The Science of the Spawn

What is the spawn you might ask? Good question. I think in order to understand the spawn, it is important to know what is actually going on. 

According to Pursing Outdoors bass make nests! Their nests range from 3-5ft deep on average. It is normal for a bass to go through its first spawn when it is around one year old. 

Stages Of Spawning:

1. Building a nest
2. Finding a mate
3. Hatching fertilized eggs
4. Guarding their young

How do Bass form their beds?

• They move up shallow.
• The male comes into the area and makes a circular motion with their tale.
• This pushes the rocks and other items out of the way causing a sandy bottom or "bed." 
• The female will then come in and lay the eggs and the male will fertilize them.
• Once fertilized the bass guard the bed.

Juniata River Fishing - April 21, 22, 23

 Have you ever wondered about river fishing for bass?

This weekend, I spent time down at my camp fishing for catfish and small mouth. The water was very clear, so I tried out a Texas rig Yum Dinger worm, and guess what! I caught a beautiful smallmouth. We are almost in the spawn. I was having trouble getting a bite until I sped up my retrieval. I then changed to a wacky rig for a while and caught a rock bass. It was a slow fishing day for bass as the catfish were in full force. I ended up with three catfish, one fall fish, one small mouth and one rock bass so a successful weekend overall. Enjoy some pictures below! 

Texas Rigs - What Are Those?

Are we talking about fishing or trucks?

So, when I started really getting into bass fishing, I was fascinated with the Texas Rig and what it was. This is my most successful lure. It is 100% my go to. Below is a video of a setting up a Texas Rig. Guess what? You finally get to use your Senko's, Ocho's or Yum's! Don't forget your extra wide gap hooks!

Choosing Color

So, like I said before we are going to get into color and why color of your lurers, worms and other baits are important. 

Patterns are the most important part of bass fishing in my opinion. The reason worms work so well are because they resemble natural prey. In my opinion, you can never go wrong with the color Green Pumpkin. I've had it work on clear days, rainy days, any weather you can imagine. But there are some general ideas about what will work for what conditions, and this is very important to make sure that you are getting bites and can get a consistent bite. 

Also in my tackle box, I keep white worms and black worms. I know you're thinking black?? Yes black. Black is excellent in muddy water. The thought behind this is that they actually produce almost a silhouette which distinguishes the bait in muddy conditions. I know you're probably thinking, but chartreuse is so bright. That is true. But if you're having difficulty getting a bite in muddy conditions, try a dark blue or black worm.

This is an amazing website to check out for great advice on worm color selection, What Color Worm for Bass: The Best Colors & Patterns to Use (survivalbiz.com). But my advice to you is to grab a pack of Green Pumpkin, a pack of White and a pack of Black with Blue Flake.

Black Moshannon State Park - Philipsburg, PA

Hello everyone! You guessed it! This week's fishing spot is Black Moshannon State Park or "Blacky" as us local residents call it. Blacky is a 250-acre warmwater fishery. It is home to the Largemouth Bass, Yellow Perch, Pike, and Crappie. The reason I like fishing at Blacky is because it is the perfect place to take a Kayak! If you haven't guessed yet I'm a kayak fisherman. I love fishing out of a kayak and this is seriously a great place to do it. *Warning make sure you have your state launch permit on your boat if you plan on kayaking here* They do also have kayak and canoe rentals. Blacky also has some great vegetation which the bass LOVE. This is great bass habitat everyone! 

For water depth information please see https://elibrary.dcnr.pa.gov/GetDocument?docId=1743657&DocName=BLMO_LakeDepth_Black.pdf 

How To Tie Knots

OH MY! Its knot time, the boy scouts are probably ready to jump out of their chairs. 

So, I am not good with tying knots. The only knot I've been successfully able to use year after year is the Fishermans knot. But I want everyone to know that there are so many different types of knots out there! Below are some reference videos. 

Prince Gallitzin State Park - Glendale, PA

Prince Gallitzin, sounds fancy right?

The 1,635-acre Glendale Lake is a warmwater fishery. A fishing pier for people with disabilities is at Pickerel Pond. Glendale is rather large, and I would recommend looking at a map either online or a paper map from the park office. Plan out your trip to where you want to go fishing. I would suggest Pickerel Pond for the first time visiting here if you are fishing by bank. 

If you plan on boating here, just remember that Glendale has 20HPS motor restriction. For boating there is a map on the DCNR website that shows water depths. This will help you to target bass and know where you want to go. 

This is one of my favorite places to Bass fish. Go get you're self some lunch in the summertime and head down to the picnic areas and go fishing! You won't regret it.

Fish Identification: Largemouth, Smallmouth & Striped Bass

You mean there's more than one kind of Bass?

As we have went over previously the most common bass in PA are going to be your largemouth, smallmouth and striped bass. The striped bass is actually the easiest to identify as it is different from a largemouth and smallmouth. 

Largemouth Bass: They are known for their distinct green color distinction. This is typically an olive gray or dark gray. They have horizontal stripes. They are most distinctly known for their large jaw. Which is why they are called a largemouth.

Smallmouth Bass: Unlike the largemouth bass, smallmouth bass tend to have vertical stripes. They are typically a darker brown color. But colors can range from bronze, green, or lighter yellow variations. It is important to not confuse the smallmouth bass with a rock bass. Rock bass are known to have red eyes as well as some smallmouths do. The smallmouth eye variation in color is brown or a reddish brown that can appear like a rock bass. 

