[Mattsabasser]

Its good to see some open water again. As things warm up the bassin' pre-prespawn will get better. The bite is still a bit lethargic and they won't chase or slam the lure like they do in summer.

Here is a shot of a gravel pit bass in late February. On this day I seemed to do better with tiny panther martin spinners as opposed to the fantastic plastics. 



This one (below) is more recent (early March) picked up on a 5" senko (black with red flake).

[img]http://img104.imageshack.us/img104/3788/060305bss29hq.jpg

Here is a little stunted bass (pictured below) I pulled from my lunch-time pond last week. Mini-senko was used here and it was a real struggle to get fish big enough to swallow a 3" black mini.

Water temps are still pretty cold for my front range bassin' but things will pick up in a few more weeks. Sorry about not posting any lake info. Just wanted to let folks know I was still fishing. 

Note: This time of year bass are easily infected by the wounds they get from hooks. In some cases you will see red sores on their mouths from this. I will crimp my barbs on my hooks and release as quickly as possible to minimize the damage. The sores are not fatal, just a seasonal condition.

 

[Pondfisher]

Thanks for the info ! Lookin forward to another good season of bass fishing. Ive been kooked up in the house too long!!!! Come on Spring!!!!

 

[James]

Matt good to see you're out there catching !  ;D  Oh, and nice meeting you at the RMA meeting.

I'm going out to try for Bass today. Good tip on the barbs, I'll get rid of mine before I fish. Thanks,
                                             
                                            James                 

 

[Mattsabasser]

Thanks James! Things are still real cold for bassin' so my expectations are modest. I really should be fishing for mackinaw, walleye, yellow perch or rainbow trout this time of year.

The crimped barb for bass really comes into play when pre-spawn action starts to turn on. Male bass start locking in on nesting areas and fat females feed further out beyond that.

You can catch the same fish every hour or so if you are real patient (though I recommend hooking a fish and then moving on) and fish may get hooked several times in one day. By late April or Early May you can see fish with several sores indicating where a fish has been hooked and hooked again. Barbless hooks will make smaller wounds that close up faster with less infection. You may lose more fish but the impact is less.

This is a judgement call for each angler. A lot of times I wait until I have landed a fish or two before I get real concerned. Usually it is a fish that has been hooked already and sporting sores that reminds me to crimp down.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the great info matt! I'm headed out to hunt for some early bass tomorrow, and with the weather staying this nice, I'm hoping to get into a couple. Thanks for the encouraging photos man!

 

[James]

Well, I got lucky! I picked a small shallow pond w/ hardly any trees figuring the water temp would be warmer. I also stuck close to the south side ( those south side are alot more hardcore than the eastsiders  ).
   I started w/ a Whoolybugger (grey/silver), had one on the 3rd cast, but he shook off.     Took awhile before I had another hit. I tried mini Senkos, Rooster Tails, and small Husky Jerks to no avail. I had a few timid bites on a curly tail grub, but couldn't take advantage. Switched back to the Whooly Bugger and landed one off that, and the other off another fly.   

1st bass

Best of the year...so far. 
Although I didn't catch any of size, I couldn't be happier out there catching Bass again. I love spring !! ;D!!

Oh yeah Matt, the fish thank you for having smaller holes in their mouthes than they could've.

 

[1eyered]

NICE!!

 

[farmer ted]

After being out of town all weekend, I was able to get in on the bass action today. Caught a number of small ones along with one 15" and three 14". I got 2 of the big ones on a 4" watermelon/pepper senko and 2 on a silver x-rap. I've gotta say I really love the twitch and suspend action of the x-raps and husky jerks. they have a nice wide wobble that looks good when retrieved slowly. These were also my first fish on senkos. Great day!

Here is the 15 incher...on the x-rap

And here is one of the 14"...caught on the senko

 

[scorpion_bsk]

Dang, I went to Simpson Ponds in Loveland yesterday for about three hours and didn't get nothing, not even a tease.

 

[Guest]

Went to the ponds this evening...grrr, my friend got the first bass of the season, a small one, but a bass...i got a nice size gill though

looks kinda small cuz im kinda big, but it was fun...cant wait till like 3 weeks from now

 

[Mattsabasser]

right on guys. Keep on fishing! This weather coming in will wreck the bass action for a bit. We need the moisture so its fine with me.

 

[THansen77]

I hit River Bend Ponds off of Prospect in Ft. Collins this evening... pretty slow, but managed a few little bass, also got a few crappie... oh well, let the snow fly................see ya later WARM WEATHER!!!!

TONY

 

[hatchmaster]

I got my first one ever today. Check out my pics in the report section. Yeah bass fishing!

 

[hatchmaster]

THansen77 which of the ponds were you fishing?

Also farmer ted were your bass from around the fort?

I went out again today in the driving snow and got one hit on a diving crank but that was it. I got my first bass and now I have the itch. My love of ice fishing+fly fishing+beer drinking fishing+ bass fishing has me conflicted over what weather I want.

 

[farmer ted]

yes, my fish wer FC fish...river bend ponds. As always, they were all released in healthy condition so they are waiting for you to catch them. Just remember to release them again so that I can catch them too O0