Bass Fishing for Begginers Tips How to Equipment Technique
Bass fishing is a popular recreational activity. How to fish bass what equipment is necessary, and the technique to find this amazing fish will be revealed below. Bass fishing involves catching various species of bass, such as largemouth bass, smallmouth bass and spotted bass. Anglers of all skill levels can enjoy fishing in a variety of environments, including lakes, rivers, reservoirs, and ponds. Bass fishing is not just a hobby but also a way of life for some outdoor enthusiasts. It can be a great escape from a hectic life for others. No matter what the reason is, every bass fisherman wants to catch more and bigger bass.
If you search Bass Fishing how to catch on maybe how to find on Top Fishing Tackle found the answer. To me, the key to successful bass fishing is learning. Over the last four decades of chasing bass, I have realized that the largemouth bass species are pretty much the same wherever you go. Therefore, learning all about their habitat, diet, spawn cycles, growth cycles, and more can make you a better angler. This knowledge will help you be in the right places at the right times.
Bass are impulsive and moody creatures that need to eat, spawn, and grow. Understanding when, where, and how they do these things can help you catch more fish consistently. In this way, you can potentially catch your biggest bass ever. So, let’s quickly go through some things that will immediately help you become a better bass fisherman.
When is the Best Time to Fish Bass
Fishing is a popular activity for many people. However, due to various constraints, they may not always have the luxury of choosing when to fish. To increase the chances of catching fish, it’s important to know the windows when they are more active. Let’s take a brief look at some of these windows, and you can find more detailed information on the best times to fish.
Low light conditions are favorable for catching bass. As a result, sunrise and sunset are great times to target bass, especially if you only have a couple of hours to spare. Bass have a unique feeding advantage when they are more concealed, and they can see better with dimmed sunlight. Therefore, they are most active in these conditions. That’s why you will see a lot of bass feeding in schools and busting baitfish in the morning and just before dark.
Similarly, warmer months are ideal for night fishing for bass. Additionally, spring and early summer are great seasons for bass fishing, as they are more active during these times. Many records are broken in the early pre-spawn period when bass are feeding up before the spawn. As the water warms, they become more aggressive and feed more.
Bass are most comfortable in water that is between 60-75 degrees, so the closer the water temperature is to this range, the more aggressive the fish will be. During this time, using moving baits and big retrieves works well, and you can fish faster as the bass becomes more active.
Best Bass Fishing Techniques
It’s impossible to cover all bass fishing techniques in one article, but we’ll talk about a few, and provide references for more in-depth discussions.
Spinnerbaits are an easy-to-learn lure for catching bass. You simply tie one on and cast it out, then reel it in. If you’re in shallow water, use lighter spinnerbaits and fish faster. In deeper water, heavier spinnerbaits work better, and you can slow roll them to catch less active bass. Around the wood cover, spinnerbaits are pretty snag-less, and give the bass something to hone in on when visibility is poor. In the spring, a Colorado blade spinner bait around shallow wood is a great way to catch big bass. Look for cover, watercolor, and move quickly from piece to piece.
When grass tops out in warmer months, frogs effectively tempt bass out of cover. Get a strong rod, a braided line, and your favorite hollow-bodied frog. Then work it with short chops of your rod tip to make it splash on top of mats and draw the bass up. Wait a second on the bite before swinging too hard.
When fishing down the bank in clear water, use a light Ned Rig or shaky head to put a small plastic worm on a jighead. Make long casts and slowly crawl, hop, and shake your worm to attract bass. Shaky heads and Ned Rigs get lots of bites from all sizes of fish.
On deep clear fisheries where fish are pressured or skeptical, a drop shot can put a lot of fish in the boat. Slowly drag it until you get it up next to a boulder or stump, then work it around the cover. Catch suspended fish by dropping it down to them and trying to hold it still.
If you want to catch a lot of bass, learn to Texas rig plastic worms and fish them in everything. Cast the worm out, then pick it up and let it fall. Take up your slack, then pick it up again and let it fall. In winter, jigs and craw trailers become more effective.
