Lake Ohkissa ripe for sightfishing

Big bass move to the shallows for the spring spawn

The forecast for Thursday (April 7) was for high winds, but Craig Graham wasn’t worried because it was blowing out of the south. That, the Lake Okhissa veteran said, is perfect.

“If it blows out of the south, we can get in the coves and get out of the wind,” he said. “We’ll be able to find calm water and still see fish.”

And that was the entire purpose of the trip – to see bass on beds.

As we pulled into the first cove, the conditions were perfect. The bathtub-clear water had barely a ripple, and beds could be seen almost glowing from a distance. And fish were all over them.

Graham, who goes by “Made To GO” on the MS-Sportsman.com forum, has spends a lot of time on Okhissa each spring because the lake is only an hour or so from his house, and he just loves to sightfish bass.

There is something almost magical about the tactic. Instead of blind casting and hoping bass are nearby, anglers know the fish are there because they are plainly visible on the beds.

The first key to putting these fish in the boat is to be able to see them. That’s pretty easy with a pair of quality polarized glasses.

At that point, it’s just a matter of trolling banks and staring at each bed. Graham likes coves in which the bottom is covered with dark scum, which he said performs two functions.

“You can see the beds so much easier,” he said. “And I think the bass like those areas because the scum provides a place for fry to hide and find food.”

Once a nice fish is spotted on a bed, the setup is important. Graham likes to position his boat facing away from the sun because it makes it easier to see the bed and watch how the fish reacts.

To keep his boat in place, he utilizes two Power Poles on the back of his boat. While the two hydraulic anchors stop the boat and keep it from moving wildly (even in the wind), Graham added a Stick It Anchor Pin on the front of the boat to further stabilize his fishing platform.

“I got tired of the front of the boat moving around on me,” he explained.

At that point, it’s a matter of putting a bait in the bed and convincing the fish to pick it up.

He has three weapons of choice: A white Speed Craw, a Rapala hard-plastic jerkbait and a small swim bait.

The Speed Craw is what he catches most of the bass on, and the other two are backups used to aggravate fish that otherwise ignore Graham’s soft-plastic.

The key is to understand that the fish aren’t actively feeding.

“The fish isn’t going to pick up that bait, no matter how long I leave it in the bed,” Graham said.

So what he’s after is a reaction bite.

“I’m trying to get that fish to just react and grab the bait without knowing it,” he said.

So Graham quick-fires pitches at a bedded bass, putting his lure

Some bass are extremely aggressive and will quickly pick up a lure, but most of the time they initially ignore it.

Making otherwise lackadaisical fish pay attention means Graham gets aggressive with his lure presentation.

“I’ll start bumping the fish with the lure,” he said.

If hitting a bass with his Speed Craw doesn’t quickly put the fish in a more-protective mood, Graham pulls out his jerkbait.

“If a fish isn’t sticking in the bed, this jerkbait will usually make them hold tight,” he said. “I can throw this bait, and a fish will start getting tighter and tighter on the bed.”

Particularly obstinate bass often can be convinced to protect their turf by bumping the Rapala into the fish.

“I don’t really want to catch the fish with the jerkbait because it’s harder to put a big fish in the boat with those small treble hook,” Graham said. “I’m just trying to aggrevate it and make it stay in the bed.”

He can then pick up the Speed Craw and usually get the reaction bite.

If the bass still refuses Graham’s offering, the swim bait comes into play. This small lure resembles a bream, which bass just hate to see in a bed, and oftentimes can result in a bite.

If a pair of bass is on a bed, Graham is hesitant to pull the male (which will be the smaller of the two fish) out.

“I just don’t have any luck doing that,” he said. “Usually when I pull the male off, the female disappears.”

That was proven on this day when Graham snatched a 3-pound male off a bed in an attempt to make a 4- to 5-pound female more aggressive. The female remained on the bed for a while, but working the bed only pushed it away.

That male was the best fish caught on this trip, but it was apparent a new wave of bass had moved to the shallows. The coves were literally crawling with fish, but they simply wouldn’t work.

“I think these are all new fish,” he said. “The next week will be fantastic. I’ll be back.”

See pictures of other Lake Okhissa bass, and post your own reports and photos, on our bass fishing forum. If you aren’t already a registered user of MS-Sportsman.com, just fill out the short registration form to get started today!