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Ok boys I really want to get som early bass fishing this year. I need to know all you good secrets for early bass.
What's the best baits, hard or soft? Favorite colors, and places to go(preferably not south of Cabelas). I don't have a fish finder yet so I am reading the lake or pond by what I can see from the shore or my boat.
I really wish we had better bass action here in utah. Maybe there is and I just don't know about it. So far my experience is bass fishing north of cabelas it is sub par.
Let me know what you think.
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So you don't want to go further south than cabelas and your experience with the bass fishing north has been sub par? Not really sure what else there is for you other than to try to sneak a couple casts into that tank they have there. Fish utah lake in any of the harbors with soft plastics in dark colors around any of the submerged brush. Slow down your presentation until the water warms up a bit
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You're right, no bass north of Cabela's [  ]
Early season, if the water is clear, I use suspending jerkbaits, drop shots and flat sided crankbaits. Look for deeper water adjacent to spawning areas.
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[quote 14gills]Ok boys I really want to get som early bass fishing this year. I need to know all you good secrets for early bass.
What's the best baits, hard or soft? Favorite colors, and places to go(preferably not south of Cabelas). I don't have a fish finder yet so I am reading the lake or pond by what I can see from the shore or my boat.[/quote]
All of us bass anglers would really love some early bass attention. You're asking questions that don't have simple answers -- best bait hard or soft? The only answer is "Yes." Favorite colors? Pick one and see if the bass like it today. Might not like it tomorrow. BTW there's A LOT more to it than hard or soft and which color.
What kind of effort have you put in to learning about bass here in Utah or in general for that matter? You come on here and demand all our hard earned intel with what sounds like little to no effort on your part. I would have loved to go to my professors and demand all the answers so I could pass the tests.
[quote 14gills]I really wish we had better bass action here in utah. Maybe there is and I just don't know about it. So far my experience is bass fishing north of cabelas it is sub par. [/quote]
What's your expectation? 8 lb bass on each trip? Go to Texas. Maybe a few 18" bass mixed in with the 14"-16" variety? Very doable. My kids and I have caught a number of bass over 5 lbs in northern Utah (public and private) waters but we worked for them, often from shore without the benefit of electronics. There are many places in northern Utah with some very respectable bass to be caught, but as for just handing you the location and techniques -- aint gonna happen.
[quote 14gills]Let me know what you think.[/quote]
I think you need to do some homework on how to catch nice bass at the library, on Youtube (flukemaster, bass university, Lindner's angling edge, etc. etc) and other web sources then get out there and make some casts following the principles they teach. If all you're catching is small bass you may be unknowingly fishing for small bass. I'd be willing to bet that if you've fished very many northern Utah bass lakes then you've been fishing lakes with nice supply of pretty nice bass in them.
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On come on Nate, let us know what you really think.[ ]
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I second this... No bass north of Cabela's. lol
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Whoa whoa. I don't think the guy was "demanding" anything. Sounds like a dude who wants some pointers on bass fishing north of Cabelas. No need to tear him a new one because he wasn't aware of your stringent research prerequisites to qualify for the privilege of asking your advice
I'll second what was said about just heading out and trying some stuff. There's plenty to learn about bass habitat and behavior that should get you started in the right direction.
Best of luck, and be sure to post reports when you do get into some bass 
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Suspending jerkbaits
Rattle traps
spinnerbaits
Soft plasitcs fished very slow
And I would have to agree that bass fishing in Northern Utah is not the best, but you have to work with what you got. There are a few lakes that kick out some decent fish though.
Pinview- largies and smallies.
Mantua- tons of largemouth
Hyrum- Quality largemouth but they don't come easy.
If you want good action I would wait till the water hits the 60 degree mark. Up intil then it's going to be spotty but this is the best time to get qualtiy fish.
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I agree. I live in Ogden, and if I wanted to target bass I'd go to Mantua or Pineview. I'd try to find water a bit warmer than most of the lake, and then I'd be prepared to try a variety of baits and colors. I'd start fishing slow.
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[quote BHuij]Whoa whoa. I don't think the guy was "demanding" anything. Sounds like a dude who wants some pointers on bass fishing north of Cabelas. No need to tear him a new one because he wasn't aware of your stringent research prerequisites to qualify for the privilege of asking your advice [/quote]
[pirate] ouch you ripped me a new one for me ripping him a new one[:p] Granted it's pretty hard to tell attitude through the written word both from the OP and myself. If you thought I was ripping him a new one you should have seen what I wanted to write prior to actually posting my reply[cool].
When a guy who has made 11 posts pops on and says, "I need to know all you good secrets for early bass," sounds a little demanding to me and I get a bit irritated. I don't know this guy or the other 10,000 lurkers who might read this thread and he's saying just give me, give me. Give me a good reason to tell you all I know? We've got all kinds of guy's on this site who fish Flaming Gorge who say "you've got to pay your dues," before you can catch fish on the Gorge. Same principle applies for big bass. I've been paying my dues (still paying) and I'm not going to simply hand out GPS coordinates and lure choices willynilly. I gave the guy some first rate advice that will get him further than telling him what hard or soft lure I use primarily because that information is almost useless without understanding of the fish, the water, the structure, the prey, the season, the temperature, the depth, the etc. etc.......... He was asking for quick and dirty answers and those aren't worth much.
