Fishing Reports | Mark Lassagne

Summer Transitions at Lake Berryessa

November 19, 2018 by Mark Lassagne

SUMMER TRANSITIONS

Day 1: 50 fish, including 20 3-plus pound smallies, spots and largemouths. Our best five went about 19 pounds with the biggest at 5 1/2 pounds.

Day 2: 65 fish, including one 5-pounder, four 4s, 10 3s, and a bunch of decent bass. Most fish were largemouths, but we also had one good smallie and one good spot. Our best five went a little over 20 pounds.

Day 3: 61 fish with a few 3s, some 2s, and a 6-pounder. Our best five were about 17 pounds.

On the first day there was a good shad spawn going on in the main lake. We targeted fish busting shad for the first couple of hours, though once the sun came up the surface activity subsided. We continued to target the same areas, but instead dropped to a depth of 10 to 20 feet using a Revenge Deep Runner spinnerbait in a shad color with silver and gold willow blades. We’d cast the spinnerbait and let it fall to the bottom, then reel it back slowly until a fish to loaded up on it. The spinnerbait bite lasted an hour or so before tapering off. After that we pitched dropshots and worm-dressed shaky heads to the bank, working them down to about 20 or 25 feet. The worm bite lasted most of day but slowed down in the end.

On day two we focused our efforts in the main lake. There was a slight breeze blowing and we couldn’t find a shad spawn, but, it being summer, I pretty much throw topwater every morning looking for a big bite anyway. We only connected with two fish this day, but one was a 4 1/2-pounder.

After the sun got up we tossed spinnerbaits and jerkbaits. We got a few on the spinnerbait and none on the jerkbait of any quality. After seeing only small fish on subsurface reaction baits, we went to the same drop shot and shaky head as the day before. And suddenly, the action heated up. By mid-morning we were fishing deep main lake points, catching both a largemouth and spot over 3 pounds each. After hitting a dozen main lake points we moved north looking for a slightly deeper water (10-20 feet) on the flats and the fish were stacked there. We landed about 40 fish between 11 a.m. and 3 p.m., including a couple of 4s, a 5, and quite a few over 3. Most were largemouth but a few nice smallies were mixed in.

We launched near the dam on day three and ran to some steeper banks dotted with rocks and brush. We quickly got a 3-pound largemouth on a white Yamamoto D Shad in followed by a 3-pound spot on a DUO Pencil. After that it got a little tough. We jumped around from point to point and cove to cove through the narrows and only landed 18 more bass. Eighteen fish isn’t bad, but they were small and much harder to catch than the bass in the main lake.

We fired up the Mercury and headed to the main lake, avoiding areas we had previously fished. I like to keep things fresh unless in a tournament, and in that case I’ll pound it.

Using the drop shot and shaky head, we hit main lake points and coves from 5 to 20 feet and landed 43 additional fish by 3 p.m., including a 6-pounder.

MID-SUMMER

As summer progresses the bite will slow; a decent day will yield 10 to 20 bass rather than 40 to 60. You’ll have to move around and hit more of the high percentage spots until you find some active fish.

For example, we fished laydowns in the main lake during the mid-summer. I could see fish on my Garmin

7612, but they weren’t biting. So, I lowered the Aqua-Vu and there were about 20 bass just outside the laydown. With this knowledge, we then slowed down and scaled down our baits, fishing them where we knew the fish to be holding. Still no luck.

We then ran to the next tree. There were fish there as well but no takers. Now that we knew where the fish were, we ran similar areas. Switching up to a 1/6-ounce ball head jig with a 2.8 shad-colored Keitech, I let the swimbait fall slowly to the bottom. Once on the bottom, I would life and drop. Wham! A 3 1/2-pound spotted bass inhales the small swimbait, followed by a 2-pounder. Believing the fish to be suspended and wanting a small slow-moving bait, we continued on with the Keitech, but included a 5-inch wacky Senko to our presentations. We hit another tree, and bingo, we got one close to 5, a 3-pounder, and another small keeper.

We were now starting to figure things out, but unlike in the early summer, the fish are finicky and only biting in certain areas. With this knowledge we can hit these high percentage places, making a few casts before moving on, covering more water and catching more fish.

