charlie weyer

What Stage The Fish Are In

May 6, 2010 by Mark Lassagne Leave a Comment

By: Charlie Weyer

Published with Re-Print Rights from Bass Angler Magazine

Spring time brings about confusion for a lot of anglers and rightfully so – it’s a time of year where a lot of variables are working against an angler. Weather, moon phase and even cold runoff generated hundreds of miles away can create havoc on a bite that’s been going on for weeks. Fish that are on beds can be forced off in mere hours or pre-spawn fish you located just two days ago could storm the bank. It’s a tough time of year.

Over the years, though, I have developed a set of methods that help me determine what stage the fish are in no matter what time of year it is. But, since we are approaching spring and the spawn, I want to concentrate on the methods I use during this time of year. Hopefully they’ll help you figure your fish out.

The Stages

There are three stages to the spawn; pre-spawn, spawn and post-spawn. The first two stages are dictated by water temperature and these stages can waver back and forth depending upon weather systems. Post spawn is doesn’t have as much to do with weather but the stage when most or al the fish in your body of water have completed the spawning process.

In any event, all three of these stages play a major role in an angler’s success and knowing which stage the fish are in can be a feather in your cap.

Water Temperature

As I stated above, water temperature plays the biggest role in knowing what stage your fish are in. For example, if your body of water is colder than 48 degree you can pretty much assume your fish are still in their winter stage. But, as soon as the water reaches 50 degrees, fish will move from their winter haunts and onto staging areas.

These areas differ depending on what type of lake you’re fishing. In shallow natural lakes, which warm faster than deeper reservoirs, the fish will move from the deeper holes and into shallow vegetation in wait for warmer water.

On the other hand, in deeper reservoirs, the fish will move onto secondary points or ledges and stage anywhere from 20 to 35 feet deep. These areas are also close to shallow spawning grounds such as flats or shallow shorelines.

In the event that a cold front hits during this period and the water temperature drops significantly, the fish will then move back out to their wintering areas and wait for the next warming period. Because of this, it is very important to pay attention to the weather.

Pre-spawn to spawn is dictated by yet another increase in water temperature and the type of lake will determine what that magical temperature is. Again, because the shallower natural lakes, as found in Florida, warm faster, the fish seem to commit to the spawn at a lower temperature – generally the 55-degree mark. In deeper reservoirs, though, the magic temperature that moves fish from their pre-spawn staging areas to the spawn areas is around 60 degrees.

But weather can have an affect on these fish and move them back out of the shallows.

In the reservoir situation, the fish during a cold snap will tend to move back out to their pre-spawn staging areas. The difference now is they won’t move as deep – unless the weather stays cold for a long period of time.

Fish in shallow lakes will do much the same, moving back into the thickest weeds they can find. This is because the thick weeds hold temperature.

Again, I can’t stress too much how important it is to pay attention to the weather during this period. A temperature increase or decrease of only two degrees can move fish up or send them packing for deeper water.

Signs

There are a number of signs that can lead you to understand which stage of the spawn the fish are in too. Pre-spawn fish, for example, are fat and healthy looking whereas fish that are either in the spawn or post-spawn will have rub marks on them or their tails will be well worn and bloody. Spawning fish are easy to pick out as they’re mostly caught in shallow water but deep caught fish need to be looked at to determine if they’re pre- or post-spawn.

Another way to determine what stage a fish is in is to see what it’s been feeding on. Pre-spawn fish have a penchant for protein-rich crawdads. Fish that are feeding on crawdads generally have banged up noses and their tongues are red. If you see any of these traits, you can be sure the fish are pre-spawn.

Post-spawn fish, on the other hand, will now start feeding on baitfish. This also brings up an important point – fish during the pre-spawn and spawn (at least in the west) are less apt to eat a surface lure whereas fish that are post-spawn will willingly eat a surface lure.

Other visual signs are visible beds (the fish are spawning) or shallow cruisers (bucks looking to make beds or guarding fry). In the last example, if it’s early in the season you can be sure these fish are up scouting for beds. In this case, I would target the deeper water adjacent to these areas and try for the bigger females that haven’t moved up.

In the case it’s late in the season, it’s harder to tell if the bucks are searching or protecting fry. This is when you have to make a concerted effort to look for fry balls. Again, I would look to deeper water to try and catch the post-spawn fish that have moved back to the secondary drops and points.

