big female bass!

[Big Bass Chaser]

I'm also in California and fish rocky highland reservoirs where the bass can see and feel (your footsteps) coming from a distance. I used to be befuddled on how to catch them, but I think Raul has it. You need to hide like you were Batman stalking a thug. They cannot see, hear, or feel you or they will view as suspect anything you throw at them. Because I've been heartbroken a few times with big girls really shallow like that, I now explicity watch as far ahead as my polarized shades will allow to see if there are any cruisers or shallow bass. When I see them I get a football head (with rattles seems to be better) jig out and cast it way, way past them hopefully in deeper water. My goal is always find something hard near them if they are holding still or in front of them if they are cruising and shake that jig against it hopefully without moving it. You can feel the tack-tack-tack of the jig banging the rock and I'd say about 75% of the time the bass at least investigate and of those that investigate about 50% bite. Of course, that is my local lake, and these are northern strain not southern strain bass so they tend to be more aggressive.

On my most recent trip I saw three shallow bass and caught two of them this way.  The third felt me coming when I got excited watching it and snapped a dry branch I stepped on.  It looked directly at me and then two of it's friends swam up and they just watched me for a minute and swam away.

[Red]

I once had this opportunity, the fish was slowly cruising along and as it made a wide 180 degree turn I pitched a shallow crank right in front of it.  Then at the right moment I cranked it really hard twice and hit the bass with the crank.  It turned towards the bait, then I cranked one more time and she nailed it!  Totally inhaled it.  It was only about 5lbs, but it was pretty cool!  Had I had a jig or worm tied on I would have used it, I just happened the have a crank at that moment.

Cliff

[Hammer 4]

DVL..?

[TheSickdrift]

DVL..?

not Diamond Valley, its called Mojave Narrows, its located in Victorville, CA.

Its a decent lake, most of the people who fish there are just there for trout/catfish. So bass fishing is actually decent there. 8-)

[Hammer 4]

Cool, I know where it's at, never fished there...good luck.

[Chaz Hickcox]

GET A SWIMBAIT!!  Not that paddletail BS, a REAL swimbait.  I personally prefer Castaic Swimbaits, if budget is an issue go with their original hardheaded series.  14 bucks a pop and I still have one I bought in 1999.  That's how I used to catch them patrolling bass.

[RoLo]

Three possibilities come to mind when nothing is going to work, be it natural or artificial:

1) If you see them, they also see you (that's never good)

2) Spawning cows are fasting cows, and though the bucks may be easy to catch

the cows can be nearly impossible

3) Especially in ponds, I've often seen pods of indifferent bass cruising along the shoreline.

In some cases, you can almost follow their progress around the pond, as excited anglers

    along the bank become vocal and can be seen pointing at the water. In every case though,

no one ever touches a single bass (in some way, this may tie into number 1).

Roger