Back in my younger years (20 years ago) I used to fish the inner bay all along the marsh on the southern shore from big rice bay to the Causeway for largemouth. I used to do pretty good throwing topwater, spinnerbaits, worms..... Trying to get back into it and that whole area has changed and I'm not seeing a lot of fish. I also been trying the northern shore but it's extremely shallow as well. Anyone interested in giving me a few pointers on where to catch some decent largemouth. I don't get out much so I'm not gonna hurt your area if you fish there. I'm new to this form as of today but I think you can send personal messages. Thanks for any help
Largemouth fishing help (innerbay)
- Thread starter MikeB
- Start date
Still lots of largemouth . They have been blessed with a huge increase in ideal habitat due to the higher water levels . Fishing the edges was good when water levels were low , it concentrated the fish there . All kinds of ideal bass water , but a lot not accessible with a so called bass boat . Good time to own a kayak . The only negative is that a lot of marsh has floated off leaving large areas barren of any cover .
I noticed the complete opposite. The largemouth fishing on the bay has been phenomenal for the last few years . We are noticing big largemouth where smallies should be . Been getting them in close and off shore with just about any tactic working. My advice is work high percentage areas slower than normal. We also noticed they getting picky on color with one color out producing another 3 to 1 but it changes . Try downsizing the bait but be prepared for more rock.bass and sunfish .
Now like i said above the smallmouth fishing has really slowed in the last little bit in comparison.
Now like i said above the smallmouth fishing has really slowed in the last little bit in comparison.
In August I would look for some offshore structure like puffs or the deepest emergent vegitation you can find. The high water of recent really hurt the habitat, the high water and wind ripped out a lot of the grass. Punching mats if you can find some and flipping reeds in the deepest water will pay off.
What types of lures are you using and where abouts are you fishing? You might not want to say on here and I understand that. Went out tonight and got a couple but that's it. The storm kind screwed up where I wanted to fish. I have tried to fish deeper water on weed edges before I'm the inner bay but all I caught we a lot of weeds.
There are no real secrets to spots out there. I have a few isolated off shore clumps an weed beds marked here and there but these were mainly for smallmouth and now usually have some big largemouth. Millionares is a good basic spot to start with decent fish cover and depth. Fish to your strength and what you have confidence in. As for lures here is a top 10 list i will always have when largie fishing on bay in no particular order. .
1. Berkley choppo
2. Live target hollow body frog
3 . A modified hybrid Rapala shadow rap
4. 7inch Texas rigged worm
5. 3/8 Oz willow leaf spinnerbait
6. 5" Berkeley general
7. Rapala X rap
8 3/8 Oz swim jig with a trailer
9. Rapala sqaure bill cranking rap
10. Strike king caffeine shad on a weighted set up.
Notice my selections tend to fish in the more aggressive and fast side which works well for me . My partner generally in the back fishes slower and more bottom oriented. Keep that in mind in fishing with a friend.
Thank you for you input and taking the time to write all this down! I'm going to give this a try.
No worries, please post your reports as some of us get tired of reading all the spoon pullers reports offshore LOL!!!Thank you for you input and taking the time to write all this down! I'm going to give this a try.
Was out last night and caught 2 on a black buzz bait. Seems to be my main catching rig this year. Buddy caught one on a spinner bait in 12" of water.
Thats great. Nothing quite like the topwater smash . Any size?
Nah just small. I did have one that hit it straight up about a good foot and a half. I have never had one come straight up usually always from behind or side. It was pretty cool. Almost like watching shark week. Lol
fishsmith
Well-Known Member
The shoreline has really changed I believe due to the spraying the phragmities. it killed a lot of the good weed along the shore as well which will take time to recover,
As far as finding largemouth finding isolated weed beds throughout the bay can produce a lot. This where a good pair of polarized sunglasses can help a lot. I found a lot of the ones I fish simply by driving around mid afternoon and spotting them visually. There are lot of them and they hold a lot of fish
Flip a creature bait in and around these along with Jig, 10 inch worm works well. Large mouth are not picky you just have to find out if they want a moving bait that day or something slow on the bottom. Stick with natural colors but do experiment with the size of the soft plastic.
Jello
Well-Known Member
I remember reading that Largemouth split into two groups after spawn. Some stay shallow all year, and a lot go deeper. The bay has a lot of submerged weeds. Some are isolated patches, some are thicker clumps within larger beds. I've caught them in weed beds in 12+' of water.
Finding them in the larger beds can take time but the bass will school up out there and if you find one, there a probability more than a few down there. There will usually be a reason they are in that spot that you can't see. Like a transition in weed type or bottom type, a sunken log or debris, etc. Keep note of where you caught them for the next trips.
To fish it, start with 3 baits. One to fish over top of the grass (spinner bait, crank bait, chatterbait), one to let fall in it (weightless senko, soft body jerk bait), and one to fish in it (Texas rigged craw/creature with a pegged weight).
Finding them in the larger beds can take time but the bass will school up out there and if you find one, there a probability more than a few down there. There will usually be a reason they are in that spot that you can't see. Like a transition in weed type or bottom type, a sunken log or debris, etc. Keep note of where you caught them for the next trips.
To fish it, start with 3 baits. One to fish over top of the grass (spinner bait, crank bait, chatterbait), one to let fall in it (weightless senko, soft body jerk bait), and one to fish in it (Texas rigged craw/creature with a pegged weight).
Good to hear. Hope to have some luck first light tomorrow
Great news. All species were shallow this past week. I was catching pickerel/walleye in 7 to 8 feet and huge smallies in 4 feet. Water was 78.