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Saltwater Big Bass Hunters welcome Spring too!

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It’s big bass time in southern California...a time when trophy largemouth bass fishermen start straightening out their tackle boxes, getting all those big swimbaits tuned and ready for action. Well, there’s also another group of anglers getting ready for action, and those fishermen are not so different then the freshwater bass chasers...the dedicated saltwater bass hunters. Alike in so many ways, as I’ll point out, these fishermen use almost identical tackle and baits to chase the giants of the deep!

I’ve been connected to the fishing industry a long time and I watched the big trout imitation lure makers refine their baits over the years...swimbaits of all different sizes, shapes, and colors. Traveling down a similar path were the saltwater lure makers, a lot of the time both being one in the same. Now plastic pourers were making everything from freshwater shad or bluegill to saltwater mackerel and sardine imitations. Even regular swimbaits were growing fins and more minute details. One company that was a leader in the development of new swimbait styles was Optimum Bait Co.

Springtime gets all the big bass chasers excited, saltwater or freshwater, they know that this time of year is when they can really score. Now, all the species in salt and fresh water can be chased year round, but, spawning time is when the fish of both waters are bulked up with food and roe. Giant largemouth bass moving into the shallows to spawn. Giant Calicos moving into the kelp forests to spawn, and during the summer, giant sand bass coming out of the deep to do their own magic spawning dance. Let’s take a closer look at the saltwater fishermen’s quarry.

Calico bass can be found from deep to shallow water throughout the year, but during the winter, most of the fish usually move out into deeper water, living around rock structure or reefs, whether man-made or natural. In the springtime they move into the shallow kelpbeds along the shore to spawn. This can be a great time to catch that 8, 9, or 10 pounder, maybe even larger. A trophy calico is really any fish over 8 pounds and a super trophy is over 10. The world record for calico bass is 14.5 pounds. The real challenge of catching the calicos is pulling them out of the structure they’re living in and around. They’re smart too, when hooked they will run into and around kelp stringers or into caves in the rocks.

Like their cousins of freshwater, the calicos will take live and artificial baits. The main difference is that you can throw their favorite live bait legally. As largemouth feed veraciously on trout, the calicos feed on mackerel or large sardines. Big bait, big fish, really is the formula, whether it’s plastic or live bait. Most of the serious guys throw both, but will choose plastics 95% of the time. You can’t control where live bait swims, but plastics can be fished around all types of structure.

For tackle, you need a rod that can handle throwing a bait that can weigh from 1 to 5 ounces, a reel that can hold enough heavy line, and your favorite bait....then be able to wrestle the fish out of cover. For rods, both types of fishermen tend to gravitate to a flipping stick or heavy trigger stick of 7 to 8 feet in length, with a round style reel, such as a Daiwa Millionaire or Shimano Calcutta, loaded with a good, strong, line of anywhere from 15 to 30 pound test.

For baits, Optimum makes tails in all different sizes and colors. And you have to have a color you’re confident in. That can be a good thing, because confidence plays a big part in fishing, and especially catching! Lead jigheads can vary from 1/8 to 3 ounces. They come in all shapes and sizes, from gumdrop to a custom painted fish head to match your swimbait. The calicos and sand bass tend to love shades of pearl, brown, gold, or green. Some of the popular colors are golden brownbait, olive brownbait, or golden green, but, there are other color combinations that resemble different baitfish such as anchovy, sardine, or mackerel. Some baits are specially painted to look exactly like the baitfish they are supposed to be, some of them looking so real you’d swear the bait companies had hired a taxidermist to paint them. Optimum even has baits where the weight is molded right into the bait, and with details like fins and eyes, they look so realistic.

When fishing the kelp, current can play a big part in catching fish. The perfect current is into the beach. One way of verifying that it is, would be to take a look at the kelp stringers. The tops of them, which are usually floating on the surface will be pointing towards the beach. If the kelp is laying over and all the way under water the current can be really strong. The calicos are just under those stringers waiting for a helpless baitfish to be pulled along into their territory by the current. Throwing your swimbait down the alleys between the stringers is most effective. Now, don’t head back to the dock if the stringers are pointing another direction. Any current will get a few fish biting, but the best is down and into the beach.

During the winter the sand bass live in the bays of southern California and Mexico or on deep water structure, but come summer time, the sand bass move just offshore to about 80 to 100 foot of water to spawn. They preform their spawning dance about 1/3 to ½ way down from the surface, usually the 30 to 50 foot zone.

The females drop the eggs, and the males fertilize them as they fall and drift with the currents. One good thing about the sand bass is that they feed veraciously as they spawn! Swimming your bait through thousands of fish, it’s hard not to score. If you find them you can catch a limit in minutes, and if you stick to a larger bait, you will weed out the smaller fish and catch some giants.

They grow to over 10 pounds and spawning time is your best chance to score some trophies! The world record for sand bass is 13.10 pounds, but a trophy is any fish over 8 pounds. You’ll use all the same tackle and swimbaits for the sand bass as you do for the calicos, with jigheads being adjusted in size for how deep the fish are and how strong the current is.

Calico and sand bass fishing can be quite exciting! If you’re a freshwater bass fisherman that’s never tried this, you really need to! I hope I got you excited about this fishery.

Learn and practice “CPR” Catch, Photograph, Release…..

A day spent teaching another to Fish,
is a day spent learning to befriend another.