Once we edged towards the afternoon the fishing changed yet again and we were no longer catching them outside the tress. On the prowl once more, we headed toward the western shoreline and started working points with a spider grub and a wacky Senko. This worked well for the smallmouth and we landed about 10 fish during the mid afternoon, many of them in the 3- to 4-pound class.

Fishing changes constantly. Paying attention to the seasonal patterns and keeping an open mind will help you to become a better angler.

Mark Lassagne is the creator of Bass Angler Magazine, a professional tournament angler, and guide on Berryessa and the Cal Delta. More about Mark can be found here: www.marklassagne.com.

Catching Spotted Bass This Summer at Lake Oroville

July 3, 2018 by Mark Lassagne

By Mark Lassagne

Lake Oroville State Recration Area can be fun or frustrating, depending on your goals.

If you’re looking for a nice lake – clean water, camping, boating and fishing – that also has a ton of fish, then Oroville is a fun and enjoyable place to be.

However, if you’re looking for an easier shot at quality fish, then you might want to head to Clear Lake, Berryessa, or the Delta.

Lake Oroville sits at 900 feet of elevation and is approximately 25 miles long, end-to-end, with about 150 miles of shoreline. Located an hour north of Sacramento, Oroville is a relatively short drive from just about anywhere in the greater Bay Area.

There are four river arms, or forks as they’re called here: South Fork, Middle Fork, North Fork, and Lime Saddle. The South Fork and Lime Saddle are where many of the elusive largemouth tend to be found. The North Fork and Middle Fork generally have cooler inflowing water, and on warm days you may find a refreshing breeze in the North Fork.

Spotted bass is the predominant species in Oroville, but the lake also holds trout, sturgeon, salmon, and catfish, along with crappie and bluegill. The forage base consists of pond smelt, threadfin shad, crawfish, and whatever else might be unfortunate enough to slip into the water that the bass can get a hold of. There are a few smallmouth and largemouth, but don’t expect to catch many of them.

As summer begins, the spotted bass have just finished spawning and are working to fatten up. More often than not they are fairly easy to catch. However, the average fish is a skinny 10- to 12-inches long. There are a number of quality bass at Oroville, and at times they may reveal themselves, but I believe the lake conditions compel many of the bigger fish to suspend offshore, making them difficult to locate and catch.

This time of year, the fish seem to scatter and can be caught on a variety of cover. The river arms are usually a good place to start; this past week we averaged 40 fish a day from the North and Middle Forks. The South Fork and Lime Saddle had fewer fish of similar quality.

THE COVER

Points leading into creeks and coves are generally a good bet almost any time of year. Lately the pockets have been holding more bass, however. Choose any of the river arms and begin a mile or two toward the back. Start by targeting pockets or coves that show noticeable signs of recent water having washed into the lake from above. During the early morning hours focus on pockets on the eastern bank providing the most shade. Most of the river arms have plenty of small pockets in which one can travel down the bank, hitting the points in between, and then the sides leading into and out of the pockets. Once the sun gets high don’t be afraid to fish in direct sunlight and up shallow.

After fishing down a bank for a bit you should have an idea where the fish are located. Spots usually bite pretty quickly, so if you’re not getting bit, move. Move down the bank, to the other side, or to a deeper pocket or small creek channel.

HOW DEEP

This time of year, the fish are in mere inches down to thirty feet. Spotted bass move frequently, so don’t get fixated on one depth; they can move at any time.

WHAT TO THROW

If you want a lot of action, dropshot a small 2- to 4-inch worm in a shad or green pumpkin color. This combo will yield a lot of small fish and an occasional good one – but be prepared to go through a lot of worms. Moving up the food chain to target better fish, a weighted wacky 5-inch Yamamoto Senko in green pumpkin, cinnamon, or clear is a good choice. A shakey head with a 6-inch worm, rigged weedless to come through debris, works well for tossing right in the middle of the cuts. A football jig with a Yamamoto Spider Grub is another good choice for keeping the little ones away – this is also a good choice to see if the fish have moved deeper. Small Keitech swimbaits and Yamamoto twin tail grubs rigged on a darter or ball head jig produce fish here.

