Hagg Lake report 50 Bass (photos)

[ExBassGuide]

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http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f353/ExBassGuide/Hagg.jpg

bassin newbie and I got out on hagg lake today (Friday 5-23-8). We started at 5:30 and things started a bit slow till be patterned the bass and what cover they were holding on. Then we did not stop catching bass all day we got 50 bass today and some nice fish. I think we got about 40 keeper bass. They liked the 3 inch senko type lures and spinner baits. The bass were text book bass today they were on the spots they should have been. I was a great trip and bassin newbie learned a bunch of good stuff and so did I! the bass were in 2 feet to 8 feet of water a couple smallies came from a bit more water. I was windy to start but as the rain came and the wind left, thank god.
Roger

[GraphiteZen]

You say textbook.. What were the conditions previously. Why were they there today, the conditions related to the past few days conditions? I'm trying to put this stuff together.

[Hunt'nFish]

Geeze Roger....do you work anymore?:laugh:
Way to lay down smack on them!
Hunt'nFish

[veilside180sx]

Congrats that's a rockin' day. I just got my motor back so I'm going to go drop the boat in for testing. (and a little fishing)

[ExBassGuide]

Good question. I do not know, but I thing the weather played a big part. The bass were stationed to feed today they were on points of the weeds and on wood. I think that is all it was we were there when the bass were and they were ready to eat. It helped that we figured that out fast and wacked them the rest of the day. The conditions: approaching cold front, wind then rain. The rain was not real heavy. Timing is a big thing in bass fishing and we just timed it right this trip (dumb luck). I did not see any beds and I do not think any of the bass we got came off a bed. So the bass we got spawned before or will do so later or something like that.
A few times I said " this is a key piece of cover and it should hold bass then catch one there. My fishing partner cast to some weeds and we saw a swirl and he thought he spooked the bass, I told him the bass probably went after your bait and that is why it moved. Sure did it was on his line when he lifted it to check...pow! they all acted like dumb bass today and thats the best kind:-).
Roger

[bassin newbie]

no i dont have a livewell :)
thanks roger, i really learned a lot!

[team doyle]

absolutely fantastic report.
rippin it up boys. some shiny avocados.
joe

[Super Fluke]

Nice job guys. So how big was the biggest fish?

[ExBassGuide]

We got a few about 2lbs 8oz. About 40 keepers.
Roger

[flippinbaits]

great report and even better pics!!! way to pattern the fish and whack them!!!

[Hawk JJ]

Yuu done mighty good brothers........................................:D :D:D

[DJD]

We got a few about 2lbs 8oz. About 40 keepers.
Roger Suhweeeet! Wish I could catch a bass. I threw into a little pocket known to contain bass, felt a single thunk, waited a few seconds and set the hook! a CARP of about 10 lbs came to the surface and spit out my senko!!! HOW DO YOU LIKE THAT!!!! I cant win! But Im going out there tomorrow, Lol

[dbuechler]

Ok now for another new comer question== Where is HAGG LAKE at? I heard about it but don't know of it. Can a 20' jet go on it? or is it only for smaller boats??

[veilside180sx]

There are a lot of waterskiing boats and things, your jet would be fine.

Hagg is about 10 minutes down Hwy 47 from Forest Grove

[ExBassGuide]

It is about 1000 acres and yes you can take you boat out on it! It is near gaston Oregon it is south of Forest Grove and south west of Hillsborrow. It is well known for BIG small mouth bass. It has a good population of bass BUT they are kinda smart in that lake. That lake gets fished alot by mostly trout fishermen and worm dunkers. Most people have a hard time finding bass on the lake. But hard work is rewarded from time to time!
Roger

[ExBassGuide]

I was also thinking, one thing that may have put the bass are on the bite is because the state stocked Hagg lake with truck loads of trout fingerlings. The bass may have positioned themselves for the snack attacks. Some fish spit up the small trout when hooked. Our lures looked like the trout fingerlings, by now EVERYONE knows what we got the bass on pluss a few on spinnerbaits. One more part of the puzzle to think about!
Roger

[RascallyRabbit]

Roger,

Having read so many of your posts, even if you didn't say what you were catching them on. I could have made a good guess at what you were using :laugh::laugh::laugh:

Steve/RR

[bucketmouth]

Great job guys.

