Trying to Find Bass At Saguaro Lake

Saguaro Lake has been a tough one for me to get on to a consistent bite for bass. In this video I spent an entire day just trying to find the fish and learn a few new spots. It was a long day and I covered a lot of miles and I managed to find a few. It was a great day to GET OUT AND LIVE!

[@jamesg1425]

Awesome nice to see you hitting Sag! I had a personal quest at Sag to figure it out. Got skunked over 20 times in a row. I started reading Buck Perry's books and it changed a lot for me. Buck explains lake types, Saggy is a highland 1 reservoir, one of the toughest of all reservoirs. Steep, deep, rock bottoms, clearer water (luckily Sag is a green color water, not as bad to fish as clear). From all of my study of Bucks materials I started catching fish at Saguaro consistently. It was incredibly rewarding. Bucks "90% lure" is his Spoonplug, a metal spoon that is a crankbait (also known as a plug), hence the term Spoonplug. It is different sizes for all depths, designed to be fished BANGING the bottom and moving fast. However in my little kayak I have a hell of a time using them and I lose them easily to snags and they are pricey and not easy to get necessarily. So I have focused more on Bucks "10% lure," a jig (Buck refers to it as a "jump bait"). Fishing a 3/4oz jig with a chunky craw or similar, being sure to feel it knocking into rocks in 15-20ft of water has been my ticket. It is a challenge but with the right rod setup you can do it effectively. I run a 6' 3/4-1oz rated rod with 12lb-15lb fluoro, keitech tungsten jigs 1/2oz-3/4oz with a craw, natural/darker colors. Not saying I'm a Saguaro master but getting deeper and fishing bumping bottom changed everything for me. I still get skunked at Sag often but I'm on fish there more than half the time so way damn better than 20 skunkere in a row! The quest continues

[@GOALFishing]

That is some really good stuff @James G thanks for sharing!

[@jamesg1425]

@@GOALFishing I highly recommend at least purchasing the book Spoonplugging. Buck was a fishing genius, I have realized that all the modern information about bass fishing was derived and probably originally concieved by Buck. Keep in mind this originates back to the 40's. . Buck explains deep water is the home of the fish. Bass make movements towards the shallows to feed. They don't do so in any haphazard way though, they use defining features of the bottom (structure) as a route to follow into the shallows. Buck said 90% of the fish are in 10% of the water, so most of that water isn't holding bass. Our job is to find the structure the bass use. Buck outlines what is good structure and what is not. He also details what dictates the movements of the fish, ie Weather and water conditions. These have a huge impact on how many movements the fish will make in a day if any, and for how long and at what depths. It is all incredible information, Buck is a legend. I have a framed picture of him haha. Spoonplugging is a dying art, 100% recommend learning more. Here's an old video from Buck himself uploaded by a Spoonplugging die hard here on KZbin kzbin.info/www/bejne/bZDKnIKnbpicf9E Buck could pinpoint fish in any lake he had never been too. He initially relied on trolling his spoonplug with his boat to map the bottom features (structure). Keep in mind there were no graphs or fish finders.Buck designed his own depth meter to help him guide his trolling. He would physically feel the bottom makeup with his lure and watch his depth meter then draw a map of a structure. Then he would use markers to visualize the structure then pinpoint the exact location of the fish. Then he would switch to the cast to decimate schools of huge bass. The reason people didn't give him credit was the trolling, it isn't allowed in tournaments. But this was only a tool to map the structure. Nowadays people use graphs, but Buck did it by feel with the aid of his homemade depth sounder which blows my mind. People get hung up on the trolling aspect, but that was largely a mapping procedure. Now people spend $10k on 3D imaging fish finders but they look down on trolling. It wasn't just running a lure randomly in the lake. It was ran along breaks and breaklines to gather information on structure. Spoonugging is still 100% applicable even without trolling. It reveals the true behavior of the fish. It tells you everything about how they operate and what controls their movements. It isn't pieces of a fishing puzzle it is the entire puzzle put together. Big puzzle though takes time to study.

[@davidtompkins385]

Great advice, I'm getting into bass fishing and Sag is the closest lake for me to fish. I have been fishing in the ocean for calico bass my whole life (my Favorite) I have never heard of Buck Perry's Experience and can't wait to learn all I can.

[@ivanfishingandmore]

That's great, thank you for teaching us those tricks to fish. Very good video, fisherman friend.

[@zacharytrapp2500]

Love it! Saguaro can be a very difficult lake to fish unless you have a boat and can get into the areas! Great content keep up the hard work!