TOPWATER

There’s generally a good topwater bite in the mornings. A River2Sea Bubble Pop, Zara Spook, small Whopper Plopper will all work. If you’re targeting big bass the spook or larger Whopper Plopper are viable options.

REACTION BAITS

Reaction baits work well on Oroville early and late in the day, if there’s a mud line, cloud cover or wind. And … sometimes for no reason these spotted bass go shallow and bite. Spinnerbaits like a 1/2-ounce Revenge Deep Runner in shad with gold and silver willow blades work on almost any day. Additionally, a white Revenge Deep Runner spinnerbait with white blades works well on cloudy or windy days.

Crankbaits also produce good numbers of fish. I like the DUO Realis M11A in a crawfish or shad pattern. It dives to about seven feet and easily deflects off of bottom cover.

Ripbaits and jerkbaits play here, too. The DUO Realis 110SP in ghost minnow or Threadfin Shad are productive choices for me.

WORKING THE BAITS

Considering that the spots may be anywhere from shallow to deep, I’ll start right on the bank and work out deep. In the early hours I’m generally focusing on only the top ten feet before going deeper as the sun gets up. Also, when targeting the bank, I’m generally working at a 45-degree angle until I find the right depth, then adjust as I go.

Dropshotting: Toss your bait to the bank and work it out, giving a little shake as it slides out deeper. Remember to manipulate your line to keep the bait on the bottom as you work it into deeper water.

Wacky Senko: Cast to the bank then lift and drop your rod, leaving a bow in your line. Pay close attention to the line as the bait shimmies to the bottom. Once it hits bottom, lift and drop again, working the bait out to 10, 20, and even 30 feet.

Football head: Cast the jig to the bank, hop it up a few feet and let it fall to the bottom. Repeat. If you’re one who prefers a faster pace, this is a fun technique as the fish are biting the jig on the fall. Another way to work the football jig is to drag it. Try hopping it down to 5 or 10 feet or so, then drag it – this will let you know if the fish want it on the bottom or not.

Shakey Head: You’ll toss this to the bank then drag it, shake it, moving it out deep. Try twitching the bait without moving it too far just by shaking the slack in the line. The shakey head, since it’s rigged weedless, is a good option when fished around underwater trees or debris.

Yamamoto grub or Keitech: I like these baits on a small 1/16- to 1/18-ounce ball head jig, which I’ll cast shallow and then swim back with a steady retrieve through the middle water column of 5- to 20-feet.

Topwater: With walking type baits like a Zara Spook, cast it close to the bank, let it sit for a few seconds, then twitch the slack in the line to sashay the bait back and forth, varying the starts and stops.

Retrieving the Plopper is straightforward: Cast to the bank and retrieve at a steady pace, keeping the bait on the surface and the tail rudder chugging.

A Popper I’ll cast close to the bank, giving it a short twitch, causing the lure to produce its signature pop and spurt of water. Then I’ll let it sit for a brief moment and repeat, varying the time I pause and pop the bait.

Spinnerbaits: Similar to other baits, I’ll cast it to the bank at a 45-degree angle, bringing it back with a slow and steady retrieve. When getting bit during the retrieve you may feel a strike, but don’t set until you feel the weight of the fish. Spots tend to slap at the bait several times before getting hooked.

Crankbaits: I like casting cranks up shallow, keeping the boat fairly close to the bank. This way the bait can hit bottom or strike other shallow cover with a medium slow retrieve, all while staying in the strike zone longer.

SPECIFICS

Dropshot: Use a 3/16-ounce cylinder-style weight, and a 12- to 20-inch drop leader with a #1 or #2 Gamakatsu dropshot hook.

Senko: I like a 1/0 Gamakatsu dropshot hook for 5-inch Senkos with a 1/16- to 1/8- ounce nail weight pushed flush into the flat end of the Senko.

Shakey head: A 3/16- to 1/4-ounce Frenzy Baits Nail jighead with a 6-inch Robo worm rigged weedless.

I hope this article helps you put a few more fish in the boat and have good time getting there.

