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How To Catch A Five-Pound Nockamixon Bass
Personally, I have boated eight bass five pounds or over in the state of Pennsylvania, plus several more that I had hooked and lost. This may not sound like a lot, but all of these fish were weighed accurately. I have seen many fish that folks called five pounders that amazingly came up a little short. A true five pounder is a special fish that is a real trophy. I have also “guided” three of my friends to fish over five pounds. Nearly all of these fish were taken from the “Nock”. As I look back on each of those fish, I certainly have drawn some conclusions. Some of which might surprise you. First of all is the time of year. Most would tell you that your odds are best in the early spring. I have certainly taken fish in March, April, and May. However, two of my own fish (including my biggest) and two of my friend’s fish have come in the summer months. Two were in July, one in August, and one in early September. All were caught in daylight hours with artificials. Water temps were in the 80’s! Anyone who tells you that big summer bass can’t be caught is not trying hard enough! Bait selection is another hot topic. Of the nine Nock bass, 5 or over, that I have caught or seen caught, the lure choice was as follows: 4 fell to a texas-rigged worm or other soft plastic, 3 fell to a suspending jerkbait, 1 fell to a spinnerbait, and one fell to a crankbait. It should be no surprise to a serious bass fisherman that a slow-moving, bottom-bouncing bait has produced the most big bass for me. What may surprise you is where these fish were caught. Seven of those nine bass were taken in less than 8 feet of water, most in less than five. (The other two were taken in 16 feet, in submerged structure.) The big key to the shallow fish was their proximity to deep water. Every fish was immediately adjacent to very deep water. All of them were mere feet away from depths of 20 feet or more. If you are fishing shallow bays year round looking for a lunker, the odds are very much against you. Even during the spawn, my experience has shown me that the biggest fish will spawn near deeper water. Shallow water appeals to all bass in the spring. But the biggest will rarely be far from the depths. So what does all this mean? If you are serious about catching a five-plus pounder on your next trip to Nockamixon, follow these suggestions. First, never venture far from deep water. In spring, use a suspending jerkbait on banks that have a steep drop. My boat is rarely in water shallower than 14 feet. Banks with a 45-degree slope or greater are best. Even the deepest bluff banks produce this time of year. In the warmer months, target weed-beds and downed trees that are either in or close to water that is at least 15 feet deep. Use slow moving baits that thoroughly probe every inch of the cover. Work your baits out to at least 15 feet before reeling in. This type of fishing takes a lot of patience and mental toughness but the rewards can be tremendous. Big fish are a special breed and require you to be at your best to find and land them. Good luck, and I will see you on the water! From the front of the Boat, John Hawthorne Early Summer On Nockamixon I finally got back out on the “Nock” yesterday. I am ashamed to say that this is my first time out on the lake in nearly two months. Sometimes work really sucks! Anyway, I did not have real high hopes of much success. Consistent success usually requires you to be on the water quite a bit or, a lot of luck. We started looking for largemouth on points that led out from spawning areas. Most Nock fish spawn in the month of May, leaving June as somewhat of a transition period between the spawn and deeper summer patterns. The water temp was a toasty 85 degrees. My partner had a blow-up on a spook-type bait on his fifth cast. Our hopes started to run high. From there we went the next two hours with two more strikes but no hook-ups. It was time to try another spot. We motored to the outside of another large spawning bay and began to throw a variety of surface and sub-surface lures. Success was not far away. Our first fish came on a Storm Sub-Wart in a perch pattern. The fish was only 11 inches but it was the first fish that I got to touch all night! Minutes later I had another a bit larger on the same bait. The fish seemed to be relating to sparse patches of lily-pads near the outside of the coves. Three casts later I tested our pattern by firing my bait past another lone standing patch of pads. I was rewarded with a nice 3 pounder! She was all spawned out or she would have been closer to four. After I boated two more nice fish in the next five minutes, my partner was frantically searching for a shallow running crankbait to throw around these lily-pads! He settled on a Bill Norman Quarterback, and promptly caught a 2 ½ pounder. Things started to slow down so we switched lures and caught three more on a spinnerbait and a floating worm. The bite was over so we moved to the other side of the cove where some more pads were available. My third cast provided a hooked fish that came off halfway back to the boat. Before I could reel it in another fish grabbed it and took off. When I reeled that one in another was following it trying to take the bait away! Light was now just about gone and the wind started to pick up. We picked up two more small ones on the way out of the pads. It was dark and time to run for the dock. Even though our biggest fish was only 3 pounds we had a great time boating a dozen fish in just a few hours. I expect these fish will be around these pads for a week or two before moving out to deeper drop-offs for the summer. There are a number of spots on the lake that are like this and most should have some fish on them. Look for protected coves with at least some amount of weed cover on them. Fish them from the outside in with a variety of baits. I recommend a crankbait of some type that stays above the grass. These fish see a lot of spinnerbaits so be sure to show them something different. This weekend I leave for my yearly
trip out to Lake Arthur in western PA. Check in with me to see how I did and
what we caught them on. From the front of the boat, John Hawthorne
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Most
bass fisherman yearn to catch a double-digit largemouth sometime in their
fishing career. Most will have to travel to Florida, Texas, or even Mexico to
fulfill their dream. But for those of us without the finances for such trips,
finding lunkers close to home is our only option. Even though Pennsylvania’s
record bigmouth is over 11 pounds, a five-pounder caught here is just as
impressive (and difficult) as landing a 10 pounder down south. A five-pound
northern largemouth is at least 5 years old and more likely to be 7 or even 8
years old or more! A fish this age and size is a special fish that will usually
only be caught with special attention and dedication. Here are some insights to
help you on your quest. 