[@edgarmoreno8229]

Awesome video! Thanks for the pointer on that minnow, gotta go get me a pack

[@joaquinais]

I thought I had my act together with the bass and holy hell did I get bass skunked! Just like you, I had a panfish setup and caught some chunky bluegills on some tree trunks sticking out. Definitely wanna go back... you've got me pumped to try it again! 🤙🎣

[@GOALFishing]

@Joaquin Estolano the bass are going into there winter patterns so they’re going to be extra tough to catch. Glad you were able to have some fun with some chunky bluegills👍

[@robp8108]

Hey have you ever caught Croppie from the bank in the summertime at either saguaro, Bartlett, or the salt river? If so a video on that would be amazing!

[@fadedchannel]

I think one of the main reasons why Saguaro is so tough to fish is because of all the Jet skis and pleasure boaters. Good job!

[@calebgibson6635]

Have ya ever fished by alma school and the 202? Good spot for big bass and krappie and goes way back there, kinda in the tempe area would love to see a video

[@GOALFishing]

@caleb gibson, I have done a little right next to tempe town lake under the underpass, I think that the spot right across from Bass Pro Shops is Reservation land, so unless you have a connection with the quarry I don't think you're supposed to fish there. I may be wrong though.

[@hieselinvestments]

I fish here with the boat about once a week and I remember it was probably 6 months to a year of fishing it before I started landing any bass. I used to fish the salt river and several other places multiple times throughout the week, (I have even spotted you out a couple times) but once I figured out how to get some decent bass in the boat at Saguaro, I don't like to go anywhere else.

[@GOALFishing]

@Jamie Hiesel I’m hoping to get to that point too!

[@hieselinvestments]

@@GOALFishing It also helps that I live on Ellsworth so its not too far from my house. Next time I spot you out I will make sure to say hey!!

[@GOALFishing]

@@hieselinvestments do it! I love talking with people who watch the videos.

[@alanaho4915]

What is the limit for Yellow bass and Crappie?

[@GOALFishing]

@Alan Aho no limit at Saguaro for either

[@christophermartin9404]

Hey brother, did you install a trolling motor on that kayak or did you buy it like that?

[@GOALFishing]

@Christopher Martin I installed it myself. Here’s the latest video breakdown of my setup if you want to check it out. kzbin.info/www/bejne/bqTPfamhg7qGjZo

[@christophermartin9404]

@@GOALFishingawesome, thank you bro!

[@robertparra1398]

What's up Jake I see you have a different set up is it better than lews? And I haven't fish saguaro since I was 15 years old it looks like a nice lake ,maybe take my boys to do some blue gill fishing ,I always take a blue gill set up when I'm getting skunked nice to see you stuck with your goal.

[@GOALFishing]

@robert parra it was actually an older setup. It was my Abu Garcia Pro Max combo. It has 15 lb braid on it so I use that one for my drop shot setup. My Lews bait caster has 30lb braid on it for other techniques.

[@robertparra1398]

@@GOALFishing nice , would you going out to lake pleasant be to far for you ?

[@GOALFishing]

@@robertparra1398 I will make my way out there sometime . It is a little farther for me so that’s why I haven’t made it out there yet. Is that one of your favorite places?

[@robertparra1398]

Yes only cause it's like 25 minutes from my house but I've been getting skunked

[@tyler6368]

wish theyd open butcher jones so i could launch my kayak easier. it wasnt open yet was it?

[@GOALFishing]

@Tyler Ellis last I checked it was still closed. I launched at the 2nd boat ramp and it’s a long run for a kayak even with a motor to get across the lake.

[@keithbaxley4662]

Gentlemen, Butch Jones is open!!

[@GOALFishing]

@@keithbaxley4662 thanks man!

[@keithbaxley4662]

@@GOALFishing Yup. Reopened last Friday. Much less paddling and the battery might last to getcha back! Lol

[@johnblachaniec8856]

Fishing 11 hours without a beer!! Insane! 🍻🍻

[@psstplease]

He doesn’t drink in any of his videos. I think he may be LDS. But I agree I’m never out fishing without a sixer handy.

[@johnblachaniec8856]

@@psstplease Actually my back couldnt handle being in a kayak for that long plus a kayak isn't big enough to hold enough beer for me if I am fishing 11 hours! 🍻🍻🍻🍻

[@psstplease]

@@johnblachaniec8856 amen brother!

[@ninjawatcha1269]

What do you think about 12.5 bris inflatable boats?

[@GOALFishing]

@Adrian alvarez I have never used one personally so I don't have much of an opinion. I can see them being useful since they are inflatable it makes them more portable. There are a lot of options out on the market and you just need to find one that will meet your personal needs.