Here's my quick and dirty response. We've caught many LM bass over 3 lbs up to 6.5 lbs (dang nice bass for Utah), all in several northern Utah waters in every season, not so much for SM bass. We've caught them on crankbaits, spinnerbaits and plastic lures in white, blue, watermelon, black, brown, chartreuse, among others. Now that wasn't worth much was it? Now go and catch a big nice bass, good luck chuck[laugh]
There are not many true secrets out there, but great information can be found with a little effort on Youtube and other bass fishing web sites. I used to fish one particular public water and catch tons of 10" to 14" LM bass. I thought the lake didn't hold any big bass until I did some homework as per what I suggested in my previous post. Now I catch many more 16" to 18" with a few 20"+ LM bass here since I studied how to catch bigger bass. Hard/soft/black/white has little to do with it.
Hope you don't feel like I ripped you a new one, if so you read it in yourself. I'm just a happy angler waiting for the right conditions to go chase some bass on my secret lake with my secret lures. Maybe this weekend!
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Head to Sand Hollow they are hitting on everything if you use it..[sly]
Forget all the waters north of Texas they are too cold, now you could go south of the border I hear they are hitting great down there as well..[ ]
Good luck and let us know how you do..[cool]
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I remember being new to bass fishing back when we first moved to Kentucky. It was a hard transition going from being a life-long trout fly fisherman, to a lure-chucking bass fisherman...but I had some great guys on a fishing forum that helped me out and put on the right path, for that...I'm grateful. Once we moved back to Utah three years ago, we moved a mile from Sand Hollow and I had to change many of my bass-catching tactics that worked in Kentucky Lakes. No more targeting shore-line structure, but rather fishing deep on grass beds. It took me a little bit to figure out what SH bass wanted, but I figured it out and now I can't keep them off my line! So...time, trial and error, and patience are required for learning new waters in new areas. I know that at SH this time of year, we catch them deep, slow, smaller baits, and slow...did I mention slow? I would imagine the same goes up north. Match your forage colors and use a good attractant...lighter lines with spinning reels.
Good luck out there and if you are ever in the Hurricane/St. George area...let me know and I can take you out.
-Rich
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I'll have to agree that there are decent places to get some bass up here if you're willing to work for them. There's one or two Places I go every single year that end up being some of my highest catch totals every single time. Yes they can be very finicky, but every once a while you can really hook into some fun ones. Good luck on your endeavor.
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Yes I might be new to this blog and forum stuff. I have spent countless hours looking and researching what bass like and what they do and what they eat. I got on this forum to see what local guys say. You can research all you want but local waters are night and day different from the crap you find on youtube. There are few videos on bass fishing in Utah.
I find it funny that just because in am a new member (with only 11 Posts) on this and you don't know me so you need to make me pay my dues. Whats wrong with telling a non professional who does not have the money to have two different thousand dollar fish finders some advice. Giving blanket advice and telling them to pay their dues is pointless, why even respond. I Never asked for your favorite most private fishing spot with GPS coordinates, time of year to be there, what bait, and what color.
If some one asked me for advice with golf i would give it to them. Why make them spend countless time and money trying to figure it out, if i can spend ten or fifteen min and change there game and outcome completely then why not. If it helps them enjoy what there doing then why not.
This is not about me against you at a tournament. Its just me asking for advice so i can be more productive when i am out fishing.
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Don't be so sensitive I don't think anyone was being rude just kind of silly to call the northern utah bass fishing sub par. Either you haven't put in the time or your expectations are too high.
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Apparently I struck a nerve [pirate] but that's ok I'm sure you'll heal over time. Regardless of what you think of me or my advice, it is good advice and I fully believe you can improve your angling experience by following it. I'm far from a professional angler, never fished in a tournament, don't have a bass boat, just a $400 pontoon boat, a $130 fish finder and a pair of legs. I guess that may discredit me. Oh well.
I'm glad to hear you have been studying and finding answers. Now go out and experiment to see how good those answers are. I wholeheartedly agree that Utah water can be vastly different than waters back East, but if you throw out all the principles you can learn from true bass pros on Youtube etc. simply because it's from Georgia, Texas or Minnisota I believe you do yourself a disservice to your potential success. Florida's Okeechobee has similarities to Pelican Lake. The highland reservoirs of Tennessee have some similarities to Pineview and Deer Creek. The California Delta has some similarities to Utah Lake. I could go on. You call it crap, I call it gold! We've got the same northern strain of bass they do back East and they behave similarly here, they just eat different things. I've taken dozens of those principles and made minor alterations for my local waters and have improved my catch rate and quality tremendously. I've given you some great help, you simply have to see it cuz I aint' going to just hand it to ya. I haven't got enough room or time to write it in this forum when it's already been produced elsewhere. Good luck, I hope you catch a big one this year. Oh and stay away from my secret pond, it aint big enough for the both of us [sly][ ][cool][:p]
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Ya! What Zack801 said. +1. And holy crap almost 1000 people have viewed this thread and now know my secret to better bass fishing in Utah.
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Don't know much about fishing for pet bass in ponds in housing developments, but I'd be glad to show you stuff on the snake river in Idaho. It's a little early for bass and their starting to come up, but we could catch a sturgeon. PM if your interested. We need some non boaters if anyone's interested in tournament fishing.
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Dtayboys
Sturgeon on the snake would be a fun fishing trip. Thanks for the invite. When is the best time to fish for sturgeon?
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