Northwest Fishing Reports

From what i have read. fall bass are usually where the spring bass are. and apparently are suppose to be aggressive. but i must be doing something wrong. i've fished a little of everything even tried going deeper. any pointers would be great.

Might not be in the fall mode yet with the late hot summer we had just a thought

Yeah I agree with Bassin

With all the nicer weather we have had, they may have no transitioned shallow from their deep structure. If you have some sort of depth finder, search out humps and ridges and any out-of-the-ordinary structure.

No matter the time of year, there will always be bass shallow, mid range, and deep. Just because it's the "right" time to catch them shallow, it doesn't always mean the majority will be there. If you are more prone to search the shallows and hit up the shallow structure right now, try fishing the main lake points and wind blown shores. Find weedbeds and go crazy!

Give it a few weeks, and with a turn in the weather, you will see an influx in movement to the shallows. This time of year is excellent for fast moving, reaction-type baits so stick with your cranks, spinnerbaits, lipless, and SWIM JIGS! Early-mid fall is one of the best times for that trophy, so whip out the swimbaits too.

Have fun out there and best of luck,
Trav

TravisRush wrote:Yeah I agree with Bassin

With all the nicer weather we have had, they may have no transitioned shallow from their deep structure. If you have some sort of depth finder, search out humps and ridges and any out-of-the-ordinary structure.

No matter the time of year, there will always be bass shallow, mid range, and deep. Just because it's the "right" time to catch them shallow, it doesn't always mean the majority will be there. If you are more prone to search the shallows and hit up the shallow structure right now, try fishing the main lake points and wind blown shores. Find weedbeds and go crazy!

Give it a few weeks, and with a turn in the weather, you will see an influx in movement to the shallows. This time of year is excellent for fast moving, reaction-type baits so stick with your cranks, spinnerbaits, lipless, and SWIM JIGS! Early-mid fall is one of the best times for that trophy, so whip out the swimbaits too.

Have fun out there and best of luck,
Trav

bingo. just because it is "technically" fall, bass don't necessarily see it that way. It's been WAY too hot of a September for bass to get into a full fall pattern. the mornings are getting colder though and that means the water temperature is going to start dropping, and along with the shorter days and the inevitable cold fronts, that should get 'em moving up. I was out this last weekend and it is improving slightly, so like Travis said give it a couple more weeks and dig your insulated rain gear out of the closet, and you can enjoy some of the best bass fishing of the year in my opinion.

62 to 65 degrees on Sawyer from 2pm til 5:30 today. Bass are still deep. Few smaller ones up over the rocks and inside weedline. Suprized me, but you don't know unless you fish there, so I did and caught some. Should still be better in the evenings. Maybe I'll try again next week.

I think that the best thing to do right now is to just get on the water. No matter the season, time on the water is the only way you can get better and with these gloomy days we have had this week, those bass should start transitioning. I'm not too sure on how long of a period of consistent weather it takes for a transition, but I know that if you're fishing, you will be catching. Granted, you may still have to fish deep, but you can't catch them if your line isn't in the water!

Like Nik said, stay warm out there!

Overall, be patient with the weather (it will be here soon enough...then when it's gone...you will wish it weren't winter!), get on the water, and enjoy yourself.

I was on Long Lake (East Side) Friday and it is just getting right. It was slow but you just had that sense that it was going to come uncorked any day now. I also fished Moses for half a day on Tuesday. Moses was brutal on Tuesday with that front that moved in Monday night. We went from a high of 80 on Monday to a high of 59 on Tuesday. I think spectacular fishing is near if not upon us already. The water temps have gone from the low 70's to the low 60's in the last 2 weeks and the few fish I have been catching are starting to get chubby. I never thought I would be glad that the late bow hunt got pushed back to the 25th of November but I'm not that upset about it anymore. Good Luck guys.

DC has it right, and we have seen some other circumstances.

At least at Long/Lk Spokane, the 2009 year class hatch has been unbelievable as far as abundance and survival rate. This translates to FRY EVERYWHERE. Since the lakes are all turning over right now, that might help disperse the fry, but as of today, most of the late summer and fall fishing has been scratch, and the harvested smallies have had their bellies PACKED with fry. No need to strike your lures when they are literally stuffed full of food. Once the surface temps drop a little more (this cold front with rain ought to do the trick) the fry will hide out and the fishing should improve.

DC, took a buddies kid out a couple days ago, hit some local squally spots and gave him a beetlespin with a green leech (3"). First fish he hit was a 14" smallie, then 2 consecutive hookups after that with squalter. Not far from your house, so I think its time to move into those areas.

Anyone out there looking to entertain kids, its squaw season as well, with a trout-like fight in the fall.

E

did it get cold to quick? i havent fished this week. but from what im hearing the water temp has dropped tremendously. i haven't ever really fished the fall bite. i dont know why. but its not over is it?

62 on Sawyer this morning.

Spent all day Monday on Newman talked with a few anglers and the water temp was in the mid to low 50's very slow bite caught a few dink bass and one small Tiger Muskie. Water temp has dropped really fast with this cold week of weather.
Everything caught was on a hard swimbait.

I'll be trying for bass this weekend. I may start off tossing spinnerbaits...this at least worked
at Silver...but I'll be bringing the whole box.

basschazer wrote:did it get cold to quick? i havent fished this week. but from what im hearing the water temp has dropped tremendously. i haven't ever really fished the fall bite. i dont know why. but its not over is it?

It did get cold quick. I saw a 9 degree drop in surface temp in 6 days on 2 different bodies of water. I believe if it stabalizes right here at these temps it will get scary good. I spoke with a guy that fished yesterday and absolutely crushed them.

Wanna go out tomorrow DC? Ill be home in the morning.

E

Desertcreek wrote:It did get cold quick. I saw a 9 degree drop in surface temp in 6 days on 2 different bodies of water. I believe if it stabalizes right here at these temps it will get scary good. I spoke with a guy that fished yesterday and absolutely crushed them.

That is what I am hoping for this weekend! Just learning the fall bass bite so will see at the end if I learn anything or if the bass will be just pointing their fins laughing at me ... LOL

Bisk1tSnGraV wrote:

Desertcreek wrote:It did get cold quick. I saw a 9 degree drop in surface temp in 6 days on 2 different bodies of water. I believe if it stabalizes right here at these temps it will get scary good. I spoke with a guy that fished yesterday and absolutely crushed them.

That is what I am hoping for this weekend! Just learning the fall bass bite so will see at the end if I learn anything or if the bass will be just pointing their fins laughing at me ... LOL

Just start at the same places you did in April. My partner that crushed them yesterday at Moses fished the same water we fished at the end of April. I would start on a flat or the first break and move up as the water warms.

Still 61 and 62 on Sawyer this morning at 7am and when I left at 10am. Pounders here and there.

i will be out at newman or long tomorrow. so hopefully i too will find a fall bass or two. good luck this weekend guys. i should have been out today but my fishing buddy has a job. what a looser. lol. have fun.

Slayed 'em at Kapowsin....they are really digg'n the white spinnerbait.
I'll post a report and pics soon.

we went out to newman today. we didnt do to well. my buddy lost a muskie at the boat and i got a descent small mouth. the small mouth came on a texas rigged dt h grub. we fished from 5 to 23 ft. with barely a nibble most of the day. what depth are you fishing the spinnerbaits? maybe im not much of a cold weather bass catcher.