About Mark

Mark Lassagne, a professional tournament angler and guide, is the creator of the popular quarterly publication BASS ANGLER Magazine. To book a trip Click here

March and April at Berryessa

April 8, 2018 by Mark Lassagne

March and April found great fishing at Lake Berryessa

The warm weather after the last storms brought the fish up shallow to spawn giving us many choices. Early March found the fish on points leading into coves then once the water warmed into the high 50’s the bass moved into the coves along the sunny walls. The north facing walls with full sun were the best. It didn’t matter if you fished the main lake or the narrows the fish moved up and were biting.

In early March we were getting 20to 30 fish a day and now in April it’s 30 to 70 a day and should be good for another month or so.

The best baits were 5″ Senko in Baby Bass and Dropshotting a 4″ Fat Robo Worm in Aaron’s Magic or MM3 fished in 3 to 20ft. When you run a cross a bed fish the Yamamoto Shad Shape worm was the trick in Baby Bass color.

We rigged the senko wacky with 1/16 nail weight and a O-Ring and a Gamakatsu Aaron’s DropShot Hook 1/0 size and the same hook on the dropshot only in #1 size. Using an open hook snags a lot more but we got more bites and landed more fish. If you’re fishing the trees you’ll have to switch up to a Texas Rig drop shot with a Gamakatsu extra wide gap hook #1 or 1/0

If you want to fish a little faster there been a good reaction bite on jerkbaits, spinnerbait and S-Wavers.

The jerkbait I like is the DUO 120SP in Threadfin Shad color – toss it out 5 to 10 ft form the bank jerk it down twice and let ti sit for 10 seconds then repeat. The fish are in 5 to 20 ft and will come up for it if you let it sit for a bit.

Spinnerbait by far the best one there is the Revenge Deep Runner in 1/2oz Shad with gold and silver willow blades. Like the jerkbait toss it 5ft from the bank but don’t stop it just a slow steady retrieve has been working letting the bait go down to 10ft or so then when you feel a bite don’t jerk because you will miss the fish, let it load up (feel the weight of the fish) then jerk.

There’s also a decent jointed swimbait bite where I was using the River2Sea S-Waver 120 in light trout. This bait toss it up close to the bank and reel it back slow with a twitch or two mid way back to the boat. Keep an eye out because you’ll have a lot of big followers. Sometimes you can get them to bite with speeding it up and stopping it.

Feel free to contact me if you’d like book a Delta or Berryessa trip.

August 2017 Delta Bass Fishing Report

September 2, 2017 by Mark Lassagne

Jeremy with a nice buzz bait fish Aug 30th

Over the last couple months we averaged over 20 fish a day

Most days have started with a good topwater bite. Early August was all about the River2Sea Whopper Plopper 90 in Monkey Butt color but then moving into mid and later August the Gold or White and Chartreuse Revenge buzz bait was better especially when there was a lower tide early in the morning.

On the higher tides fishing the rip rap banks with current the weightless wacky Senko (green pumpkin) was the best lure.

There has also been and off and on wht/cht Revenge Viberator (chatterbait) and River2Sea Biggie Spring Craw crankbait bite fishing shallow on the higher tides and the outside weed line on the lower and outgoing tides. The Viberator usually gets the better-quality fish while the Biggie catches all sizes.

The punch bite is also off and on – some days we are catching 15 fish and others only one or two. The state has been actively spraying the vegetation killing off the better areas so usually when we locate a new area it’s only good for a week or so. I did fish a club tournament in mid-August where in practice I had 20 bites then in the tournament I caught 15 fish punching for 13lbs finishing 2^nd.

Honestly over the years I never used my electronics much but when you’re on the water every day and things shut down you need all your resources to stay on the fish.

As we moved into the later part of August the shallow Senko bite slowed down some so I started using my electronic a little more especially my Aqua-Vu underwater camera coupled to my Garmin 7612 and noticed quite a few bass out in 10 ft and deeper. After that we started using a weighted wacky rig with green pumpkin and morning dawn 6’ trick worms to target those deeper fish. This method has been pretty fun and accounted for 10 -15 fish a day over the last two weeks in August.

AREAS

We usually launch from three different marinas Bethel Island – Sugar Barge, Brentwood – Orwood Resort or Byron – River’s End marina. Generally, the tide and the wind dictate where we launch. If it’s windy we launch south at Rivers end if the wind lays down then Bethel Island and Orwood if it’s in-between.

