Northwest Fishing Reports

So ... I was talked into buying a bag of big plastic worms, and a huge hook to put them on. Guy told me this time of year the bass are toward the bottom, not just lurking under the pads, so top water not the right call in August.

From the perspective of does it work technically, yes, I have yet to lose the first worm in a few hundred casts. It's a little tore up, but it does not snag on weeds much, and when it does it pulls out easily. But I have had 1 maybe for a bite from a fish with any size. I've had a few nibbles, probably from perch I'm guessing, to the point that recently I rigged it up so it has a second small hook toward the tail of the worm.

Long story short, does this thing actually catch bass? I pitch it out to the lily pads, let it sink, try to move it slowly and randomly back along the bottom. Clearly fish see it, as I get hits from minnows of some sort, but I want to know if a bass will actually take this thing.

Tried it in Larsen, Boren, Ballinger, Phantom.

Thanks.

yes

next = is to use it in a lake that acually has bass.





I know nothing about those lakes.


Watch some videos on Youtube about worm fishing. Watch vids here on WaLakes.

Ok, I have some time for awhile.

Curly tail, ribbon tail, flat tail, or paddle tail worm? Or the old fashioned round tail?

4", 6", 10"? How long?

What colors?

How are you hooking the worm on the hook,Texas, open, nose hooked?

What hook are you using?

What line type and brand, and what pound test?

Are you casting the worm into the pads/grass or along the edges?

What amount of weight are you using, or are you fishing the worm weightless?

What type of weight?

Are you skipping the worm under the docks, or along the dock edges?

How deep is the water? Overall, max depth, depth where you are fishing?

What are the water conditions and color? Dingy, coffee colored, clear, greenish?

Any rocks, rock/gravel patches in those lakes?

Any trees or tree stumps, sunken docks, sunken boats, fallen trees?

Dropoffs, ledges, humps in the lakes?

Steep shorelines, or gradual sloping lake bottom?

How are you fishing the worm? Slow drag, fast dragging, hopping fast and slow, dead sticking? Dead sticking - how long are you letting it sit there before doing what - drag slow, drag fast, hopping, reeling back to the boat?

Whoever told you fish don't eat topwaters in august doesn't know what he is talking about. Conditions can play a big part of it but topwater fish can be caught from march basically into October depending on the lake and conditions.

That is VERY true.

Guess 6 of the 14 bass I caught Sun using topwater didn't get that memo.

Sliding bullet weight 4/0 ewg hook 7" purple power worm. I've gotten thousands of bass in this. Works rock simple as that.

August is the best month for night fishing topwater for bass and walleye and catfish.

Plastic worms are the workhorse of bass fishing, anywhere from 3" to monster 14" in darn near any color at given times. To start, keep it simple with a Texas rig and Senko, or 5-8" simple worm. If you want to learn them, go to good lakes, and fish only with the type of lure you want to learn. Don't even take other lures. If you are good at fighting fish, go with lighter line, or pitch heavier lines into the worst looking structure you can find. Worry about whether you can get the big one out, AFTER you get one on!

PS: Just caught a huge largemouth on topwater 2 weeks ago, so the guy may have meant well, but....

We've caught about 20 bass in aug on ribbit frogs. And I've caught prob 50+ bass this yr on black worms. Mostly senko but getting tired of losing fish so went to a Texas rig and lose almost zero fish. Frog didn't work at all this last week tho. Prob gonna switch to a zara spook. Easiest way I've found to fish a Texas rig worm is simple. Twitch your worm a few times then let it fall. Repeat to boat. Wait till 3rd tap to set the hook. I like to use a tungsten weight, a bead and a 4/0 wide gap hook. I've only been bass fishing for this summer but I've caught a decent amount a fish and almost everyone of them was in a black worm rigged some sorta way. I honestly like catching bass on cranks and topwater so much better. There's no donut when you have a fish. Worm fishing you'll learn to hate perch.