Striped Bass: Unlike the largemouth and smallmouth bass they striped bass is a silver color. It has a white/silver variation. It has a series of dotted horizontal lines that go from the gill plate to the base of the tail. Unlike the other bass species listed striped bass are typically much larger and on average are between 4-20lbs.

If you're interested in learning more about these fish species, please check out Priemer Angler. All of which the above information is from. 

Yum's, Yamamoto's, KVD's

I'm sure you're thinking, what do all of these words mean?

If you didn't notice when you go to the store to purchase your equipment there is all sorts of plastic worms and brands and it can be very overwhelming. So, I wanted to go through with the 3 most popular and kind of give an overview. 

So it is important to know that most plastic worms are infused with salt. This helps them to sink. Salt (jethrobaits.com) this is a great website to check out for more information on the science of the plastic worms.

Yum's, Yamamoto's, & KVD's:

Let's start out with Yum brand worms. Yum's worms are called Dingers. These are the worms that I personally use, and I prefer. They are affordable and more durable than the other brands in my opinion. My only complaint with them is that they do not have as much salt as the Yamamoto's. 

Gary Yamamoto's are next. Yamamoto's are probably the least durable. You cannot use them more than one to two fish catches. BUT I think they work the best. The fall rate on them is great. The salt content is better than any other worm. My big issue with them is that they are quite a bit more expensive than the Yums. Going out and catching several fish, they are just destroyed so quickly. 

Lastly KVD worms are called Ocho's. I have used these before and they're about middle of the road both in price and quality. I think they are very comparable to the Yums. I just personally prefer the Yum Dingers to the other brands. 

Next, we will go over colors and knowing how to choose your color. But again, I would like to let everyone know that you cannot choose which one you want to use without trying each type. I strongly recommend getting a bag of each one to try it out. Try them out for yourself and see which one you like the best. They are all good brands and all catch Bass!

Shaggers Inn - Clearfield County, PA

What is Shaggers Inn you may ask?

Shaggers Inn is located in the Quehanna Wild Area in Clearfield County, PA. It is the largest of the Moshannon State Forest operated dams. It is considered a shallow water fishery. Honestly, it's one of my favorite places to Bass fish. There is a boat launch to launch kayaks and other non-motored boats as well. Check it out below. For more information you can also visit SHAGGERS INN Visit Clearfield : Visit Clearfield 2021 Visitors Guide (lunarcow.com) 

10/10 if you have a kayak or want to bank fish check this place out. I caught my largest largemouth bass of the year here last year!

What Do I Fill My Tackle Box With?

What a great question right? If you were just looking at tackles boxes and you were overwhelmed with it, well sorry. There's way more stuff that goes into them. BUT no need to panic. Here's a top 10 list of what I think is most important to have in your box as a beginner. We will get more into the baits later, but this is a good list for starting out. 

1. Plyers

2. Fingernail Clippers/Scissors

3. Hooks

4. Plastic Worms

5. Crankbait or two.. 

6. Scale

7. Tape Measure

8. Sinkers/Split shots

9. Bug Repellent Spray/Sunscreen (I know this sounds silly, but you'll thank me later)

10. Good luck charm (Yes! I said it! Find anything, something maybe you even value. My pap kept a picture of me in his box, and I keep his Dale Earnhardt Jr. #8 red toy car in mine)

How To Choose a Tackle Box

How do you choose a box?

Being Confident: I always say to be confident in something that you're doing is half of mastering the skill. For me, being confident in bass fishing is having my tackle box in perfect order. Anyone who knows me, knows that I label everything and everything has be in perfect order. With that being said, lets talk tackle box.

Going Into The Store: choosing can be very overwhelming. There's SOOO many. How do you choose? Well first thing I look at is honestly price. You do not need a $300 tackle box. The twenty years of my life I used the same tackle box. It was a plastic Plano brand box and I do not have it anymore. But it was perfect for me. Once I really started getting into fishing, I bought several boxes. One for each type of fish. Let's all laugh, but it's true. 

When bass fishing, you don't have to have anything fancy. But I think it is very important to think about where you will primarily be fishing before buying a box.

Rivers: Get yourself a backpack or over the shoulder box. Almost every time I go river fishing for bass I wade in the water. This is so beneficial for that reason. You don't have to constantly walk back to the bank you get hooks or bait or anything you need really. It's all right there.

Kayak Fishing: You want to go with something small and compact. Regardless of how big your kayak is, it will never be big enough for everything you want to bring on board. I highly recommend a smaller plastic box. Or getting a larger box for bank fishing and taking out the inserts for in your kayak.

Bank & Boat Fishing: Get the big box. I have a big, huge honking thing that I carry all the time to the bank or in the boat. It has a lot of space. It was a hand-me-down from my stepfather (his bass box) and honestly you could probably fit a whole closet of clothes inside it. But it has a lot of room for all of my tackle, and I can change out the boxes, I can use different baits because I have space and I will never forget anything at home.

Below are some brands and some boxes that I have personally that I love. Click the pictures to take you to purchasing websites! Flambeau, Plano and Piscifun.