One of the most critical aspects of bass fishing is switching lures and tying good knots. Cut your lure off and try the next one, but always tie a good knot. If you’ve caught a few fish or fished it through rough cover, check your line and re-tie another good knot. To learn all the good knots, read our best fishing knots guide.
Where to Fish For Bass Near You
When it comes to bass fishing, there are plenty of opportunities nearby as largemouth bass are one of the most prevalent species in the country. Whether it’s in ponds, streams, rivers, natural lakes, or man-made reservoirs, all of these offer great spots to catch bass. For the best fishing experience, look for bodies of water with lots of color, forage, and good water clarity.
To increase your chances of catching bass, seek out cover. Bass tend to relate to depth changes and cover, which they use to conceal themselves and as feeding grounds. Cover often attracts forage like minnows, shad, crawfish, and other small fish. So, a lot of bass fishing revolves around cover like stumps, standing timber, laydowns, grass beds, lily pads, docks, rocks, structures like wing dams, rip rap walls, seawalls, and more.
Fishing in current positions can also help you predict where bass will hide. On big river systems like the TVA, bass will relate to ends of ledges that face into the current in the post-spawn and can gang up in big schools. In smaller current situations, anything that blocks or redirects the current can create eddies for bass to lie in wait for ambushing prey that washes by. So fishing in the current makes bass very predictable.
To catch more bass, put your bait in hard-to-reach places. You can often find success in areas where you think the majority of anglers will miss or are afraid of getting hung up. Try skipping lures under trees and docks, or pitch things into the heart of gnarly-looking cover. Oftentimes, some of the biggest fish come from this extra effort.
Even bank fishing can yield good bass fishing. But you need to follow the general guidelines of fishing shallow in spring and fall and deep in summer and winter. If you can’t reach deep water in the winter or summer, you are unlikely to catch a lot of bass bank fishing. And vice versa, if you want to catch bass shallow from the bank, you need to be there when they are.
If you’re bank fishing, look for pinch points, especially in areas where the fish are headed or leaving. These are narrow areas that lead into and out of spawning areas. Once you figure out where bass wants to spawn, which is usually in isolated protected shallow pockets and flats, you can work back and find those funnel areas that are easier to fish. Look for areas like bridges leading back into spawning bays, canals, channels leading back into bays, and channel swings that run close to spawning flats.
Bass Fishing Lures
Really a handful of lures will cover 99% of the things you will encounter in most bass fishing locales. So knowing a little about the best bass lures will take you a long way. Here is a quick rundown of the best baits and our lure guide will give you more in-depth info on each lure.
Swimbaits. Swimbaits have become incredibly versatile lures for bass fishing over the last 10 years. They come in many different sizes, shapes, and applications, making them incredibly effective. For example, the Keitech Swing Impact FAT swimbait on small ball heads is perfect for catching suspended fish deep in the water. Meanwhile, oversized swimbaits are great for attracting trophy bass in different regions of the country. Anglers can now easily find swimbaits that perfectly match the conditions of any lake in terms of size, color, and style. All you need to do is cast them out and reel them in slowly to get the most bites.
Jigs. Anglers can effectively catch bass with a jig and craw trailer, a versatile tool that works in all seasons and on almost any type of fishery. They can be used in water depths ranging from 0 to 100 feet, can navigate through cover with ease, and have proven to be effective for catching fish in a variety of ways. Anglers can choose to swim jigs through shallow cover, stroke jigs on ledges offshore, drag football jigs on structure, or pitch flipping jigs into shallow cover. Regardless of the technique used, the jig and craw trailer is a powerful weapon in the hands of any angler.
Topwaters. Fishing for bass can be a lot of fun, especially when using topwater lures. They are visual and work well when other presentations fail, as they trigger both feeding and aggravation impulses in the bass. I have caught 25-pound limits using Whopper Ploppers, landed giant bass on frogs in clear water lakes, had big catches with walking topwater, caught many large basses in the spring using poppers, and have had great success with buzz baits. Knowledge of the different types of topwater lures can help you catch more fish than others.
