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Fall 2024 Fall 2024 Hi All, Yes, the season of the fall feed is already upon us! But coincidentally it seems like mid-summer as I write this while the air temp is over 100 degrees, and there are several triple digit days still ahead of us. Even so, we all know that the weather will cool, the fish will feed, and the fall bite will catch up to us in no time. For those of us that have been on the California Delta, we can see the bait fish and fry are already plentiful, helping us determine lure profile, and color. This season is always a favorite! We hope this issue gives you some insight into a few of the new products in the industry, a new fishery to catch bass in the Golden State at, an insider’s look at how Forward Facing Sonar is not only changing the tournament side of our sport, but also the tackle industry and so much more info that in the end helps you hookup with more and bigger bass. We would like to welcome two new advertisers with us – ValleY Hill and Limit Out Marine. And as always, we encourage you to support the companies that support WesternBass and the sport of bass fishing. Without them none of this would be possible. Good luck to those getting ready for their season-ender fall Tournament of Championships. And of course, tight lines! Wayne
Summer 2024
Summer 2024 Hi all, Welcome to another summer season of WesternBass.com Magazine. The summer issue marks our 13th anniversary of the introduction of the WesternBass mag and always a great time of year. We love to see the big bass that come by way of topwater, and punching, as well as those later stage spawners and who knows what will come from the catches with Forward Facing Sonar this year! Summer always brings the ICAST show and the new products for our industry. It is always exciting and something we all look forward to! We would like to welcome our newest site advertiser Bridgford Foods. They are not only a WesternBass advertiser. Their meat snacks are a new addition to the Fisherman’s Warehouse in-store product line. Bridgford is a great supporter of the sport, and we are fortunate to have them onboard! Speaking of which, do you have Bridgford in your boat? Thanks to Bridgford for joining us and all of the WesternBass site advertisers. Remember, who they are and always we encourage you to support those, who support us and the sport that we all love! Tight Lines,Tight Lines! Wayne
Spring 2024
Spring 2024 Hi all, Spring is always a great time of year! New season, fresh start of AOY points, and the big bass of the spawn! At WesternBass we are excited to welcome new site advertisers and express our appreciation for those that return. They are, after all, the reason why we are able to bring you the magazine and the site. It was great to see the BAM Trail start their new start their new trail and a big CONGRATULATIONS to Greg and his Frenzy Baits Nail! Our WesternBass title sponsor, Fisherman’s Warehouse and FishermansWarehouse.com is the BAM Tournament Trail’s Conservation Sponsor and, speaking of Fisherman’s Warehouse, we want to thank everyone that aided in the law enforcement effort to catch the person(s) responsible for the thefts. The community support was amazing, and we would also like to thank all of you that checked out the new Rocklin location of Fisherman’s Warehouse! I am anxiously waiting to see all those big bass that will be ready to eat any day now. Be sure and share photos with us here on WesternBass. Tight Lines,Tight Lines! Wayne

Forums

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Main Forums
Fishing
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Electronics Product Forum
Is it me.......or am I over my head? by mark poulson Wed Oct 16, 2024 12:55 pm
Photos
My Big Fish Gallery by Swimbaitspence Tue Sep 24, 2024 8:04 pm
Swim Baits
Hi by Leroyiae Mon Oct 21, 2024 7:20 am
Kayaks and Kick Boats
Stripers

Classifieds

ClassifiedsLast PostClassifiedsLast Post
Boats - Motors - Trailers
Champion 2005 206 by Cons206 Mon Oct 28, 2024 9:15 pm
Marine Accessories
Electric Motors
Minnkota Edge 70 24v by Buddyrocks Mon Oct 28, 2024 4:51 pm
Miscellaneous
2016 150 pro xs 2 stroke hood/cowl by Skplastik Mon Oct 28, 2024 7:22 pm
Electronics Rods & Reels
Dobyns Champion XP swimbait rod by JES Mon Oct 28, 2024 9:34 pm
Hard Baits
6 inch trick shad by Scbassman2112 Tue Oct 29, 2024 5:45 am
Soft Baits
6 inch trick shad by Scbassman2112 Sun Oct 27, 2024 7:25 pm
Kayak Classifieds Terminal Tackle
FREE FISHING LINE by Simon Cowart Mon Oct 21, 2024 7:33 am
Lodging & Property
Clearlake House for Sale on the water by ct210 Sat Sep 28, 2024 10:28 pm
Tow Vehicles
2004 Dodge Ram 1500 by f2892704 Tue Aug 27, 2024 1:42 am

Recent Forum

6 inch trick shad by Scbassman2112 Tue Oct 29, 2024 5:45 am
Pro Worms by jiggin4bass Mon Oct 28, 2024 9:59 pm
Dobyns Champion XP swimbait rod by JES Mon Oct 28, 2024 9:34 pm
Dobyns Champion Swimbait rod by JES Mon Oct 28, 2024 9:34 pm