You'll have to show me how to fish that lake sometime.:smirk:

[duckmaster25]

WOW great job

[ExBassGuide]

bassin newbie showed me some great spots that I can't wait to get back to! Some big bass spots I never have seen before! This kid is a great fisherman! He can cast very well and his boat control is almost perfect. One or twice I asked to move back to a spot we just got two hits at and how far he keeps his boat from the target and most of the time it was right in the spot it should be. He kept his boat far enough away from the spot we were fishing to not spook fish and not so far from the spot that we had to make long casts and waist time reeling in all the time before we could make the next cast. That is a big key to bass success, making short cast that you can rapid fire to many spot but not so near the fish that you spook them. Every thing he did impressed me! He got bigger fish over all than I did and his hook up rate we very good. He also did a great job of fighting the fish. This guy is going to be one #ell of a good fisherman and that is not far away at all. I got him thinking about a few things. I asked him questions to find out what he knew and he got them all correct. Abnd to think he is still 15 years old:bigshock:, I wish I knew 10% of what he know when I was his age!!!!!
We would have gotten some very big bass if the old girls had not just spawned. This was my best day at Hagg ever for numbers and numbers of nice sized fish. I think we only got one or two females all day. 50 largemouth bass in a day any place in Oregon or Washington is a very good day. The information we learned will help us every spring that we fish this lake as we try to dial in this lake even more. To tell you all the truth I do not know Hagg all that well I have fish from a boat for bass about 10 times. I have fished from shore about 20 times. But I think I have done good with this lake at this point. This lake is always changing! This is not the same lake as when I fished it with Rich earlyer this spring. and before long the water will drop and.... I have been monitoring this lake and the reports that are posted and I have gleaned some great information through general information. My biggest bass out of this lake was when I was using my car top boat with trolling motor only...
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f353/ExBassGuide/6.jpg
And I got a good one with Jame Smily
http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f353/ExBassGuide/4lbs10ozBass.jpg
It is more the lure I use and not my overall knowlage of the lake that has helped me with fish like this.
Roger

Great job guys.

You'll have to show me how to fish that lake sometime.:smirk:

[ExBassGuide]

http://i51.photobucket.com/albums/f353/ExBassGuide/IMG_0681.jpg

[bassin newbie]

roger i cant thank you enough for the kind words! its really what i love to do, and that arm you showed me has so much potential for big bass! south facing banks! I will never get over how perfect your spinning rod pitch is either, that blows my mind

[ExBassGuide]

One more thing to think about for that trip that the bass were going nuts before it started raining. The bite slowed just a little bit after it had rain for some time, but the bass still bit. The pattern did not change after the rain fell. So remember an aproching cold front can make the bass bite like nuts. it plays a big part in the spring and the fall but not quite as much in the summer. I think that is due to the severity of the front in the spring and the fall. Bassin Newbie you ever fish an aproching cold front like that one ever before?
Roger

[bassin newbie]

i have, but not with comprable success! they bit the spinnerbait better than i would have thought, i feel like its a muddy water bait. i feel like the approaching front set them up predictably, like how we could call our shots on points and such. falling barometric pressure i think

[ExBassGuide]

Ya I think several things helped us with that.
Wind
Bait fish
Aproching cold front
Time of year (alot of the fish are shallow to start with)
sesonal patterns (like fishing south facing shore line).


After we found the fish we ended up fishing only south facing shore areas. We started on a north facing shore first and only got a few and not all that big fish too.

[bassin newbie]

yeah that really helped because now next time i can move from key spot to key spot and make better use of my time! i do wish i would have caught that HOG that followed my bait in, but i can't complain about the day

[ExBassGuide]

It was a small mouth that was about 5 pounds!!!! you should have added three more trailer hooks:thisbig::excited:.
He also lost a very good bass due to a spinner bait failure, it broke in two:-( I would guess it was around four pounds) I broke one off too.
Roger

[BassBware]

fishing in the rain!! thats fun stuff. we actually had some topwater hits on the super spook out at lacamas last year when it was raining

[ExBassGuide]

Sounds like fun BassBware!
Roger

[bassnbass]

204 bass on 10 trip? hmmmm. is the # you catch really important?

