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So you want to become a bass angler? Largemouth and smallmouth bass are either a native or stocked species of fish. How does a person go about starting to bass fish? You can get overwhelmed with TV shows, videotapes, bass publications, seminars, etc, but these are for the experienced bass angler. For the person new to bass fishing this will help get you started with basic information.
BASS TACKLE
Begin with one spinning rod and one casting rod. My partner Zebediah suggests that a five to six foot medium stiff spinning or casting rod in the mid-priced range is sufficient for a start. Let the tackle dealer where you buy your rod suggest the reel that matches your new fishing pole.
Attach the reel to the rod. Now lay the rod across your opened hand. The rod should lie perfectly still if the rod and reel balance. The weight of the reel should equal the weight of the rod. If the rod and reel together are not balanced then you will cast with the weight either forward or backward. If you make enough casts in a day with an unbalanced outfit, your wrist will let you know the next day, it will be sore.
CASTING
Casting accuracy is putting the lure into a bucket in the back yard or a fish hidey- hole at a distance of about twenty-five feet. With practice you will become proficient at casting. Practice in your own back yard before the season begins. Ironically the most accurate reel is the casting reel, the hardest to master, while the spinning reel is the least accurate.
LINE
When it is time to acquire line, buy the name brand monofilament line. Zebediah uses ten-pound test line for all his bass angling. If Zeb knows he will fish many stick-ups and rocks he may tie on about ten feet of spider wire. This is a very strong, yet, thin enough line for fishing among stick-ups and brush and knicks and abrasions do not affect the line.
LURES
Lures are like the leaves on a tree, infinite in number and a catalog can boggle your mind. When you walk into your favorite tackle store it is amazing the number of different lures, designed to catch bass, that are hanging on the wall. In what body of water are there no sunfish perch and minnows? There are three types of lures in Zeb's tackle box, spinners, deep divers and plastic worms. All of Zeb’s crank baits emulate in color a perch, sunfish, or minnow.
There are four situations where you must present a different type of lure for each set of circumstances. Let me explain:
In the early morning or late evening top water lures that imitate noisy bass baits are the lures to use. In this situation, buzz baits, spinners with a yellow or white skirts or a combination of each color is a sufficient tool. Another tool is the floating lure that you twitch, retrieve, and stop and retrieve at will.
DOCKS
When fishing near, under, and around docks a purple or graple worm with a red firetail, rigged Texas style is an excellent tool. Retrieve your worm ever so slowly, lifting the tip of your rod about three to six inches each time, keeping the line tight. Be a line watcher or hold the line in your free hand so you can feel the tap- tap of a strike. When using spinners prepare to catch a dock. I do, Zeb does, and I don't know a bass angler that hasn't.
WEEDLINES
Fishing weedlines and weeds presents another set of angling circumstances. When fishing from a boat, Zebediah anchors on the outside edge of the weedline and fan casts over the weeds. With a spinner bait he reels just fast enough to tick the top of the weeds. Sometimes he reels to the edge of the weeds and then lets the spinner flutter to the bottom. Then he reels slowly back to the boat.
Another lure to use is a shallow running crank bait. In what body of water are there sunfish and perch? I don't know of any body of water without sunfish, perch or both. Your crank baits should resemble these fish.
Don't move your boat yet. You still have your Texas style purple worm and deep diving crank baits in your tackle box. You have three sections of the weedline you haven't investigated. Try casting you perch or sunfish colored crank bait off the front and rear of your boat retrieving parallel with the weedline. Then fan cast away from the boat into deeper water retrieving at different speeds. Finally use your plastic worm parallel to the weeds retrieving slowly as you did when fishing docks.
BOAT ACCESSORIES
The most important piece of equipment is a life preserver for each person on board. If you do most of your fishing from a boat there are other pieces of equipment you might find effective. One is a fish locator or fish finder. Do not purchase the high tech gear at first, start with the basic battery powered flasher. Another piece of gear you could use is a similar to the one used in the kid's aquarium. An inexpensive thermometer that you drop to the bottom on the end of a nylon line will suffice. As long as you can get a reading from forty to eighty degrees is all that is necessary.
SURVIVAL
Largemouth bass survive both in summer and winter because they are cold-blooded. Whatever the water temperature, their body temperature is the same. Bass can survive in water from thirty-five to eighty degrees but the ideal temperature is sixty- eight to seventy degrees.
Largemouth bass are ambush specialists. You will find bass around docks, trees, logs, stumps, and large rocks surrounded by weeds. This is the home range of largemouth bass so this is the area to enter and do battle with the bass.
One thing that can force you to change your strategy is a bright sunny sky, with clear water, or a cold front. At this time bass go deep. Some will go deep into the weeds near deep pockets so mostly you must fish deep. When the weather pattern is constant the bass fishing is at its best. Weather more than anything else affects bass behavior. By this time you have a good idea how to be a bass angler. Remember you are entering the largemouth's back yard. He survives in this environment and he always knows what occurs in his home range.
The largemouth needs certain things to survive. He needs plenty of food, cover to hide and ambush his prey, and an ideal temperature. Look for these situations. This is where you will find "old bucket mouth." Take your present and added knowledge and practice until you are successful. Stay with this approach, and you will have many good days to write about in your journal.
GRIDDING THE LAKE
One thing Zeb taught me about fishing a lake is to divide the lake into section. Draw a tic-tac-toe box on top of the lake map. Now fish each box separately until you find the hangouts for the bass. Mark the map where you caught the bass. Move onto the next box and so forth. Also you might want to keep a journal describing win, sky, water temperature, lures and bait.
BEST TIME TO BASS FISH
When is the best time to go bass angling? Anytime and as often as you can. Peter Barrett says, "successful bass angling is 40% luck, 75% confidence in what you are doing, and 100% of getting away from mowing the lawn, paying debts, and anything else.”
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