Baw Beese Report

I still don't have my boat back from the shop yet but fellow club member Mike Maske graciously loaned me his and I was able to get a little practice in on Baw Beese. I hit the water at probably 8:30 am and fished until 12:30. Here is what I observed.

The water temps were 57 degrees first thing in the morning and the skies were sunny and the water was flat calm. Air temps were about 45 but not too bad but with the sun and calm water the fish could see me a mile away. But I could see them as well. I started on the outside edge of a big flat and immediately saw fish cruising up and down the break. As I approached they would lazily swim away, ignoring any lure presentation. I tried to make extremely long casts and tried several different lures and except for a few short fish on a suspending jerkbait I didn't have much success.

I jumped around to a few other good breaks I know of and encountered the same thing, lots of spooky fish but no biters. I decided to move up onto the sun drenched flats a little and as I progressed shallower I encountered fewer fish. Searching a few docks for beds was fruitless as well and moved back out to the breaks to look for more cruisers.

I have fished this lake about 10 times but never this early in the season so I'm not quite sure where the bass bed but I have an idea. I headed for these suspected spawning grounds next and actually did observe a few traces of beds beginning to form but saw nothing locked onto them and only saw small male fish. I suspect these small males are beginning to fan out nests but are just starting and it will be a little bit before any females move up. I did see one big fish cruising a protected bedding area but was not locked on to anything.

I spent the remainder of the day just "looking" and even went into a few man made channels to look for beds but saw nothing but 10 and 12 inch fish on small beds. I did most of my pre-fishing on the main lake but ventured into third and I believe fourth lake which is under the bridge and saw nothing to get excited about. I ended up catching only about 3 or 4 fish but threw everything from plastics to crankbaits and jerbaits and even busted out a spinnerbait for a while. I think with the weather continuing to warm and the wind picking up as is the forecast for the weekend then the fishing should improve. The water temps were 60 when I left.

Summary: The fish still seemed to be in a pre-spawn mode but with warm weather that could change any day. I pretty much ruled out the sight fishing angle but wouldn't be suprised if a few beds popped up by Sunday. The spooky cruising fish out on the breaks could very well start moving up and biting with the warm windy weather especially later in the day and a small shower could enhance the bite as well. I would not be suprised to see water temps in the low 60's for Sunday and hope to be able to just run and gun the flats with lipless cranks and spinnerbaits but maybe that's just wishful thinking. I will be prepared for a finesse approach as well if thats what it comes down to. I still think 9 or 10 pounds will win this event with only a couple limits coming to the scales and most anglers catching 3-5 pounds. Hopefully I'm wrong and the bite really gets going but for now that is my prediction.

If a few big females move up then a good kicker fish will go a long way but I'm not seeing that yet. I will hopefully get back out on Friday and do a little more looking and will report back any relevant info. The forecast calls for warm air temps into the 70's this weekend with a chance of rain and a good chance on Sunday. The wind will probably be the biggest issue with 20 mph winds and gusts up to 40mph possible. These will most likely be out of the SW so keep that in mind when practicing. More reports to follow.