Daniel enticed this one on a Revenge Buzz Bait

The south Delta can get tough on and outgoing tide if they are pumping water, meaning on an outgoing tide the water is being drawn from the pumps and also the ocean causing a lack of current. Summer bass bite much better in the current.

In the South Delta – Old River, Middle River, Victoria have all been pretty good. Around Franks has been fair with the better bites around Quimby Island and Connection Slough mostly on the higher tides.

The sloughs just off the main San Joaquin River have also been good, fishing the rocky banks on the higher tides and the weed edges on the lower tides.

ROD / REELS

Wacky Senko – 7’ medium Okuma Helios spinning rod with a 20 Helios reel – 8lb mono

Weedless wacky worm – 7’1″ Medium Okuma EVX spinning rod with a 20 Inspira reel – 8lb mono

Chatterbait – 7’.3’ Heavy TCS rod with a Helios 7:3.1 reel – 17lb mono

Crankbait – 7’ medium heavy TCS rod with a Helios 7:3.1 ree – 15lb mono

Buzzbait – 7’.3’ Heavy TCS rod with a Helios 7:3.1 ree – 45lb braid

Punching – 7’11” TCS Matt Daddy rod with a Helios 7:3.1 ree – 65lb Spiderwise stealth braid

BAITS

5″ Green Pumpkin / Watermelon Senko

6” MM3 Margarita Mutilator Robo Worm

6” Moring Dawn Zoom trick worm

1/8th oz Gamakatsu G-Finesse wacky worm

#2 Gamakatsu weedless wacky

Revenge Viberator

Revenge Buzzbait

River2sea Whopper Plopper 90

River2sea Biggie

Sometimes things just go your way

April 2, 2014 by Mark Lassagne Leave a Comment

Bass Fishing in April on the California Delta at the California Tournament Trail (CTT) event

April in California can be the best fishing in your life where you can catch two 10 pound bass and a limit of 7 pounders in a single day or it can be a day where you can’t get a bite. In case you wondered, weather is the determining factor. Consistent warm days will be the best and when a front comes in the bite will be good for a short time as the front is approaching but them deteriorate as the front moves through. The fishing is generally best in the late afternoon with small windows throughout the day.

This tournament was one of those times where the fishing was not that great and many anglers struggled to get a bite.

Day one was one of those times where my partner said I’m having a hard time, what do you think we should do? Mind you this is this the first time I’ve fished the co-angler side in the Delta and my second event ever as a co-angler. As I didn’t expect to fish any of my water or patterns I really wasn’t prepared but non-the-less fishing as a guide and a pro I was ready to tackle whatever happens.

We take off and head to an area where I’ve caught big bass in the past, we proceed to make a pass through and I get a big bite, then half way to the boat it comes off. That’s ok it’s early, we fish around there for a while with nothing.

I say nothing, but with every cast I’m thinking what are the bass doing where are they, how can I catch them and what area would be better than this.

My boater asks what do you think? I tell him I’ve got an area where we can catch some bass, driving about 10 miles we arrive and the tide is perfect – really high just the way I like it. We start fishing cranks, I’m using a River2sea Biggie in the Tackle Warehouse Delta red color and bang I get one, a 2 pounder and now were feeling a little better with something in the box. We hop scotched down the bank fishing all the key areas and we end up with four bass for about eight pounds.

Now the tide is going the other way and fishing has changed, I suggest we head back to where we started because there is quality bass there, plus my boater has also caught good ones there as well. We get there and I suggest we hit the key points, after a couple we land our fifth fish for a whopping 10-pound limit. Now the time is getting short and my boater asks where can we get some good ones – I know a spot. And we head back to our starting spot, mind you we didn’t catch one there in the morning but luck is on pour side and my boater gets a 4 pounder. At this point I lost my Biggie and can’t seem to get a bite on my other cranks. We head down the bank and wham a 3 pounder and then minutes before weigh in my boater lands a six and a half ending up with a little over 16 lbs and in 17^th place.

The lesson here, fish good water, make good casts and never give up.

