Who knows stuff about Largemouth Bass?

[tatu...@gmail.com]

Hit Freedom Pond/Lake ~0900 on Andrews AFB, some of the largest bass I have seen were cruising the shallows and looked like they were guarding spawning nests?

I was fishing a popper and they would swim up then turn away.  I ended up catching a small Bluegill on the popper and all heck broke loose.  The bass swarmed the Bluegill and the largest (guessing 3-4lbs) ate the Bluegill.  So one second I have a small fish, the next the rod is bending over with the hefty bass.  I managed to get them to the bank but the fish(s) slipped off.  About 15 minutes later I managed to catch another Bluegill and the same process repeated itself.

I switched to streamers but the Bass just turned their noses up to those as well.  Tried multiple colors with no luck

Are the Bass not eating and just defending their nests?

Needless to say there are some big fish in that lake.

Cheers

Collin

[Bob Smith]

You got it.

[Nate Gabig]

Have seen that same behavior in Florida water as well...they are too big and too old to fall for artificials - but when presented with an opp to predation, the fishing never gets better! Where is freedom lake exactly? I'm not military so is it accessible?!

[tatu...@gmail.com]

Morning Nate:

Freedom Lake is on the South Side of Andrews AFB, right South end or the runways where the golf course is.  I know DoD and govt ID card work getting on base, don't know what the civilian policy is.  The golf course gate (where the main golf office/club is seems to be the best entrance, and just follow Perimeter Road around until you see the lake (about 1-1.5 miles at most).  You can see it on Google Maps pretty well.   38.786643, -76.872222

Cheers

Collin

On Saturday, May 20, 2017 at 11:24:36 PM UTC-4, Nate Gabig wrote:

[Ben H]

Large bass guarding nests in clear water are notoriously picky about what they will hit, but yes, sometimes they will strike in defense of nests. Lizard or craw imitations might be your best bet if trying a streamer. Still probably a tough bet. Low light conditions may help too.

[Bob Smith]

Or you could just let them alone until they're off the beds. I'll skip the obvious comparison to this and human activity.