I made a stop to do some Lake Walcott bass fishing on my way home from a business trip in Boise Idaho. It is a beautiful place. The campground area was awesome, but I didn’t quite figure out how to catch very many smallmouth. I’d love to give it a try again. Here are the logistics of what I used, where I went, and the conditions I faced to “Krak” me a bass out of Lake Walcott.

 
 
 
 

 Lake Walcott Bass Fishing

Conditions:

Here is what Lake Walcott bass fishing conditions were when I fished there Friday September 12th, from 2:30 pm – 5:30 pm.

Wind:          0 – 5 mph

Weather:        Air temperature 75 degrees, bright & sunny

Water Clarity:         Stained, visibility 1 – 2 feet deep.

Water temperature:        68 degrees.

Where I fished:

Here is the area I fished while I was at Lake Walcott.
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What I used:

I used a lot of different things. (See the write up of how I did, to see some of the baits I tried) The one bait to catch a bass was a Chartreuse jerkbait. I would cast it up shallow and retrieve it using a twitch, twitch, pause cadence. Jerkbaits are a great way to imitate a dying bait fish wounded and struggling. I’ve had great success using jerkbaits for smallmouth. They always seem to do well when bass are keying on bait fish instead of crawdads.
 

 

How I did:

Despite all my efforts in a few hours, I only managed to catch one smallmouth bass. I had one other follow up, but that was it.  I’m sure there are some sweet smallmouth to be caught here. I wished I would have had more time, and would’ve tried a few more spots. Still though, it was a good time on the water. Here is what I did while I was there to try to catch a few bass.

I launched my pontoon boat, and paddled straight across the small cove to the other side protected by the wind. I put on a Chartreuse jerkbait, and a Smallie Beaver onto my fishing rods. I thought the jerkbait would be a good search bait, and I’ve always had good success with a smallie beaver. The water was incredibly stained, so I was a little nervous about whether the smallmouth would find my bait. I’d never fished for smallmouth in such stained water before.

Once I got to the other side, I made repeated casts with the jerk-bait to an area I thought would hold a bass. I was surveying the area using a twitch, twitch, pause retrieve when my rod almost fell out of my hands from a strike! I nice football sized smallmouth grabbed it. I thought I was going to be in for some good times! Here is the dude in all of his glory.

I hucked a jerkbait for quite a while because of how quick the first fish hit,  but never picked up another fish on it. I decided to start switching things up. I tried the smallie beaver for a while, but didn’t have any luck on it either. I then tied on a noisy topwater spook and chucked it for a while hoping to call some up. I had one come up and look at it, but the bass didn’t want to commit. Next, I tried the Duo Realis Spybait,  and despite my efforts with this bait it led to no avail.

I thought a spinnerbait would be the ticket because of how stained the water was. I tried slow rolling it down around the rocks. I thought for sure it would work, but got zilch. I then turned my attention to the growing shadows and concentrated on fishing the shade. I threw a small popper in the shade of the trees along the banks and got nothing. Last but not least, I tied on a bright chartreuse Bandit Square Bill Crankbait hoping that would catch some attention. Alas, even the squarebill banging the rocks left me with no more bass.

In hind sight, I should have tried throwing a drop shot in the area I caught the first bass. There probably could have been a school of them in that area. Plus, maybe I should have tried fishing out in deeper water. My guess is the first bass I caught came out of about 10 – 12 feet deep. There is a lot of water to cover at Lake Walcott, and I know I only scratched the surface even though I tried a lot of baits.

I’d love to hear about anyone else’s experience and tips for Lake Walcott bass fishing, and what you have found successful. Please feel free to leave them in the comments below. Hopefully, this will help you in your next adventure out on the lake.

As Always,

Stay Stoked!!!

Gear Used:

Baitcasting set-up:

Spiderwire Stealth Braid 300-Yard Spool Moss Gree 30lbs.
Sufix Invisiline Casting Flourocarbon 100-Yards Spool Size Fishing Line (Clear, 10-Pound)
Shimano Sellus Medium Heavy Worm and Jig Cast Rod 7’2″
Quantum Fishing Smoke 9 Bearing Baitcast Reel 7:3:1 ratio

Baits:

Jackall Squad Minnow Bait, 4-Inch, 0.5-Ounce, Purple Chartreuse
Bandit Square Bill Chartreuse Sparkle Ghost Bait (White)