Pacific Fly Fishers' Fly Fishing and Fly Tying Blog

Banks Lake Bassin

This Banks Lake smallmouth ate the Meat Whistle fished on a 6wt rod and full sinking line.  The flat bay where this fish was taken was about eight feet deep with lots of rocks on the bottom.  It appeared to be an important (and wind-protected) bay for the fish to spawn in and they were staged and just about ready to go.  Didn't see very many spawning beds yet.  Probably will start spawning in the next week or two, I would assume.

If you’re looking for something different, give Banks Lake a shot for great numbers of smallmouth bass. Mid- to late-May is a great time to fish Banks for the bass that are in pre-spawn mode. They are typically in five to fifteen feet of water and staging in or around rocky flats where they will eventually spawn.

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Banks Lake Smallmouth and More

Fished Banks Lake for a couple days in May. I was primarily there for smallmouth but encountered a few other fish of interest along the way.

The first day, Vance B. met me over there around mid-morning. Earlier in the day, before he arrived, I was messing around with carp on a large, shallow flat. It was loaded with carp! I tried to sneak in there as best you can with a 20-foot boat, and managed to find a few fish that appeared to be feeding. One of our customers is a carp fanatic and has been incredibly helpful in providing information on just how to fool these difficult fish. He also armed me with some of his favorite carp flies!

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