Get to the Point(s) for Late-Season Spotted Bass

On many Western reservoirs, running points is the most effective pattern to catch spots.

September 23, 2024 By David A. Brown

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Joseph Orozco believes spotted bass like options. OK, so what’s the point? Well, the question is the answer, because when it comes to spotted bass consistency, points present one of the most consistent scenarios you’ll find in Western fisheries. In the typical reservoir layout, getting to the point is much more than a conversational imperative.

In Orozco’s view, a point offers spotted bass everything they need throughout much of their life cycle. The key is intercepting the fish when and where they’re utilizing a point.

“The fish can go shallow, they can go deep, they can position on top of a point to actively feed or they can move off to the side of a point and ambush anything that comes over,” says Orozco. “In the fall you’ll find feeding windows. As the bait is coming through, they’ll school up like crazy.”

Colby Pearson shares Orozco’s affinity for points. In his view, these topographical features help him dial in fish that may otherwise prove challenging to locate.

“A point is a consistent place to find fish that are actively set up to feed,” Pearson says. “They can relate when they’re inactive, then slide up when they’re ready to feed. A point offers multiple facets for their daily accommodations.”

Moreover, given the propensity for Western reservoirs to fluctuate in depth due to rainfall and snowmelt levels, points can be in play for 50 to 60 feet of depth fluctuation. As the water rises and falls, various structure may become more or less relevant, but a point’s basic attraction remains. The fish simply move outward or inward.

closeup of bass fish — Dragging a football head and trailer along the lake bottom tempts deep-holding spots. (Photo by David A. Brown)

KEY FEATURES

Orozco likes main-lake points, especially the ones down by the reservoir’s dam, as the water’s typically clearer in that area. The mouths of the main arms are always a good bet, too, as you’ll encounter fish moving in and out both during the spring spawn and the fall feeding period.

“Typically, points are in reservoirs that are influenced by creek channels. So, to me, a point is like a current-related funnel that pushes water up from the creek channel and over the top of something,” Pearson says. “It’s a good location for fish to set up and wait for food to drift by in dam-generated current, though wind could be a factor, as well.

“The key is proximity to the creek channel,” Pearson continues. “A creek channel in a reservoir is like the umbilical cord—it’s constantly filtering the nutrients that the fish are eating throughout the fishery.”

Pearson’s confidence soars when he’s fishing a current-washed point. It goes back to idea of consistency: Which scenarios are most likely to deliver the goods day in and day out?

“If I find a point that’s not close to the channel, it might be good on that day but not the next. But if I find one within proximity to that channel, it’s likely to be good all the time,” he says.

A barren point could certainly hold spotted bass, but Orozco and Pearson agree that isolated structure, like a rock pile, brush or a stump, increases the potential by providing the fish something to relate to. Spots do plenty of suspending, but when they’re feeding or looking for food, centering points are golden.

For fish tucked low, Pearson likes a Neko-rigged Senko with a 3/32-ounce weight. Western stick Bryant Smith, who’s currently fishing his second season on the Bassmaster Elite Series, keeps a Neko rig handy for calmer conditions. If the wind’s blowing across a point, that situation is tailor-made for forward-facing sonar and a jerkbait.

“If the fish drop off the sides when they’re inactive, it’s a lot tougher to get those fish to bite,” Smith says. “That’s where I like a heavy jig that you can get down there quick.

“It’s not uncommon to catch spotted bass in 40 feet on the side of a point, so I’ll start with a 1/2-ounce jig and I’ll go up to a 1-ounce if the fish are deeper than 40 feet,” continues the pro. “I’ll also throw a 3.3 or 3.8 Strike King Rage Swimmer on a 1/2- to 1-ounce swimbait head.”

POINT POINTERS

Once you find feeding spots, they’re usually pretty cooperative, but even between the active times, you can stay busy with these gluttonous fish. Mind these principles for spots on points.

Stay Mobile: You’ll know it when you find the motherlode, so work it until the bite dies. Most of the time, it’s a matter of running and gunning.

“You’ll hop a few points and get nothing, then on the next one you’ll catch them,” Orozco says. “They move so much, so keep active, but return to a productive point multiple times throughout the day.”

Smith agrees and notes that multiple visits to an attractive point tilts the odds more in your favor. “If you have a point that you think is good and you only hit it one time during the day, you’re really not doing it justice,” he says. You gotta hit it when they’re up there on top feeding.”

Watch for Signs of Life: When he’s scanning a point, Pearson looks for boils and splashes that signify fish are pushing bait up and actively busting. Birds will also reveal the more promising areas, so he’s always watching for clusters of grebes. “I could be driving 70 miles an hour, but if I see birds working over a point, I’m gonna pull up there and fish,” he says.

Make Natural Presentations: “Position into the wind so your bait comes down with the wind naturally,” Orozco says. “Don’t be right on top of them.”

Repeat What Works: “If you find a pattern that works,” says Orozco, “you can usually run it all over the lake and have a killer day.”

Kokanee salmon — A landlocked version of sockeye salmon, the kokanee is a favorite forage species of spotted bass. (Photo by David A. Brown)

WESTERN GIANTS

The biggest spotted bass get that way by gorging on kokanee.

A good point on Lake Shasta, Oroville or Berryessa can deliver quality spotted bass in the 3- to 5-pound range. But if you want to catch the freak-show spots that attract trophy hunters from far and wide, you’ve got to visit one of the lakes stocked with kokanee.

A landlocked version of sockeye salmon, kokanee provide an important forage item that, in the past decade, has given rise to enormous specimens in the 7- to 10-pound range and occasionally even larger. Oregon’s Colby Pearson knows the kokanee game well.

“The biggest thing with kokanee is they have the nutritional value of a large baitfish, like a trout, but they tend to school more, like a shad,” Pearson says. “A lot of times in Western reservoirs, when the really big fish are relating to those kokanee and eating them, they tend to suspend, and they’re suspending on big schools of kokanee so they can gorge themselves.”

Kokanee are believed to have diverged from the anadromous (sea-going) sockeye when glacial ice melt formed inland rivers and streams cut off from coastal rivers. Native to California, Oregon, Washington, Idaho and Alaska, kokanee have been stocked in several of California’s mountain reservoirs.

Pearson says anglers at some of the more storied producers of giant spots, like Bullards Bar, Whiskeytown, New Melones and Collins lakes, do well by simply hunting the kokanee buffets on main-lake points and watching their forward-facing sonar for bass that pass their time suspending around the food. When a giant spot’s belly rumbles, it simply rushes upstairs to gobble a couple of these plump protein bars.

Top baits for kokanee lakes include 4- to 5-inch swimbaits, spy baits, casting spoons and deep-diving crankbaits. And don’t forget to tackle up. If you take on these plus-size spotted bass with your dropshot rod, you’re just going to get your feelings hurt.