Other fish can also lead you to conclude what stage the fish are in and bluegills are a great indicator fish. Bluegills are always present shallow during these times but will spawn after the bass have left the shallows. If you see the bluegills are spawning, you can rest assured that the bas are in post-spawn.

Lake Layout

One thing about this time of year is every lake can have two or even all three stages of the spawn happening at the same time. This has to do with how long the weather has been conducive to the spawn but also has to do with lake layout.

Northwestern shorelines, for example will warm first at this time of year and will host the first spawn of the year. As the weather continues to warm, the fish in the rest of the lake will follow with those fish at the southeast end finishing last.

Theoretically, this means on any given lake at nearly anytime during the spawn an angler can pick the stage that suits him or her better. Personally, I try to stick with pre-spawn fish as long as I can because they weigh more and then transition to spawning fish until they run out.

The Moon

Moon stages also play a role in what stage the fish are in. Generally speaking, four days prior to and after both a new and full moon you can be sure there’s a spawn going on once the water reaches a temperature that promotes egg survival. This is normally in that 58- to 68-degree range for the first flight of spawners. But, as the water temperature gets warmer, a spawn can happen anytime between new and full moon phases.

Conclusion

As I have said, there are many factors and variables that can dictate what stage of the spawn your fish can be in. Water temperature is the most important indicator and will initially lead you to the right water depth and areas of the lake. After that, rely on visual clues from the environment and the fish to tell you where they’re at. And, don’t get caught in the rut of fishing yesterday’s fish – especially if the weather has changed.

These methods have helped me a lot over the course of my career and I hope they help you boat more fish and maybe even win your first tournament this season.

Accomplishments: FLW Series,2007 1st Place Columbia River, Kennewick, WA, B.A.S.S. Bassmaster Tour, 2004 1st Place Smith Lake, Jasper, AL, along with several top ten finishes between Bassmaster Elites and FLW Series with over $400,000 in career earnings.
Charlie is sponsored by: Triton Boats, Mercury Marine, Yamamoto Custom Baits, Logisseal, Lowrance Electronics, Seaguar, Tackle Warehouse, Powell Rods, Robo Worms and EZEE Jigs

Learn more about Charlie at www.charlieweyer.com

Delta Square Bill

May 6, 2010 by Mark Lassagne Leave a Comment

By Charlie Weyer

Published with Re-Print Rights from Bass Angler Magazine

Bass Angler’s Guide Cover 2009 issue #3

Shallow waters, emergent and submerged weeds and wood and big Florida-strain largemouths all go hand in hand with the word flipping. And, while the California Delta is known as the birthplace of flipping, there’s another technique that doesn’t play second fiddle to the short-line tactic and that technique is throwing shallow-running crankbaits.

Anyone who heads to the Delta knows they better have a good supply of shallow-running crankbaits in their boat before placing the troll-motor in the water. The vast amounts of wood, vegetation and rock coupled with the Delta’s shallow waters beckon the bait be thrown and those anglers dedicated to the crank, more times than not, are rewarded with big bags of big green Delta bass.

But not only does the cover make for perfect shallow cranking, so do the tides, which act to create funnels that position fish or pull fish out from the shore or into the shore. In other words, the Delta is one of those rare places tailor made for throwing the shallow runner.

In the next few sections, I want to give you all a rundown on what I look for on the Delta to increase my odds of connecting with a Delta pig.

Tides

One of the most difficult factors that the Delta possesses is its tidal movement. Where time of day is more important on most waters, it’s the Delta’s tides that tend to dictate when and where fish are going to become active.

Water movement is key to active fish and active fish are key to success here. The only places on the Delta where water movement doesn’t play as large a role is on the big lakes – but I’ll talk about that more in a while.

The one thing I want to stress here, though, is you need water movement and depending on when you’re fishing with respect to the tide will dictate where to place your casts.

Sloughs

With respect to fishing the main sloughs and canals that get a lot of water movement, my experience has shown I do better on an outgoing tide. The reason for this, I feel, is as the water subsides, it positions the fish on the outside weedline – making it perfect for placing a shallow crank in their path. It seems that the fish move to the outside weedline faster than they move in to the inside on an incoming tide. Therefore, as the tide switches to outgoing, you have more time knowing where those fish are and more time to put your bait in front of them.

