Bass hitting topwater, bluegill in the spawn

[seanandrenee]

First time poster. I was out with the girlfriend at St. Louis on Sunday. Not a lot of catching but still fun. We where throwing top water weedless mice for a few hours and we each had several very solid hits, I had one short hookup, but nothing landed. Still fun though seeing that explosion at the surface. (we both are pretty new to bass fishing) Blugill are in the spawn right now so we only caught a few of the really small juveniles. All of the bigger/older fish are nesting and not eating. Fun yet frustrating seeing the large adults a couple feet from the bank without them willing to hit anything. Overall a good day to enjoy the sun and explore.

Sean

 

[bass]

First time poster. I was out with the girlfriend at St. Louis on Sunday. Not a lot of catching but still fun. We where throwing top water weedless mice for a few hours and we each had several very solid hits, I had one short hookup, but nothing landed. Still fun though seeing that explosion at the surface. (we both are pretty new to bass fishing) Blugill are in the spawn right now so we only caught a few of the really small juveniles. All of the bigger/older fish are nesting and not eating. Fun yet frustrating seeing the large adults a couple feet from the bank without them willing to hit anything. Overall a good day to enjoy the sun and explore.

Sean

Thanks for the report. In NC the spawning bluegill would often hit a fly rod popper, especially early or late in the day. I have not seen enough brim in Oregon to know if they behave differently or not.

Also, if you are missing a lot of fish on a weedless frog or mouse I have often had better hookup ratios with a Johnson weedless spoon and a trailer (pork or plastic). You can sink the spoon in the holes and it sits lower in the water which I believe makes it easier to suck down. Good luck.

 

[seanandrenee]

Thank you for the tackle suggestions. Our box is a bit light on lure side, mostly plastics, but we are continuosly gearing up. Fishermans is a dangerous place for us . We most definitely welcome any suggestions as most of my fishing up to about two years ago is with salmon, steelhead and trout, so branching out has been fun. (not to mention a good excuse to spend more money on new gear!)

 

[TTFishon]

Another tip when using a mouse and also a frog bait is to hesitate a couple of seconds before setting the hook. It's hard to do at first but you'll get the hang of it.

Oh and welcome to the forum.

 

[dtikey]

yes welcome and tt said it right try to wait till you feel them but as you were a salmon steelhead fishermen and if you drift fished it seems harder at least for me it does because I am pretty quick to set a hook if think thier is a fish but can't do that on the top water.Good luck and enjoy your new fishing expaditions.

 

[branden28]

What pond number are you guys getting strikes from bass?

 

[fish4life1782]

I have caught bass in most all ponds.i do really well on floating or jointed rapala's twitching them on top or on the retrieve.good luck.

 

[seanandrenee]

I can't remember the pond number specifically but it was the very north east most pond and the one just south of that. My girlfriend and I walked most of the perimeter of most of both them, which did require some walking through thick vegetation and occasional blackberries but worth it.

 

[branden28]

So did you catch some fish that trip sean?