Industry Press Releases

Have You Been to the Amazon?
Have You Been to the Amazon? We went into the jungle, caught a bunch of peacock bass, and immediately planned our return. Have you been? If not, it’s really one of those amazing experiences that every angler and nature fanatic needs to enjoy.
B.A.S.S. announces expanded 2025 BassmastHER workshop schedule
B.A.S.S. announces expanded 2025 BassmastHER workshop schedule BassmastHER ambassadors (from left to right) Maggie Jo Carsello, Kristine Fischer and Anastasia Patterson will be on hand to share angling expertise at the 2025 BassmastHER workshops.
Bryant Smith Wins 2024 WON Bass U.S. Open with 64.74 pounds
Bryant Smith Wins 2024 WON Bass U.S. Open with 64.74 pounds Spencer Shuffield Finishes Second, Martin DeHaven Tops AAA Division
Bryant Smith Leads Day Two of 2024 WON Bass U.S. Open with 43.84 pounds
Bryant Smith Leads Day Two of 2024 WON Bass U.S. Open with 43.84 pounds Day One Leader Kyle Grover in Second place with 41.88 pounds
Kyle Grover Leads Day One of 2024 WON Bass U.S. Open with 22.15 pounds
Kyle Grover Leads Day One of 2024 WON Bass U.S. Open with 22.15 pounds Bryant Smith in Second place with 22.14 pounds after Opening Round

Lake Reports

Clear Lake
Clear Lake By Spent 5 days on Clear Lake last week, and despite all the tournament weights that would say this lake is on fire, it’s not. It’s good, don’t get me wrong, but you really have to work hard to find the quality bites. So lake conditions - water temp was 70-77 and the weather was a low pressure cooling. The first days were high pressure, heating up on the first day with a high of 85. The little fish seemed willing to bite a ChatterBait and a Keitech. The second day, the weather highs where going to be 100+. The fishing really wasn’t that good. I fished docks, shade, tules, and only had three bites all day. The rest of the time I had hot days 100+, but the fish seemed to be ok with that. I threw a ChatterNait in the morning in 3-5 ft of water, but I would have to make multiple casts and different retrieves to every dock piling. I fished it like I knew there was a fish on every piling and I just had to trick them into eating my bait. I had over 20 fish with the largest going 9.89. That was fun. About 10:30 am, I would put the reaction down and go flippin' and I just flipped tules, brush and any place I could find shade. I’d go for a hour until I would find em and whenI found one, I would get 3-4. I got into some wrestling matches thatI just didn’t win. So if you want to have a great time, plan on spending a couple days at Clear Lake, because once you figure out how you want to catch them, multiple limits of 20lbs is possible. The baits I had success with JackHammer in shad with Missle Bait Spunk Shad on Frenzy Nail, D Bomb with a 3/4 oz Flippin' weight, R2S Big Poppa and a Drop Shot.
California Delta
California Delta By Launched usual time 6am at Paradise; anticipating high tide at 7:18, ran to one of our fav flats areas to try some topwater; soon as we got to our starting spot, saw that a sea lion was feeding right in the flats we wanted to fish; we watched him dive into tule clumps with his back and tail above water. Then he'd come up with a bass, tail and half the body sticking out, then in a second, chomped and gulped down. He worked both the inside as well as perimeter of the flats. In 25 mins of watching, we watched him come up with a bass 9 times, and some of those bodies and tails looked pretty sizeable. I've always seen the sea lion(s) on the move but never really saw them feed in an area. We tried to move away from him but he'd work as close as 10-15 ft from our boat, coming out of nowhere. We finally got fed up and gave up on that area. We could only imagine how many fish he ate before we got there. OK anyways, we moved across the flats to a rock wall and started crankin' both shad and red craw crankbaits, they were taking both. Managed many rats but also several 1 - 1.5 lbers and an occasional 2lber. Since I had a choppo tied on, I threw into a tule cut up against the rock wall. As I waited for the "circles" to dissipate, I saw my choppo just go under so I set the hook and boated one. So I started working the choppo slow, not reeling it in but subtle twitches like a popper. This worked for a bunch more takers, no real blowups, just inhaling it down. I did get a choice few reeling in for the next cast and they came up and hit it, those 3 or 4 x were the only actual blowups I got. My brother was deadstickin' a worm on a shaky head and got his that way and on a dropshot, same type of worm. Ended early and off the water by 11:30am... short but fun morning, other than watching the sea lion munching. Nothing over 2lbs but still fun!!

From the Blogs

RB Bass Outdoors Angler Rick Novotny Interviews Stan LaFever About His New Tournament Series
RB Bass Outdoors Angler Rick Novotny Interviews Stan LaFever About His New Tournament Series By

In this video RB Bass Outdoors angler Rick Novotny interviews Stan LaFever on his new tournament series he has started up called West Side Bass. You can also look this trail up on?https://westsidebass.com/. This is a tournament series that concentrates on the California motherload lakes. This trail is for anglers of all levels. Check out […]

The post RB Bass Outdoors Angler Rick Novotny Interviews Stan LaFever About His New Tournament Series first appeared on RB Bass Fishing.