Incoming tides can also be good, especially within 2 hours of the high, but the areas are different than with the outgoing tides. Opposite of the outgoing tides, where the fish position on the outside weedline, the incoming tides move the fish from the outside weedline to the inside weedline and then between the shore and inside weedline once the tide has reached is maximum.

During the transition stages, between low and high tide, I fish the between the outside and inside weedlines and then, as the water builds towards high tide, I’ll move my boat into a position that I can throw down the bank between the shoreline and the inside weedline.

The Big Waters

When it comes to fishing the big lakes like Frank’s Tract, Mildred’s or Little Mandeville, it’s all about finding cover. Because these lakes don’t have much water movement, you’re always looking for cover that you can bounce the bait off of. In these lakes, the fish have a tendency to position themselves so they don’t have to move far from one area to another as the tide moves up or down.

The key here is to find areas that have cover in both deep water and shallow water along with some transitional cover in between. A good example would be a rock pile near shore that has weeds extending out deep with a tree or some other feature at the deep end of the weedbed. A spot like this is golden on the Delta as it provides cover for the fish no matter what the tide is.

Inlets/Outlets

Inlets and outlets to the big waters are also magnets for bass on the Delta. Where the main parts of the lakes don’t have any current, these openings provide harder than normal current as water is either entering or leaving the lakes. This current acts as a funnel that provides food and nutrients and the bass use them as a means to get an easy meal.

In the case of an outgoing tide, it’s best to be on the outside of the inlet, cast upstream and bring the bait back with the current. Try to hit wood, rock or the deep edges of the opening with your bait. With an incoming tide, position your boat inside the opening and do the same thing. Remember, fish your bait with the current.

Eddies also play a major role in these areas. Eddies are those areas where the current runs back on itself and creates a swirling area with little to no current. It’s these areas that generally hold the bigger fish. On an incoming tide, the eddies will be in the inside of the opening and on an outgoing tide they’ll be on the outside.

Gear

Now that I’ve given you an idea on what areas I like to throw shallow crank, let me get to the meat of what I like to throw.

Shallow crankbait gear varies depending on a number of factors. The basic rods and reels don’t deviate from any crank rod you’re accustomed to using but the line does. When I know the fish are eating the crank, I like to have a couple rods rigged with different sized lines – from 12-pound to 20-pound test – in order to have more control over the depth the crank runs.

During the times where the water’s high I use lighter lines, like 12-pound test, in order to get the bait down to the fish. This light line cuts through the water with less resistance thus allowing the bait to dive deeper. On the other hand, when the water is shallow, I throw up to 20-pound test to keep the bait closer to the surface.

As far as baits go, it’s a well-known fact that the Luhr Jensen Speed Trap is money when fished on the Delta. It’s a traditional square-billed bait that not only runs shallow but comes through the weeds and timber well. It also makes a good bit of noise which can be good in the Delta’s dirty waters.

Another bait that I’ve been fishing a lot is a hand-carved wood bait out of North Carolina called the IKON made by Custom Lure Unlimited. This bait, unlike the Speed Trap, is made of wood, has no rattles and has been outperforming the Speed Trap recently. The original IKON is a big bait – 3 inches in length – that moves a lot of water and has a maximum dive depth of 4 feet on 15-pound test. It’s little brother, the IKON m2 is 2-1/2 inches in length.

The unique thing about the IKON is its rolling action. The bait has a wide side-to-side wobble but also rolls as it’s brought back on the retrieve. Also, the fact that this bait has no rattles – something the fish aren’t used to on the Delta with everyone throwing the Speed Trap, makes it a very good bait. Couple those traits with its natural buoyancy and I know this bait will become as popular as the Speed Trap in short order.

Colors for cranks on the Delta are pretty standard. Bright reds like Delta craw and crystal craw are mainstays as is chartreuse and blue or citrus shad. But don’t over look shad patterns like Tennessee shad or chartreuse shad.

Conclusion

Most everyone knows the shallow crank bite on the Delta is always a good bet to catch fish. It’s always been good to me and I hope some of these tips I’ve given help you with your days on the river. Good luck and see you next issue.