Crankbaits. Crankbaits come in a variety of sizes and depths. There are shallow runners and wakers, mid-depth and lipless crankbaits, flat-side crankbaits, and deep-diving crankbaits that are effective in reaching fish deep in the prespawn and post-spawn periods. Square bill crankbaits are ideal around wood cover and rocks. A mid-depth crankbait is good in colder and clearer water, while a deep diver is great when bass form schools offshore.
Jerkbaits. Jerkbaits are a popular type of fishing lure known for their erratic, darting action when retrieved. They imitate injured baitfish, making them effective for enticing predatory fish like bass, pike, and muskellunge
Texas Rigged Plastics. It’s important to learn how to Texas rig your plastic baits. This technique helps prevent snagging and allows you to cast your bait anywhere, making it more versatile. Some of the essential plastic baits to try with this technique include ribbon tail worms, craws, brush hogs, beavers, and others. So, it’s worth learning how to do it to improve your fishing experience.
Spinnerbaits. Spinnerbaits are versatile lures that can be used in shallow and deep water, as well as in open water or areas with cover. They are also very easy to use. If you can learn which spinnerbaits work best and which blades to use in different situations, you can catch a lot of bass throughout the year. event situations, you can catch a lot of bass throughout the year.
Chatterbaits. The Chatterbait was introduced in the 2000s and is a jig with a skirt and a blade that causes it to vibrate when reeled straight. It is known to be a reliable fish catcher in muddy and clear water nationwide. If you are new to bass fishing, starting with a Chatterbait is just as good as starting with a plastic worm.
Bass Fishing Gear
Fishing equipment is an essential part of any angler’s toolkit. A high-quality fishing rod, reel, and line can make a huge difference in your success while bass fishing. Though it’s possible to catch bass using any rod, a good rod can make casting and fishing with certain lures much easier and more effective. Moreover, a good rod can last for a decade or more, making it a worthwhile long-term investment. Better materials in the rod can improve sensitivity, while a carefully designed taper and action can make all the difference between effortless fishing and a difficult chore. We’ve reviewed a range of quality fishing rods to help you find the perfect one for your needs.
Similarly, a good fishing reel will help you cast farther, making the fight with a fish more manageable by providing a good drag system. Understanding your gear ratios and learning how to cast a bait caster can open up new opportunities for your fishing. Choosing the best spinning reel that fits your budget will also provide you with many years of fishing with minimal maintenance.
Finally, choosing the right fishing line can solve many problems, such as knots, bird nests, and breaking off during hooksets. Different types of lines work better for different applications, such as using braided lines with frogs in heavy vegetation or using finesse fluorocarbon on a drop shot to be stealthy in clear waters when targeting big smallmouths up north.
Bass Fishing Boats
Having a boat is highly advantageous in terms of reaching more water and opportunities. An adage suggests that 90% of the fish can be found in just 10% of the water at any given time. This means that if you want to catch bass consistently, you need to be mobile. Bass move throughout the year, and sometimes a boat is necessary to get to them.
Over the years, bass boats have evolved. Jon boats, aluminum bass boats, fiberglass bass boats, and fishing kayaks are some of the options available to cater to different budgets of bass anglers.
Jon boats are simple and cost-effective. They come in different sizes and options from various makers, making it possible to find one that fits where and how you fish. Jon boats are suitable for use in smaller bodies of calm water, and even small rivers where the boat is often beached for loading and unloading in random places.
Fiberglass and aluminum bass boats are major purchases that provide maximum safety, stability, and convenience. They are equipped with powerful motors and platforms that can withstand the constant jarring and beating of waves and wind. This makes it easier to move across the water at greater speeds. They are also fitted with the latest electronic equipment to help in the search for bass on large bodies of water.
Kayak fishing has become increasingly popular in recent years, thanks to the number of great kayak makers building fishing kayaks for every budget. Today’s kayaks are stable, offer ample storage opportunities, and can get you into waters that other boats can’t. They have also opened up a new world of fishing opportunities for kayak anglers. Canoes can also provide a leisurely paddle around good fishing holes or ride the rapids to the next good fishing location. These options offer more opportunities to catch more bass for a relatively small investment.