Day two, my boater had an ok day on day one with 14 and some change in about 25^th place. I figure I will need about 18lbs to get a check.

We blast off and head to a place that I fished the day before with my boater (his water) so I felt a little weird. Not that I would ever poach someone’s water and we never got bit there but it still felt strange. We fished around the area for a while my boater telling me he had a limit there in an hour the day before but on this day we (he) landed one small bass on a drop shot. After that he let me know he had a place where they were biting good and well away from anything I fished before.

After a 15 minute boat ride we stop at a staging area that I knew well and felt really good about. As I’m tossing every “manly” bait I have but my boater is catching one after another drop shotting. Ok, I’m stubborn but not stupid we head down the bank some and by now my boater has four or five bass in the well but they are small, like 13 inchers.

I rummage through my box and find a bigger worm and try it for a bit but I just don’t have any confidence. A few more yards down the bank he lands a 3 pounder, cool that’s a better one, not close to 18 pounds but a start. Just then I look down on the floor and see an old worm the same as my boater is using but bigger, I grab it and say this is it, I could tell by the teeth marks that it caught a few fish already. It was ripped a little but still fit fine on the EWG Gamakatsu 2/0.

With my new-found worm I toss it out drag to the edge of the weeds and shake it, it suddenly gets heavy, feels weird so I set and… OMG my rod is bent, I holler it’s (Ike style) it’s a GIANT. I fight the bass for what seems like an hour really 3 minutes he scoops it up and there we have 7.5 pound bass in the boat culling a 13 incher. Now with 5 for about 14 pounds things are looking up.

The fish is in the well and I figure I better retie, so I toss out a 6-inch Senko and drag it while I retie. About half way though tying up my Senko must have crossed a bed (spawning bed) because the rod starts jerking. My drop shot line is loose across both rods but no time to get things tidy I grab the Senko rod set and start reeling, as I’m reeling my drop shot line gets caught in the reel handle. Laughing trying to stand up ripping the line out of the handle while keeping tension on the fish and not letting my $400 drop shot rod go overboard. I yell it’s a GIANT, it’s not but after fishing with Iaconelli I couldn’t resist. My boater comes over and slides it in the net, a good 3.5 pounder and now were at 16 or so lbs. We land another 3 pounder and cull up to 18 but the spot is now drying up.

My boater asks for the first time do I have any where I’d like to go since I used to guide on the Delta and know it well. I said yes I have a spot it’s close and the tide is perfect. (The whole tide thing will be another story) We head over and start punching, finally away from that drop shotting, down the bank and I slam a good 3.5 pounder and now we have 19 or so and I’m feeling like I can cash a check.

The day before one guy weighed in almost 30 pounds so I knew I didn’t have a chance to win, but getting a check at this point was a pretty good bet.

At weigh in my 7.5 ended up being big bass and we weighed a little over 20lbs landing me in ninth place. Things just worked out and I ended with respectable finish.
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BAM on the Water with R2S

November 28, 2013 by Mark Lassagne Leave a Comment

By Jody Only

Frog Fishing Report from Kelsey Bass Ranch where Mark and Angelo were fishing from the Bait Barn boat, thanks to Manny Basi. Bass Angler Magazine’s Editor-in-Chief Mark Lassagne and River2Sea pro staff Angelo Alorro set out to find the bite at Kelsey Bass Ranch. Each with a River2Sea Bully Wa in hand the fishing team racked up over 50 bites in five hours on the private lake. “It was a great day of fishing; anytime you can get ten bites an hour is a great day fishing,” Lassagne noted in his on the water interview.

They broke down the day with the following details:

They reeled in about a dozen and a half of the bites. They lost five after the hookup on the way to the boat. Everything they caught came in at 2 to 4-lbs. “Most of what we got in was in the 3-lb range; but we saw a couple that were at least fives blow up on the frog,” explained Lassagne. One of their largest of the day, a four plus, was caught punchin’. “I got it on my second cast but I didn’t punch that long and went back to the frog after a few casts,” said Lassagne.

“The bass were aggressive, today,” remarked the BAM fishermen. “They came up and hit the line, they blew up hard on the Bully Wa and some even jumped over it in the water,” he continued. Lassagne attributed the blow-ups on the line to the large amount of dragonflies they saw on the water.