[arkansasbasser]

i have, but not with comprable success! they bit the spinnerbait better than i would have thought, i feel like its a muddy water bait. i feel like the approaching front set them up predictably, like how we could call our shots on points and such. falling barometric pressure i think

The spinner bait is far from a muddy water bait. It is my goto bait, most of the time. I don't think that most people are aware of the versitility of this bait. It's extremely weedless and almost snag proof. Spending time getting unsnagged really cuts into your catch ratio, plus spooking the fish.
You can fish it at almost any depth. You can cover a lot of water quickly. I know a lot of people that think of it as only a shallow water bait, but it can be worked in 20' water with good results. Different blades and sizes, and different skirt/trailor combos add different dimensions needed as the seasons change. You can bulk it up with pork rind trailers or curly tail grubs for added attraction. I have caught many cold water bass using one with a large single Colorado blade thumping slowly and methodically just off the bottom in the winter. For night fishing it is hard to beat. I have been using it in the clear waters at Cascade Locks with willlow leaf blades lately and have been doing pretty good. Once I hone in on where to fish that water, specifically, I feel like I will kill them with the spinner bait. So don't discount the spinner bait. Learn to use it under different conditions and depths and I think that it will become one of your favorites.
BTW, I don't know if they allow night fishing on Hagg, but if they do, I bet you could kill them at night there. I used to do a lot of night bass fishing in Arkansas in the summer to beat the heat and crowds and it was always better than day time fishing. Takes a little getting used to but you get the hang of it quick.

[bassin newbie]

usually i like the best bait for each situation, so i use a lot of different baits for different applications... thanks i guess? haha

[arkansasbasser]

usually i like the best bait for each situation, so i use a lot of different baits for different applications... thanks i guess? haha

I was only pointing out that the spinner is not just a muddy water bait, that it has many more uses than muddy water. If someone taught you that, they were totally wrong. It is good to know how to fish a lot of different baits for different applications. Really good. I was just trying to point out that one shoudln't put a bait as versitile as this one into a box like "a muddy water bait". You would be missing out on some good fishing if you did. The spinner bait can be "the best bait" for a lot more situations than most people know, if you learn how to fish it correctly. Bill

[arkansasbasser]

It was a small mouth that was about 5 pounds!!!! you should have added three more trailer hooks:thisbig::excited:.
He also lost a very good bass due to a spinner bait failure, it broke in two:-( I would guess it was around four pounds) I broke one off too.
Roger

Wow! Those spinner baits must have caught a lot of fish in the past for them to break in 2. Time for new baits or better ones?

[bassin newbie]

haha thanks man no worries. yeah i caught a few on that one, and it was a booyah. always reliable but whatever

[GraphiteZen]

As far as the versatility of the spinnerbait... I make my own with your typical inline spinner materials. The only change I throw in other than blade combinations is where the head of the jig section would start. I bend a loop there and put on an O-ring. That allows me to attach different jigs, plastic baits even crank baits and gives you better action than a rigid connection. It also cuts down on the numbers you need to carry in order to have all the blade combos in the various colors along with being a lot cheaper.
The first 5 pounder I caught this year was about 3 months ago on a smaller spinner with just two small willowblades and a powerbait worm with a curly tail, slow rolled along the bottom past shrubs.

[arkansasbasser]

As far as the versatility of the spinnerbait... I make my own with your typical inline spinner materials. The only change I throw in other than blade combinations is where the head of the jig section would start. I bend a loop there and put on an O-ring. That allows me to attach different jigs, plastic baits even crank baits and gives you better action than a rigid connection. It also cuts down on the numbers you need to carry in order to have all the blade combos in the various colors along with being a lot cheaper.
The first 5 pounder I caught this year was about 3 months ago on a smaller spinner with just two small willowblades and a powerbait worm with a curly tail, slow rolled along the bottom past shrubs.

I would love to see a picture of one of those. I used to make a rattle trap with and in line arm with willows attached to the rattle trap. It was kinda bulky and heavy but man did it catch fish. Can you post a pic of one of your baits? Bill

[driven2fish]

:applause:

[tgreene5]

Good job Roger! Beautiful fish!

Theresa:D