Learn more about Charlie at www.charlieweyer.com

Charlie’s accomplishments include: FLW Series,2007 1st Place Columbia River, Kennewick, WA, B.A.S.S. Bassmaster Tour, 2004 1st Place Smith Lake, Jasper, AL, along with several top ten finishes between Bassmaster Elites and FLW Series with over $400,000 in career earnings. He is sponsored by: Triton boats, Mercury outboards, Yamamoto custom baits, Segar, Web Villian.com, EZEE Jigs and Custom lures unlimited.

USA Team Wins Gold!

December 14, 2009 by Mark Lassagne Leave a Comment

USA Wins GOLD — Charlie Weyer and Mark Lassagne

U.S. team takes the gold at the World Black Bass Sport Fishing Championship

Mexico hosts CIPS event at Lake Cuchillo

MONTERREY, MEXICO–The fifth annual World Black Bass Sport Fishing Championship was held just outside China in northeastern Mexico this past weekend. Located about an hour’s drive from Monterrey, Mexico and 65 miles southwest of McAllen, Texas on the Rio San Juan, the International Angling Confederation (CIPS) sanctioned event hosted 10 countries including the United States.

Winning the gold metal for the U.S. “Top Honors” team included Gary Yamamoto and son Derrick from Palestine, TX, Mark Lassagne from Martinez, CA, Charlie Weyer from West Hills, CA, Tom Mann Jr. from Buford, GA, and Todd Faircloth from Jasper, TX. The three-day competition against six teams from nine other countries comprised of three 2-man teams, competed for Individual Team honors, and their combined team points were tallied for total scores. Aside from wining the overall event, Tom Mann Jr. and Todd Faircloth, fishing together for the first time, also took the gold medal for the Individual Team competition.

Attending his “first ever,” U.S. Team member Mark Lassagne said the magnitude of the event was much larger than he had anticipated. “This multinational event had capacity crowds with 1000s of people, hundreds taking pictures, TV, videos, autographs, it was truly amazing,” Lassagne said.

“There have been other bass tournaments where different countries competed from around the world, but no one in the U.S. ever really hears about them. So it was a nice surprise when they (Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits) asked me to be part of the team. It was a wonderful experience meeting anglers from around the world. Working to communicate in several different languages was interesting but you get fishermen together and no matter where they are from, there are universal terms and gestures used,” he said.

Fishing both the lake (man-made) and incoming river waters, Weyer and Lassagne managed black bass limits from the lake each day and then went up the river to cull up. “The limits we caught in the lake were mostly on outside structure and drop-offs near a river or creek channel. On the deep spots, we caught fish on Strike King crank baits and also on Texas rigged Senkos with a 1/2-ounce bullet weight,” he said. Their best baits included Yamamoto’s 6-inch Senko in watermelon red and the Strike King fat-free shad in shad color. “Our big fish were caught on the drop-offs and also in the shallows in the river on trees.” Mann and Faircloth caught most of their fish on a 12-inch Yamamoto Curly Tail worm. The rest came on deep-diving DT16 and DT20 Rapala crankbaits.

The world bass competition was added to CIPS 5 years ago. The 10 countries competing this year included the USA, Mexico, Spain, Italy, Portugal, Swaziland, Russia, Venezuela, Germany, and Romania, finishing the event in that order. A 13.33-pound Mexican “golona” (monster) bass was caught by the Swaziland team on day-one of the competition.

MEXICO HOSTS WORLD BLACK BASS SPORT FISHING CHAMPIONSHIP—Team USA took top honors and are this year’s Black Bass World Champions! From left to right, Tom Mann Jr., Mark Lassagne, Charlie Weyer, Todd Faircloth, and the Yamamotos, Gary, Beverly and Derek. PHOTO COURTESY OF MARK LASSAGNE.

See more and learn more with articles like this in the Bass Angler’s Guide Magazine, order a copy or subscribe today at www.bassanglersguide.com

Mark Lassagne free lance writer, pro bass angler, publisher, and bass guide would like to give a special thanks to his sponsors:

Yamaha Outboards, Gone Fishin Marine, U.S. Reel, Pepper Custom Baits, Jackall, Fisherman Eyewear, Sniper Lures and McCoy Fishing Line