Largemouth Bass – The Ultimate Predator

Since traffic on our local lakes, and subsequently, on this board have come to a crawl in these dog-days of summer, I thought I’d take a moment to discuss some of the peculiar behaviors of our favorite finned species.

An un-amused Largemouth Bass gives aquarium onlookers the gas-face.

Micropterus salmoides, or commonly, the Largemouth Bass, is a large freshwater sunfish native to eastern North America. Due to human introduction, its range has expanded greatly and Largemouth Bass now populate freshwater bodies in temperate regions throughout the world.

Most people think of the Largemouth Bass as an enigma, but really, it’s the most lethal predator that Mother Nature has ever assembled. … Continue Reading

Sharing the Wealth

Contributed by: Murf

I’d say I’ve learned 90% of what I know about bass fishing from my dad.  When you consider the vast foundation of knowledge it takes just to be a decent bass angler – setups, proper knots, reading water clarity, temperature, and current, understanding the bass’ life cycle and putting together a game plan to target them – that foundational knowledge makes up the largest chunk of what we all already know about our favorite pastime.  My familiarity with different lure types and information about our local lakes and the Delta came from my Dad, as well.  Growing up, and to this day, bass fishing has been, and is, our thing.  It’s what we spend time together doing, and so there has been plenty of time for that 90% of my current knowledge to be absorbed … Continue Reading

When The Going Gets Tough, Lighten Up

Contributed by:  Murf
There are so many conditions in which fishing gets tough on your favorite lake, pond or river. There’s bad weather, bad moon, bad tide, bad water temperature, bad hangover… and so on.

For those with sophisticated electronic equipment, finding where the fish are holding under difficult conditions is the easy part. For many of us who fish regularly from personal watercraft … Continue Reading

A Hot-Spot Review and a New Website Feature

Contributed by: Murf

The Hot-Spot Review - Coyote Percs
Since I’ve had some success over the years on these ponds, including a great recent outing with two other SJBers, and since there seems to be a growing interest among SJBers about this place, I decided to do a review and pass on what I’ve learned about these ponds … Continue Reading

Using Low Water Tables to Your Advantage

Contributed by: Murf

Let me start by disclosing my preferred conditions for the very best of fishing days: I like full lakes. I like high tide on the Delta. I like as much cover available to bass to be submerged, because I know that’s when they’ll be the most aggressive and easiest to target.

That being said, I also value summers on Santa Clara Valley lakes like this one will be. We just went through what water supply professionals categorize as a poor water year, a year in which we didn’t receive enough rainfall in the past winter … Continue Reading