12 Bass Fishing Tips

Do you want to  catch more bass? Do you know that bass is one of the popular fishes in the waters? In this article we discuss bass fishing tips that you can implement on your fishing trips to catch more bass like the pros.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bass Fishing Tips

1. Find Where Bass Resides

Bass likes to reside in cover. This is the area with old and broken down structures like boat docks, wooden structures, big rocks, fallen trees, lili pads, thick vegetation, tree stumps, access points, creek channels, drop offs, holes, drain pipes, etc. Bass uses them to protect themselves as well as to ambush their prey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Use Google Earth

Take advantage of technology that is available today. Use Google Earth to find bodies of water with a healthy concentration of fish. Chances are bass will be in the water. Look for creeks, ledges, old structures on the satellite image as possible cover for bass. After identifying these structures on Google Earth, you can find them on your GPS. This research can help you be more productive when you go bass fishing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

3.  Match Their Prey

When you go bass fishing watch and see what is in the lake that is a prey for bass. Bass eat almost anything as their diet is broad. Are there frogs in the lake? Do you see shads and bluegills? Talk with other anglers and find out what the bass are preying on in that body of water. With that information, you can match that and serve it as your bait. This little bit of investigative work can prove very rewarding.

 

 

 

 

 

4.  Watch The Weather

The behavior of bass can be affected by the weather conditions. By observing how bass react under different weather conditions can help you be successful with bass fishing.  When it is a sunny day, bass will seek the comfort of cover or under structures or shaded areas. Armed with this knowledge, you can use a slower bait like a Texas rig soft plastic or you might want to flip and pitch your bait to the cover and hold on tight for the bass to come get it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5. Monitor The Water Temperature

The water temperature can vary depending on the time of the year and location. The feeding patterns and activity level of bass is directly affected by the water temperature. The general consensus is to use slower baits in cooler water temperature and faster and more aggressive lures in warm water. However, knowing the trend in temperature change is more vital than knowing what is the actual temperature.

 

 

 

 

 

 

6. Feeding Time

Bass feed early in the mornings and late evenings when visibility is low and shallower forage is accessible. At this time of the day, bass will be more active and predictable. You can take advantage of their position in shallow areas.

 

 

 

 

 

 

7. Embrace The Wind

Even though it may pose a greater challenge to bass fish during windy days, especially when the wind is blowing over 15 miles per hour, fishing in windy conditions can be very rewarding.  Bass will be more receptive on windy days and the bite will pick up. Use faster moving baits when the wind is blowing as the bass will go for your spinnerbaits and crankbaits.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

8.   Colorful Lures

Bass likes color. Colorful lures have always been a hit with bass. There are different theories for this attraction to color. Red is the best color for bass. One theory is that bass thinks the lure is injured and the red color is blood. This seems to be a trick to get them to bite.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

9.  Wounded Prey

Keep your shredded plastic worms. Bass like to pounce on wounded prey and the beat up and shredded plastic worms look like wounded prey to bass. They will go for it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

10. Make Noise

Make noise on the water by stopping your cast halfway and let the lure hit the water and skip a few times. This will make a lot of noise and will get the attention of bass. This will usually result in a bite.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

11.  Well Rounded Angler

Try to be a well rounded angler. Challenge yourself by fishing at new locations and learning and practicing new techniques. Whatever is the fishing norms, equipment, techniques, etc. that you use regularly, don’t use them. Try other completely new tools, techniques and lakes to improve as an angler.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

12.  Knot Tying

Learn to tie knot and practice it until it becomes second nature. Learning to tie a knot will save you fishing time and help you take home more fish.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Types Of Bass

There are a number of different types of bass. It will be to your advantage to learn to identify them as each one requires a slightly different approach. Bass can be distinguished by few features such as jaw length, size of stripes, number, the number of spines and the geographical region they are located in. There are many more types of bass but these are the ones you will most likely encounter.

 

 

1. Largemouth Bass

The largemouth bass’s upper jaw extends out past the eye and they feature spiny dorsal fins sandwiched by a deep notch.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2. Smallmouth Bass

The smallmouth bass’s upper jaw doesn’t extend past the eye.  They feature spiny dorsal fins and three dark lines on their cheek. They also have nine to ten spines on the dorsal fin.

 

 

 

 

3. Florida Bass

The Florida bass is regarded as a subspecies of the largemouth bass. They upper jaw extends past the eye like the largemouth bass and it has nine spines on the dorsal fin.

 

 

 

 

4. Redeye Bass

The Redeye bass features small dark spots below the lateral line and a second dorsal that seems to be red. The upper jaw doesn’t extend past the eye.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

5.  Guadalupe Bass

The Guadalupe bass features 10 to 12 dark lateral stripes and its upper jaw does not extend past the eye.

 

 

 

 

6. Alabama Bass

The Alabama bass features lateral blotches and spiny, soft dorsal fins that are connected by a shallow notch.

 

 

 

 

7.  Shoal Bass

The Shoal bass features dark blotches that fade as it ages. Its upper jaw does not extend beyond the eye. The Shoal bass looks like the Redeye bass without the reddish color.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best Bass Lures

1. Spinnerbait

 

 

 

2. Crankbait

 

 

 

3. Soft Plastic Worms

 

 

 

4. Swimbait

 

 

 

5. Dropshot

 

 

 

6. Carolina Rig

 

 

 

7. Wacky Rig

 

 

 

8. Topwater Frog

 

 

 

9. Texas Rig

 

 

 

10. Jigs

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Best Live Bait For Bass

There are many different live baits that you can use for bass fishing. Live bait comes with the problem of storage. Some of the live bait are:

1. Minnows

 

2. Crawfish

 

3. Salamanders

 

4. Worms

 

5. Leeches

 

6. Frogs

 

7. Creek Chubs

 

 

 

 

 

The Bottom Line

Bass is one of the common freshwater fishes in the world. It is also a popular fish for anglers. In this article, we discussed bass fishing tips to help you be successful with fishing for bass. It is our hope that after reading this article, you will learn a few things about bass fishing that will help be more successful on your bass fishing trips.