Lassagne continued describing the difference in their choice of frogs. He threw the Dirty White Bully Wa with 65# McCoy braid, most of the day and Alorro gave it a go with a Mud Bird. “There was really no difference in the number of bites, how hard they hit or the hook up ratio between the dark and light colors of each of our baits,” noted Lassagne.

The Bully Wa 65 was BAM’s bait this week. The Bully Wa comes in four sizes that start with the Baby Bully at 3/16-oz and go up to the Bully Wa 75 at 3/4-oz. The 65 is 2 1/2-inches long and weighs 5/8-oz with EWG #4/0 hooks.

In addition to the BAM anglers, Kelsey Bass Ranch has been visited by a number of notable bass anglers in its 70-year history. For information on testing the bass ranch bite for yourself, visit their website.

Angler West Television

September 16, 2012 by Mark Lassagne Leave a Comment

Friday September 14th Russ Meyer and Mark Lassagne filmed an informative Angler West TV show HOW-TO spoon for bass on Lake Shasta.

We took off from Jones Valley and headed up the Pit River to just before the thermocline (the horizontal thermocline that is) and started fishing two creek inlets with trees. The bass and the bait were thick right there. We started fishing and got about 20 bass in the first hour using Hopkins and Sonic spoons, we got a could close to 2 lbs but most were small. We hopped around spooning from tree to tree all the while the bite was diminishing so we headed up past the thermocline to see if anyone was home above. When we got there the water was ten degrees colder (63) but the current wasn’t running very hard, so we assumed the slow current was the reason the bite slowed down.

Up river current is determined by the amount of flow from the dam and the dam flow is determined by the amount of electricity needed by the lower cities like Sacramento. It was getting hotter as the day progress and we could see the current increasing, thus hoping the bite would pick up and the better fish would show themselves. Moving up into the river we tried different baits. I was throwing a R2S Biggie and a Rover top water, Russ was throwing a Revenge spinerbait and a craw colored Wiggle Wart. Russ got one on the spinnerbait and I got a good hit on the crank , not too exciting so we drifted back and hopped spoons in the deeper holes managing a couple small fish.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vH6rprz06R0?feature=player_detailpage&w=640&h=360]
Somewhat disappointed we headed back down the river a ways to see what we could spoon up. We arrived back at our starting spot, Russ caught one right away but it was still small we then headed in and out of the trees catching a fish here and there but once we headed into the creek channel we found the mother lode. The bass had the bait corralled in the creek channel in about 25 feet of water, then we caught fish on almost every drop for 45 minutes. I’m not sure how many fish but it had to be well over 30, most were small but we got a few 1.5 lber or so. (A two-pound fish on Lake Shasta in the summer is a good size fish)

I don’t know about you but after I’ve caught a bunch of fish form one spot, I’m thinking where else might be good and I’m sure Russ was thinking the same thing so we headed across the lake to another creek. Once there a patio boat was fishing there too – I was on the trolling motor and headed into the creek fishing and was about a 100 yards away from the patio boat and the guy flips out running his boat in circles yelling give me some room. We looked at the guy smiling and shaking our heads because we weren’t very close I caught a fish or two a ways away then turned and headed out. We were laughing cuz this guy was a jerk but pretty animated jumping up and down, I guess he wasn’t catching any fish either. On the way out we were talking I said probably no fish in the creek anyway, Justin chimes in and say nope it’s just full of A-holes. Too funny!

We head out and down to the next creek to see if were on a pattern, heading in to a creek with two small arms we hit the left side first and get about five fish all the way through, we turn around and head out and hit the creek on the right. As soon as we get to the next creek the bass had the bait pinned in and it was fish on every drop for another 15 minutes. It’s getting late so we fished our way out to finish out the show when Russ spots a big oak tree and say let both pitch to it at the same time to see if we can get a double. We did this several time throughout the day – pretty fun. So we both fire at the tree my spoon fluttered to the bottom and spoon master Russ’s spoon stops half way he sets and brings in a spot about 3 lbs to end the show.

I had a great time and learned a lot about spooning that day. I’ll post the times the show will air son.