Skunked: Did you mean "doubt?" I've never had a donut and a fish on the same line... (autocorrect?) The only thing I'd change about what you said was the wait on the hit. If it works, fine, but sometimes you have to hit immediately, sometimes after the second tap, and sometimes you watch your line s-l-o-w-l-y tighten, and begin to move off, when you never feel a tap. Usually that's going to be a good fish. So, you were right, but sometimes you'll need to vary if you are to catch more fish.
September is a good time to use jigs, senkos, and plugs. During hot spells you can still catch 'em on topwater, but it is slowing down, and the fish tend to be smaller, unless it's a pad lake. Pad lakes can produce topwater even in winter at times. I've gotten lots of stares pitching topwater in cold water, but I've caught some big fish doing that. The more it cools, the better the afternoons.

Haha yes I met doubt

Well, we did doubt that you ment donut. But donuts are great to eat at the lake, on the boat, and most every where else. Altho I do get that white powder all over the boat, and me.

If they aren't soaked with lake water, I want to fish where they come with free donuts... Chocolate preferably...

I'm gonna try some chocolate donuts as bait now. Lol bet it would catch a catfish

Don't forget the little sprinkles on top.

Oh how can I? My wife is addicted to sprinkles

Have you tried throwing your wife at the fish?

Hmmm ... apparently I am not getting notifications of responses, as I just randomly found this and the responses are 18 deep.

I have now caught 1 bass on a senko. About 9 inch bass. The same day I caught a 10.5 inch bass on a drop shot with a piece of nightcrawler that I was catching perch with. Not sure why he volunteered, but I'm not complaining. So the 10.5 remains my biggest largemouth.

I've had better luck with smallmouth. Same perch dragger, just in 5 feet deeper water than the perch, with a nightcrawler chopped into 5 or 6 for visual of size of pieces. Caught a 16 inch smallmouth on Friday evening, and a 14 inch on Saturday evening after failing to land a few others.

I got a tip for a good lake to try to catch largemouth in. I'll try the senko again there I think.

Long story short on what I'm doing with the worm though, no weight, just hooked through the nose and then bury the tip half way down the worm, large hook with the bend by the eye so it can hide inside the worm. Worm is 4 inches I'm pretty sure, maybe 5 inches long. Worm shaped, no tail. Kind of a brown, reddish color. I know the fish can see it, as what I presume are perch chew on it regularly but never hook up. Generally I pitch it out to the edge of the lily pads, let it float down to the bottom, wiggle it here or there, then a slow, random retrieve with lots of pauses of up to 15-20 seconds. Depends on the lake. In Lake Washington I just pitch it wherever, although honestly I dont expect to get a largemouth out there I'm thinking better chance of smallmouth or rock bass. Visibility in water I'm guessing is 6-10 feet most of the time depends on lake, and the water depth I'm guessing 8 dragging back through 10 or 12 in lakes with pads, depth in Lake Wa in between 15 and 30, but again, not expecting largemouth there. I've also thrown that worm at stumps, sunken logs, etc.

What I've determined, so far, is that for general fish catching, what works for most lake fish is a drop shot with a 1/2 to 1 inch piece of nightcrawler about 18 inches off the bottom, OR a small white jig or half inch piece of nigthcrawler 2-3 feet under a bobber. With only those two methods, I've caught bluegills, pumpkinseed, smallmouth, largemouth, rock bass, bullheads, perch, and crappie. I've had almost no luck with the senko, or throwing a lure, in the 2 months I've been fishing. I have exactly 1 largemouth landed with the senko of about 9 inches, and exactly 2 largemouth landed throwing a small frog painted really wiggly lure, both 6-7 inches. I did have one bigger one on with that lure in the same lake (cassidy), but it came straight back under my boat and I couldn't keep tension on the line. My trip to cassidy I did not yet have a senko to try, and I forgot nightcrawlers, so since I was having no luck with the crappie jig at any depth I just threw that little lure for about 3-4 hours.