In The Wash
Angler
Ok so I'm gonna try and do an informative thread a day. (Time dependent and a pretty hefty goal)
So I'll address my earliest of the season tactics.
My spring fishing usually begins in March. Weather dictates how early I'm gonna push the envelope. I focus all of my efforts on the western north shore and usually focus on the last couple of hours of the incoming through the first couple of the outgoing. My plug of choice has for the most part been a plastic minnow plug of some kind, swarter, sp minnow, or bomber to name a few with the sp always taking top honors as first out of the bag to find fish. And ill usually size down in the early early part of the season to the five inch size just to match the bait profile (unless I'm seeing something larger swirl around). As the days move on I'll usually throw the 6" inch sp and then occasionally the 7 if I'm seeing larger baits which will almost always be bunker. Efforts are concentrated around deep back bay areas which are completely exposed mud during the lowest stages of the tide. dark mud that absorbs that sun and heats up. Attracting the little minnows worms, and other critters which the bass will feed upon. There is not just one of these areas which produce fish and the crowds since about 2019 have gone out of control. This had me roaming around finding some similar location which have me getting the same results as the places where its no longer even comfortable to fish anymore. This year I switched things up a little bit and concentrated on throwing a few smaller metal lips and forcing myself to use these plugs over my usual choices. I was looking for quality over quantity and they didn't disappoint. Slow rolling these plugs is what almost always evokes a strike. Ill twitch the minnow plugs on a pause all throughout the retrieve. But if that doesn't produce its always a good idea to vary the retrieve every few casts. During certain times (mostly the full moon) Ill do better on a very quick retrieve with rapid twitches. (There's no hard rules in this sport). As always concentrate on the moon tides when possible. Fish move on those moons and I've seen big fish come in and out on a tide just to be gone the very next night. Soft plastics and light bucktails can also be quite effective, but I've tended to do better on the above mentions plugs. It hasn't been unusual to me to find fish with full bunker in their throats with the tails hanging out (even 25 inch fish) during this time of year. Do not hesitate to throw a decent sized offering to these fish if you think the right bait is present. Couple of photos added below because who doesn't like fish pics. (I didn't take many this spring)
So I'll address my earliest of the season tactics.
My spring fishing usually begins in March. Weather dictates how early I'm gonna push the envelope. I focus all of my efforts on the western north shore and usually focus on the last couple of hours of the incoming through the first couple of the outgoing. My plug of choice has for the most part been a plastic minnow plug of some kind, swarter, sp minnow, or bomber to name a few with the sp always taking top honors as first out of the bag to find fish. And ill usually size down in the early early part of the season to the five inch size just to match the bait profile (unless I'm seeing something larger swirl around). As the days move on I'll usually throw the 6" inch sp and then occasionally the 7 if I'm seeing larger baits which will almost always be bunker. Efforts are concentrated around deep back bay areas which are completely exposed mud during the lowest stages of the tide. dark mud that absorbs that sun and heats up. Attracting the little minnows worms, and other critters which the bass will feed upon. There is not just one of these areas which produce fish and the crowds since about 2019 have gone out of control. This had me roaming around finding some similar location which have me getting the same results as the places where its no longer even comfortable to fish anymore. This year I switched things up a little bit and concentrated on throwing a few smaller metal lips and forcing myself to use these plugs over my usual choices. I was looking for quality over quantity and they didn't disappoint. Slow rolling these plugs is what almost always evokes a strike. Ill twitch the minnow plugs on a pause all throughout the retrieve. But if that doesn't produce its always a good idea to vary the retrieve every few casts. During certain times (mostly the full moon) Ill do better on a very quick retrieve with rapid twitches. (There's no hard rules in this sport). As always concentrate on the moon tides when possible. Fish move on those moons and I've seen big fish come in and out on a tide just to be gone the very next night. Soft plastics and light bucktails can also be quite effective, but I've tended to do better on the above mentions plugs. It hasn't been unusual to me to find fish with full bunker in their throats with the tails hanging out (even 25 inch fish) during this time of year. Do not hesitate to throw a decent sized offering to these fish if you think the right bait is present. Couple of photos added below because who doesn't like fish pics. (I didn't take many this spring)
