ROGER BOGOSH'S TECHNIQUES
This is a good Bass anywhere you go! It tipped the
scales at 6.18 lbs., which was good enough to be the big Bass in a M.B.A.A
spring Tournament. It was in a pre-spawn phase
and was caught staging on a point in 17 feet of water.
The technique that was used to catch this Bass was a Carolina rig, which
consisted of a 3/4 ounce weight and a 18" leader which had a watermelon
seed lizard that was Texas rigged on a 2/0 Gamakatsu wide gap hook. I used 17
lb. Test green Silver thread fishing line both on the main line and on the
leader. I believe that using heavy line helps float the bait off the bottom
longer. A 7'-0" medium heavy
Warrior Rod with a Quantum E600Ti bait casting reel were used to fish the
Carolina rig.I have been fishing Mashpee/Wakeby for a number of years now and
what I have come to realize is that the lake has a personality of it's own. What
I mean is that one-day you can catch a bunch of Bass and then the next day it is
like there are no Bass living in the lake at all. To catch fish on a consistent
basis, you have to be willing to change or modify your techniques through out
the seasons.
Spring
The lures that I use in the spring will vary
depending on the water temperature, weather conditions and the phase the Bass
are in. A good lure for early spring
is a 1/4 oz black jig with a black Bo-Hog Jr. Pork trailer. Once
the water warms up to 50 degrees or warmer I start looking for Bass on points. I
will use a Carolina rigged 6"Zoom lizard to start, working my way down to a
4" finesse worm if the bite is tough. For colors I try to stay with natural
colors like browns and greens. 3"-5"
grubs on a 1/8oz jig head will also work if the conditions are right.
60 degrees and up the smallmouth Bass can be caught on Huskey jerkbaits
if you find the gravel you could hit the mother load. The largemouth will be moving shallow to prepare for the
spawn. The male buck Bass will move
up first and are easier to catch than the larger females that stage deeper.
5" Grubs and 4" worms on a 1/8oz-jig head.
Cast shallow and slowly swim the bait back to the boat.
The retrieve will vary, when you get a strike pay close attention to what
the bait was doing and then keep doing it.
Summer
After the Bass are done with their spawning and the
weed beds start turning green is when I will start fishing points and humps with
a crankbait and a Carolina rig. The
crank bait should run deep enough to just barely get caught in the weeds and
when it does "Rip" it free, that is when most strikes will happen. For
fishing the coontail when it is in full a black and blue 5/8oz Penetrator jig
made by Andy's Custom Lures with a Bo-Hog Sr. pork trailer will do the trick
when the Bass are hunkered down in the coontail.
Pitch the jig to pockets in the coontail.
This is a lot of work but the fish are usually good size when you catch
one.
Fall
Most
of the summer patterns hold up until the water temperature gets down to 50
degrees. Then the outside of the
weed lines can be good if you find something different about it like a point or
some kind of cover on it. Try deep
running crankbaits, spinnerbaits and Carolina rigged lizards and worms. Don't
be afraid to go against the rules when the fishing gets slow because the
Bass in Mashpee/Wakeby can have you look like a hero on one day, then a zero the
next day! Please practice catch and release to preserve the fishing for
generations to come.
This
is only my opinion how to catch Bass on Mashpee/Wakeby. I hope it helps you put
a few more fish in the boat.
See you on the water,
Roger Bogosh