Bassun at the Gorge 6/25-6/27/08

[Leaky33]

This is going to be a little longer report than normal because I have a few questions and would like some feed back. I'll get the report out of the way
first.
To lead off by saying that the fishing was the best in many years of bass fishing. Me, the Sparkinator, my fishing buddy Chres and his golden, Tomo went to what is called the Confluence, West side. Got there, set up camp and started tubing about 12:30. Fishing was a little tough for a while. Tried different things including some drop shot stuff but ended up having the best success on a 2 1/2 in., dark green, Maniac cutter bug, weedless with a split shot about 12 in. up from the lure. My buddy used his standard camo 3" pulse worm(don't make anymore) on a 1/64 oz. jig the whole trip and had every bit as good success as me. We went opposite directions and when we met back at camp it was a little slow for him too. Most fish were 10-12". What we both learned was that they were not in their normal locations, at least in any numbers. They seemed to be concentrated in somewhat small specific areas real close to shore along gravel shore lines with the right kind of drop off, not gentle but not steep. Not every location like this held the numbers others did. When you found the right spot you could catch 10 or more fish in just that spot. Anyway, the next day we fished until about 2 and then quit (tired). It's hell getting old. All the fish were decidedly larger after learning where they were. By far the majority were in the 13-15" range with the biggest at 16". I can't tell you how many we caught, all I can say is it was a lot. That day alone, probably 20-25 ea.????? Now that's heaven in my book. The last day, we fished a few hours in
the morning before packing up and leaving with the same results. My buddy took off in his tube and I decided to take both dogs walking the shore line to enjoy the dogs more. Anyway, got to one of "those areas" and cast parallel to the shore but out about 10 ft. and I was catching em on almost every cast, all cookie cutter 14-15" guys. The last pic. is a typical cookie cutter. Talk about heaven, wow. At this time I had switched to my standard reaper because I was running short of the cutter bugs. Must have caught another 10 just at that one spot. Weather during the days we were there was Mid 40's at dawn to mid 80's mid day with a moderate breeze every afternoon which encouraged us to quit early. The first 2 pics. are of my buddy and our doggie friends. The 3rd pic. is my buddy's freezer and his fish. Don't worry, he didn't keep over the limit. The DWR encourages taking smallies so he did. So there's my report.
Now come the questions. One of the first things you would probably ask is were they spawning, etc,? That's my problem, I'm not sure what stage they were in. I had always been lead to believe that the larger bass were most likely females. I only kept 4 to bring home for a few dinners. They were between 14-16in. and the only one that had eggs was the 16' which, by the way I caught in deeper water, staging? My buddy cleaned 4 for one of our camp meals and none had eggs? Now, if I remember TD telling me, you could tell the males by their white, sperm sacks. None had this. Sperm expended? If I had to guess, the ones that we kept were spawned females? How long do the females hang around after spawning? I just can't believe that they are at the end of their spawn with the cold spring and recent warm up. Don't know what the water temp. was. Felt fairly cool. So what do you experts think? Educate me folks.
Leaky and the
Sparkinator.

[signature]

[Theekillerbee]

Great report Fred. Nice to see that you whacked some smallies around. I don't know much about the spawning habits of bass, so no useful thoughts from this monkey off the street.
[signature]

[Leaky33]

Just back to the top of the list to improve input. []
Leaky
[signature]

[line_dangler]

Is anyone else having problems viewing your pics, I just see the x icon, no pictures?

Again I am glad to see anothr bass spawn report from the Gorge. The temperature is definetly right for their "business" there right now. I really enjoyed reading your report and you chose a pretty good spot for bass fishing considering that you are in a float tube. []

It is true about the DWR encouraging the harvest of bass, especially the small ones there. I always try to keep a limit of them if I have time. This may change though in a few years, because of the burbot situation. People have been reporting finding many small bass in the burbot pigs.

I will try to answer some of your questions about the Gorge bass. I think most of the spawning fish you refer to are males this is from what I have seen and experienced there. You probably saw some redds with fish hanging around them, and these are probably the guarding males. As far as I know, they hang around the nest until the eggs hatch. If the bass in the are you fished have spawned the females will probably be deeper in and the males guarding the redds.

I was at the Gorge a few days ago and the bass we caught hanging around the redds were males.

