to be worked properly though and that's VERY aggressively. If your arm isn't hurting after a 1/2 hour throwing the X-Rap, you're probably not doing it right. I have an article I wrote on my website about fishing an X-Rap if you're interested. for the tube, if you can't see the beds, then I would just pull up on an area, throw the X-Rap to get them to follow it, then throw the tube in the direction the bass came from and work it slowly back for a few casts. Then fan cast the area just to try and pick off any other spawners nearby. Good luck! Chad

I AM CANADIAN, and I've fished the Ottawa river near Pembroke, ON. Awesome smallie fishing there. Now I live in British Columbia and here on Vancouver Island the smallies are big and agressive. If you're ever heading out this way drop me an email. Good luck out there! Chad

Thanks fishnbear! I only weigh, but I'm going to start measuring too. I'll let you know on the next one I post. Thanks Roadwarrior! I think the ones you've got in your picture beat mine by a bit though. Chad

When I fish in snaggy conditions, I do a few things: 1/ If possible, use a lighter wire hook. That way you can just put steady pressure on the snag and bend the hook enough to have it come free. 2/ Fish the bait Texas-rigged (bait skin-hooked) so it's snag-free. Just make sure your rod is stiff enough to drive the point home when needed. 3/ Buy a plug knocker from BPS. I put mine on the chord of one of my marker buoys that way it serves two purposes. When you get snagged, you just slide the knocker down your line, snag it on your lure or knock it free. Hope this helps. Chad **Mod Edit** Removed link. Please Read the FAQ's

Gotta like any bass forum site that dedicates a section just to us that are addicted to smallies! I went out on Friday and got bit so much and so hard that my hookset arm was sore on the drive home. The bass were pretty much finished the spawn and the big spawned out females I was catching in 8-12' of water were lean and hungry. I was mostly catching them on 4" Tournament Edge tubes and grubs fished on 1/4 oz jigs. The water in Quennel Lake (Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, BC, Canada) was 64F and I had about 3' vis. This is one of the bigger ones that I took the minute to take a photo of: If you have any questions about bass fishing on Vancouver Island, just ask away. Chad **Mod Edit** Removed the link and I also edited your signature. Please Read the FAQ's. If you have any questions feel free to PM me.