February Bass & Perch Report - Long Island

Well I was able to get out with my fishing partner Joey for a half-day trip on Sunday. We fished a small pond on the east end of Long Island. We arrived at the ramp around 1:30pm.

Date: 2/19/12
Air temp: 44 degrees
Water Temp: 41 degrees
Water Clarity: Clear
Winds: West at 10 MPH

We set out to target largemouth bass. First area we approached produced two largemouth bass on back to back cast with a hair jig.





Both bass were located at the base of the drop-off into deeper water. We fished the break for about an hour and landed a total of 5 bass ranging from 2.5 lbs to 3 lbs. No giants, but some nice post frontal action for February. We also connected with a bonus fish, a really chunky perch.



We left that area to check another wintering spot and were rewarded with a 2 lb bass and this nice largemouth that was about 3.75 lbs (photo below). That was our biggest bass landed for the day. We connected with couple more 2-2.5lb bass in another wintering hole, but nothing big.



All in all we had a great day on the water. All of our fish were caught on1/8 oz. hair jigs. We managed to catch 9 Largemouth Bass, 4 pickerel and that fat perch, which got me itching to go target perch, so that became to focus for the following morning:

On the trip back, I put a call into my friends Dave and Nunzio to find out if they wanted to join me for a Perch trip. Both agreed and we planned to be on the water by 8:30AM. Our destination was another Long Island pond that holds a very healthy population of nice sized Perch.


DAY 2

Date: 2/20/12
Air temp: 37 degrees
Water Temp: 40 degrees
Water Clarity: Clear
Winds: North 25 MPH (with Gust up to 35 MPH)


You know it’s cold when you are thinking of getting back into the truck while you are taking the tie down straps off the boat! The wind was howling and the pond we were fishing has no place to get out of the wind, so we knew it was going to be a long day. We started searching for Perch in a hole where they are often found schooled up this time of year. It is a large area with weeds and stumps, but with the wind at 25mph sustained, it made finding the perch a little difficult. In addition, the weed was gone. We worked around the area for a while and then decided that we needed to set out to find some good weed that might still be around. Once we found a good patch of weed near the creek channel, it was on! We connected with our first perch around 9:30am, kicked a buoy marker over the side and caught them almost on every cast until about 12:00pm.
















Every now and then they would move around a bit, but for the most part they stayed within about a 100’ radius. We had tons of doubles and a few triples. We only had on one giant, but she came off before we could land her. The rest were all really healthy, fat and feisty perch. With the average perch weighing about 1.5 lbs. They’re a lot of fun on light tackle with 4lb test line.

More Bass Fishing Reports

Power Plant Bass Fishing

One lake in particular that I like is Clinton Lake, (about 2 hours south of Chicago) a 4,900 acre reservoir that's a cooling lake for the Clinton Power Plant. In the dead of winter we're catching bass in 50 degree water on crankbaits, plastic worms and slow rolling spinnerbaits.

October thru March in the upper Midwest usually means that bass season is pretty much over, most folks take their bass boats in for their end of the season maintenance and winterization and start focusing on deer and waterfowl season. Hey what do you expect it's the North Country; the first major snow storm comes in and you're stuck at home watching fishing show and going in & out of Bass Pro Shops or your favorite tackle store just to keep that desire for April spring fishing on your mind.

That works for some but there are a few of us that will get our bass fishing fix by fishing Power Plant Lakes.These are cooling lakes for Power plants, whether its nuclear or coal generation, these lakes don't freeze in the winter months and believe it or not stay fairly warm in the cold months. The other nice thing about these lakes is that they are usually stocked lakes, most of them are bass factories, so you will likely get some kind of action all year. Here in Illinois, where I live, we have several lakes just like these all over the state.

This is a great practice lake in the winter month's because with the warmer water from the hot discharge it will teach you how to fish currents, practice your prespawn-spawn techniques, and it will help you gain confidence in baits as well. On Clinton you can use rattle traps in 50 + degree water temp and 38 degree air temp and catch 15+ bass in a day.
Clinton Lake and other Power Plant coolings are a great option to work on your bass techniques in the winter months, and will keep that winter monkey off your back!!!