Just like you said at the Gorge there are good specific places where the smallmouth will spawn. They are not around all shoreline. Last week, we found the greatest numbers around shallow (5-10 feet deep) pointing and extending rocky/rubble/gravel shoals exposed to sunlight. The best places were in the protected bays and arms by small hills that protect from the strong wind. Look for these places and you will always find the bass there when they spaw.

The same places that I listed above hold the good sized bass when the water temp. is about 52-60 degrees. I have caught my biggest Gorge bass in 1-2 foot extending and pointing shoals. Not much bass in this area in the summer though. I have only seen them there when the water temp is around 52-60 degrees. This has been my experience at the Gorge. I am telling you when I have had the best luck for good sized bass.

For future reference here are two pictures I have that show good spawning structure. Look for this type in protected bays around 5-10' deep. Look for similar places excecpt deeper 15-40' to catch the bass in the summer and when the water temp is not 52-60. This is also just from my experience, it took me some time to figure it out because in the beginning all structure looked good to me.
[signature]

[TubeDude]

[cool][#0000ff]Great report and pics ol' buddy. Looks like you guys had a great time. I think you made the right call...hitting the Gorge instead of UL. The kitties will always be there, but prime time for bassin' at the Gorge is not all year.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]I had heard that the bass were "staging" a couple of weeks ago. They usually spawn around the time of a full moon, even if the water temp is a couple of degrees cooler than ideal. Length of daylight hours and other factors influence the spawn too. They were ready. So, it is not surprising that the fish you caught were spawned out...mostly.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Females are larger than males, but it is the males who guard the nests until the eggs hatch. Females will remain nearby if the food is available. But, as you discovered, they will often be in slightly deeper water than the beds...or in different types of structure or bottom composition.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Glad you guys had a good time. [/#0000ff]
[signature]

[Leaky33]

Bump. [:/]
Leaky
[signature]

[bassrods]

This is some of what I know, bass will spawn when water temps get around 58 to 62 and you have 5 days before and 5 days after a full and or a new moon...

The males will guard the nest, after the eggs hatch the males will guard the fry for about 2 1/2 days then leave for about 2 to 4 hr. then come back to where he left them and eat all he can...

The eggs take 3 to 5 days to hatch, if by the 7 day they have not hatched less then 2 0/0 will hatch or live...

The females stay at the nest just long enough to lay what eggs she wants to in each nest, some times she may put all her eggs in one but not all the time, then she goes deep to rest...After the rest they will start to feed...
[signature]

[Leaky33]

Ok folks, big question is can you tell the difference between a spawned female and a good size male smallie at this time of the year? i.e. If I go back in a couple of weeks, what kind of fishun am I going to have? [:/]
Leaky and the Sparkinator
[signature]

[bassrods]

In two weeks look for them in there summer hunts, + some could still be spawning, not all spawn at the same time it can last for two full moons or new moons...
[signature]

[Fin-S-Fish]

Yes! A hen smallmouth will usually still have a more distended stomach and be chubbier proportionwise than the male. Even if they are spawned out. Part of the egg sack will not ovulate and there will always be eggs remaining in females. If you find two very narrow slender strings in them instead of egg sacks, it's a male. Nest builders like bass release much less milt than trout or other egg scatterers, so the testes are much smaller and not very noticeable. On the outward appearance you may also note an ovipositor.....a small red bump....stick from the genital opening of a recently spawned out hen fish. Male fish have no such extrusion.
[signature]

[Leaky33]

Well Bud, that helps. Too bad I don't have any fishies to examine now. [img]../../../images/gforum/unsure.gif[/img] But ------------------, from memory, they didn't have the milt string or egg residue. I did look, maybe I just didn't look close enough. I do remember the small red bump but don't remember if they were on any kept or the released guys. If I could talk you into it, take a look at the freezer pic and the pic, of the hand held one and give me a guess, What do you think?
Leaky and the Sparkinator
[signature]

[Therapist]

Just putting in my two cents. If you are going to keep some fish, which is a good thing to do, don't worry about the sex, determine your keepers by length. Release everything over 12 inches and keep a limit of 10-12 inchers. The bigger fish in your pics are the spawners that have survived to larger size, hence their genes are more valuable than the smaller fish that are the same age, but have never been able to get over the size hump. Keep the occasional "trophy" fish to mount, but eat the smaller ones and release the bigger ones. The fishery will thrive and the smaller ones taste better anyway !!!