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.