Tight Lines!!
Marques Green

Category: Tactics & Techniques

Frank from our ProStaff started this topic on our message boards:

I was reading an article in a fishing magazine where they were talking about old lures that have fallen out of favor in bass fishing. They seem to become "kinda not cool to use." In the article they wrote about in line spinners like the rooster tail and the Mepps and one of my favorites the Panther Martin. It got me thinking about old lures that aren't cool anymore, but we all started out with them. Maybe it's the tournament thing, who knows.

I never go fishing without a stock of Johnson silver minnow weedless spoons in my boat or a couple of Johnson Sprites, yup that simple silver spoon. Now I know some guys carry them on winter trips for jigging, but they still catch fish on a regular retrieve. In fact they catch a lot of fish. Another is the 4 inch Rapala and Rebel minnows. And of course the Jitterbug which I think just had its 80th Birthday. What do you carry thats uncool but works for you?

VIEW TOPIC

Hey Everyone.

It’s that time of year again for BASSIN’ USA’s Fantasy Bass Fishing League!  This year we are using the Bassmaster’s Fantasy Fishing website to manage the contest.   We created a “GROUP” called “BASSINUSA.com” within the Bassmaster site (http://www.bassmasterfantasy.com).  This will make all participants eligible for the prizes from Bassmaster too! 

In order to participate in the BASSIN’ USA.com contest, and be eligible to win our prizes, you MUST be a registered member of Bassin’USA.com site.  Membership is free and it’s easy to register, just go to www.bassinusa.com/forum/ubbthreads.php

CLASSIC CONTEST

Each registered member will be able to submit one (1) team consisting of 5 Classic Qualifiers.   Your roster may only contain 1 Qualifier from each of the five groups (A,B,C,D,E) .  The top three (3) teams with the highest total of points after the BASSMASTER’s CLASSIC will win a BASSIN’ USA prize package.

Prizes for BASSIN’ USA.com CLASSIC CONTEST will be as follows:

 (1st Prize) Tackle Package + Bassin’ USA Hat (Value TBD)

(2nd Prize) Tackle Package + Bassin’ USA Hat (Value TBD)

(3rd Prize) Tackle Package + Bassin’ USA Hat (Value TBD)

ELITE SERIES CONTEST

Each registered member will be able to submit one (1) team consisting of 5 Elite Series Pros.   Your roster may only contain 1 Pro from each of the five groups (A,B,C,D,E) .  The team with the highest total points after each quarter (2 tournaments per quarter) will win one of the four BASSIN’ USA prize packages.  The team with the highest overall total points at the end will win our GRAND PRIZE.

Prizes for BASSIN’ USA.com ELITE SERIES CONTEST will be as follows:

 (1st Period Prize) Tackle Package + Bassin’ USA Hat (Value TBD)

(2nd Period Prize) Tackle Package + Bassin’ USA Hat (Value TBD)

(3rd Period Prize) Tackle Package + Bassin’ USA Hat (Value TBD)

(4th Period Prize) Tackle Package + Bassin’ USA Hat (Value TBD)

(Grand Prize) (Value TBD) Gift Certificate to Midwest Fishing Tackle’s Store, Tackle Package (Value TBD) + Bassin’ USA Hat ($15.00 Value) & Trophy

Here’s how you get started!

1)      Register, if you haven’t already, on BASSINUSA.com to become a member.  You’ll need a valid email address and your account will not be activated until you respond to our verification email.  Once registered, you can post comments, participate in discussions, talk about the tournament, etc.

2)      To enter the contest click on this link;   http://www.bassmasterfantasy.com/

3)      Signup for a free bassmaster.com account

4)      Once you activated your account, then create your entry (the entry is your Fantasy Team) click on the link again to return to the fantasy fishing page.

5)      Go to the Groups Tab or click the “Join a Group” and search for BASSINUSA.com and join.  To participate in the BASSINUSA.com contest, you must join the BASSINUSA.com group.  

You are now a participant in the contest!  It’s that easy.

We will be following the game rules posted at http://www.bassmasterfantasy.com/ for “how to play”, however the BASSIN’ USA.com prizes are subject to our own terms and conditions.  BASSIN’ USA.com reserves the right to disqualify any participant who does not comply with our terms and conditions.  BASSIN’ USA.com is not affiliated with BASSMASTER, its website(s), contests, tournaments, etc. in anyway.  BASSINUSA.com has organized a Fantasy Fishing Group that will be playing on the BASSMASTER Fantasy Fishing site for scoring purposes only.  Eligibility to win BASSMASTER prizes is subject to their rules and regulations.

Good luck to all of you!!!