Bass Fishing – Basic Tips And Guides

Bass Fishing is one of the most popular hobbies today. It is enjoyed by many people from around the world. Fishermen from all over have found this sport to be a quite relaxing and challenging experience. Bass fish are known to be a fighting fish that can provide a thrilling and exciting experience as one waits to finally catch the big one. Bass are most popular with both tournament and casual anglers.

The name Bass is shared by a number of game fish species. Temperate bass include the white bass, striped bass, and white perch. Warm water or black bass can be found within the sunfish family. They include the spotted bass, pumpkinseed fish, bluegills, smallmouth, largemouth and rock bass.

To successfully catch a bass fish, you need to discover the best locations. You can find many bass in lakes, rivers, ponds and steams. They tend to dwell in areas where bait fish are plentiful.

Bass tend to move with the season and water conditions. Many factors include: water levels, time of year, water temperatures, weather conditions, amount of sunlight and food availability.

Bait And Lures

Some popular baits to use include:

* night crawlers

* minnows

* insects

* insect larvae

Other successful methods include:

* bait-casting or spinning with artificial lures

* trolling with live bait

* fly fishing

A 5 1/2 to 7 foot rod is desirable if you are going to use lures. The line should be between 6 and 10 pound-test. Fly-fishing for bass requires a 7 to 9 foot fly rod that has a fast taper that is fitted with a single action reel. It should carry a floating #7 to #9 line with a 6 to 8 pound leader.

Rivers

Rivers are an excellent place to fish for bass. Water temperatures tend to be more moderate then that found in lakes. Oxygen levels are the same from the river bed all the way to the surface. You can find bass outside of the river current’s direct flow and on the downstream side of fallen logs, trees, weed beds and stumps. You can find largemouth bass lurking within logs and boulders within the direct current flow. Bass fish can feed very easy within these areas because the current carries the food along. You can also find bass fish around river bends and other floating cover.

Natural Lakes

Natural lakes bass fishing can range from successful to mediocre. You can find huge largemouth bass inhabiting many southern areas that contain a number of shallow lakes. You can find them gliding through weedy areas close to the shore. There are a small number of bass around northern natural lakes. These lakes contain landscape formations such as humps, rocky bluffs, holes, islands, and natural reefs that bass like to hang around in. However, there is a smaller supply of fish within these lakes. This is due to the limited plankton and algae that these fish like to feed on.

Streams

Many anglers do not fish for bass in streams which could be a mistake. Smallmouth bass tend to lurk in the cooler waters of streams below fast moving rapids. You can find bass within areas that are undercut by erosion, as well as large rocks and fallen logs. These regions provide good hiding spots. Most bass never stay in direct current flow, so it is best to cast into eddies, reedy and weedy areas as well as tranquil pools where objects break the flow of the current. Other excellent areas include below dams.

Ponds

Ponds do not provide a good location for big bass. Many bass tend to stay near the shore around fallen rocks, logs and in deep pools. Weeds and reeds are a natural habitat for many bass. You might want to try your luck at night should the pond draw a large amount of anglers during the day.