To be dusting off all of your Bass\Carp gear!!! I have been on a tying flurry of carp, largemouth, and smallmouth bass flies... My hands hurt from all the 3\0 hooks in the fingertips, and my rabbit fur and rubber leg selection is diminishing WAY too fast! Good luck to all this season, be safe, and make sure to post your first bass of the season here on this thread!!! :thumb: Tight Lines, Connor H
Not that far off. I took the pram out for an hour the other night and spotted the first big fat girly bass hanging on a shelf !!!
Got on some smaller Eastern Wa. lakes last weekend. Weather was not what one would prefer... but it could have been worse. Over the two days we boated around 12>14 Largemouth. Nothing big with most fish around 3>3.5 lbs. Very consistent sizing which is different than past 1st outings of the year. I flat out lost a couple due to weak hook-sets and my partner claimed to have missed another dozen or so. He caught the lions share. Today I went out late today to another E. Wa. lake known for size not quantity. Didn't get on the water till 4 and conditions were windy again. Water was off color with surface temps around 45 degrees. It was tough to read depth to locate drop-offs etc. I gave that up quick and headed to a rock pile the breaks the surface thinking it might catch the sun and heat up a bit. Whether that was the reason or not I'll never know but I managed to hook-up with a fat 7 lber off the rocks. All other tactics and efforts went unrewarded. I did see some younger carp jumping and rolling. On one of the deeper flats the water was muddied up more than the rest of the lake. The carp I did see were moving slow........ 5/0 hook on that fly in photo to give some perspective. Though I had the bottom at first
i found a nice one in central WA a week ago it was my first large mouth this year. I hope to hit the columbia first of next week.
Kevin, Same lake as that photo of myself and Jon L's son in a boat on FB. No mats, would it be early for that? "That massive fish dwarfs the cliffs in the background. Nice!" Whhy that fish coulda ate them thar cliffs! :clown: I was holding the fish and taking the picture while hanging over the side of the boat so I got some "interesting shots".
I was seeing dead plant mats last year at this time. I'll have to look at my notes. They were at one end of the lake and it lasted 2 w/e's. Then a stormy week wiped it out. It was cool while it lasted !!
Fantastic bass, how about opening up on some of these lakes so we can also enjoy practicing some C/R on them for bass. I don't like harassing them on the beds, fishing the drops is fun though. Since moving here from Texas I haven't been able to find a decent lake to fly fish for bass. How about some help. Kevin
Kevin, Potholes Res., Moses Lake, Roses lake, any and all ponds along the Columbia, plus many, many more. Check the WDFW web site for bass lakes, long list. Use the same flies you used in Texas
Ohh, can I play? I'm not in WA anymore, but I've been catching some warmwater fish.. Hickory Shad View attachment 30859 and White Perch View attachment 30860 Bonus: San Diego Kelp Bass View attachment 30858
Nice collection Mr. Herl. Using the two hander for the perch? Hope the the wholE familE is doing finE!
Ha! Thanks Mr. Mumbles. Yes, I am two handing palm sized perch now- hard times.. It's a Beulah 4/5 switch - great for shad, and the occasional "other" from the Potomac. Lots of Bass in there - I'll post a pic sometime soon. Eric
Kev, What part of town do you live ? They are in almost any lake around. I live in Auburn and there are 3 lakes within 5 miles that have some very large Bass. It's all a about the time of year. The big girls are up and looking now. If you go in June then that's when the early or late top water stuff starts.
