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Bass fishing tips

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1
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Fall Fishing is here

Fall is here, it is getting cold, and its a good time to fish. The ice is already starting to build on the ponds and shorelines. A lot of people already have brought there boats out of the water. But if you have a small boat I recommend trolling along the shoreline for muskies, jigging for walleyes, top lures through the weeds for Northern/Bass. The walleyes are in the cold shallow waters. Fall is my favorite time to fish, and usually one of the only times I fish off shore. Since the walleyes are in shallower waters, you can just cast off shore for the lunkers.......

Topics: Walleye, Muskies, Pike, Fall weather
2
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Fall Bass

It's that time of year when the nights and days are getting cooler. You have to think that when we can feel it, the fish can feel it. It almost puts our bodies and thoughts in a different mindset gearing up for winter. So why shouldn't it be the same for our favorite fish?

The bass are gonna be piling up soon following the little guys around the banks and in streams and the mouths of rivers and I'm gonna meet them there and hopefully have a few look my way.

Topics: Fall, Fishing
9
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Slow retrieve of lipless crankbaits

When throwing lipless crankbaits such a rattle trap, try slowing your retrieve just slow enough to 'tick' the vegetation. When the bait gets hung up, 'rip' your rod tip up and away and be ready for a strike. This method has probably caught more fish and won more money in Florida than anything else.

Topics: crankbait, bass
9
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Crankbait action against structure

When fishing lipped crankbaits, try and 'bang' your bait into every piece of structure possible. Bumping your bait into a stump, dock, rock, mud bank, irrigation pipe, or anything else you can find will change the action of your bait and often trigger strikes from otherwise lethargic fish. Putting keeper fish in the boat is well worth the risk of hanging up.

Topics: crankbait, structure, bass
9
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Spinnerbait and braided line

SpinnerBait, Braid. Try throwing your spinnerbait on braid the next time you go out. The sensitivity is AMAZING and the thin braid cuts through vegetation that would stop mono dead in its tracks.

Topics: spinnerbait, braided line, bass
10
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Parallel Casting

When fishing from the bank try casting parallel to shore rather than straight out. Often times the fish are hiding/feeding in the near shore vegetation that is often cast right over.

Topics: casting, bass, shore, vegetation, structure
6
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Culling made easy

There are dozens of scales, clips, tags and systems to use to cull fish. Some people prefer to weigh every fish, tag them, write it down and put them in the livewell. If it works for you, keep doing it. I have an easier system to use to cull fish with. I use a culling beam (you can even make one of you don't want to buy one) and one tag. The tag is made of rope with a lip clip, without a weight, because I think that having a big float attached to a piece of rope that's clipped though a fish's lip can causes more stress. Anyway, here's the system:

When I'm fishing, the first fish goes in the livewell. When I catch the second fish, I either eyeball it, or use the culling beam, and the tag goes on the smallest fish. This becomes the "cull" fish. Every fish I catch after that, I weigh against the "cull" fish on the culling beam, and the smallest fish gets thrown out while the new "cull" fish gets the tag. This system makes it simple to make sure you're always upgrading, and not sorting through fish after fish after fish. Do I end up handling the cull fish more? Probably. But not enough to severely stress the bass.

If you fish in tournament where you keep track of your lunker as well, here's what you can do. At the end of the day, when you get to the weigh-in, you can use your culling beam to identify your biggest fish, and tag that one as well.

Give the system a try. You may find it saves you time, and works for you.

Topics: Culling, culling tag, lunker
7
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Crankbait Hooks

The hooks that come on new crankbaits, topwaters, jerkbaits, minnows, and lipless crankbaits are good, but bass have a tendency to jump and throw the lure. Switch out the original hooks with Mustad KVD Elite 2x short treble hooks - the short shank, unique bend and strong wire almost guarantee no lost fish. I've hooked over two-dozen bass in three tournaments this year, most have jumped, and none have come off! Plus, with the shorter shank, you can usually upsize by one size (if the original hook is a size 4, you can usually get away with putting a size 2 Mustad on).

Topics: Hooks, crankbaits, treble hooks
24
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Time to inventory

OK, so maybe it's because I'm a little Type A. OK, a lot. Anyway, I keep a running inventory (yes, typed and put into nice report covers - red and black to match the boat, of course) of all of my equipment - I inventory my boat equipment, my fishing equipment, rods, and even a special inventory for "travel only". I do this for a few reasons: 1. so I have some handle on what I've got, to see if things are getting a little out of hand, 2. to see if I have any unmet needs or holes in my arsenal, and 3. it makes it a heck of a lot easier to replenish what I've used or lost after a season of fishing. This is a great time of year to do it - Winter is arriving, and as you're transitioning to storage mode, get out that pen and paper and write down what you've got. Once it's typed and saved as a file, it's easy to update/change, and when you do get the green light to go to Bass Pro Shops (hint, hint), you can print it off and highlight what you need (I go through a lot of highlighters). Check out the forums, as I'll post what my inventory sheets look like - they're very simple and easy to change to fit what you need.

Topics: Inventory, reorder, Bass Pro Shops
14
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Change things up every now and then - go old school

OK, I'll admit it - I have a Tracker boat (the best Father's Day gift ever, thanks hunny! Wait, I have to pay for it for 7 years? WTF?), a few rod and reel combos that are technique-specific, and 4 trays of lures, and yeah, I like to go here, there and everywhere in search of bass, but sometimes going old school is a great time.

Grab a bottle of water, a bag of beef jerky, a rod, a tray of nightcrawlers and a rag and go hang out on the shore to pass the time. You may be surprised as to what bites, and if nothing else, the relaxation will probably be good for you!

Topics: Nightcrawler, old school, fishing
8
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Alternative way to rig a tube - with a leadhead and rattle

Just a quick tip for another way to rig a tube with a rattle - Bass Pro Shops sells this little roundish rattle for tubes (XPS Tube Rattle), and I use the Bass Pro Shops tender tube head in 1/8 oz. or 1/4 oz., depending on the depth and conditions. First, push the tube rattle up in the tube, then insert the tube head, and push the eyelet through the tube where it stops. The rattle sometimes adds just enough extra to the tube to get more strikes, and by having the jig head back a little from the end of the tube, it helicopters down in a more random manner, which also gets more strikes. You can also rig it this way without the rattle, just leave 1/4"-1/2" of space between the jig head and the end of the tube.

Topics: Tubes, Rattles
17
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Using marker bouys on points

Bass, and probably other gamefish, congregate along points, and especially cover and secondary structure along the points. The system is simple, takes a couple of minutes to set up, and you can spend a few hours fishing one point a nd catching serious amounts of bass.

First, determine the points. In early spring and late fall, find steep sloping points, while long, slow-sloping points are generally better from late-spring to early fall. A good topo or bathymetric map, or GPS map will show these. Once you've chosen the point, begin to go over it with your depth finder. Look for tell-tale fish arches, or baitfish schools, to determine where you should start. Whatever your target depth, toss a marker bouy a few feet shallower on the main point. Work along the point until you come to the first big drop off into deep water, then toss a marker bouy a few feet deeper on the main point. These two markers should be the same color. While you're scouting the point, when you see a key piece of cover, something different in the bottom structure, or something interesting, throw a different colored marker bouy near it.

Begin by lining up along the point, starting shallow, and fan casting the entire point. Work deeper, then shallower. Use repeated casts from different angles at all key pieces of cover and secondary structure. Crankbaits are good to use for scouting lures, and once you find the bass, pick the area apart with a variety of presentations.

It could literally take you 4 hours to fish a decent point, and I've pulled as many as two dozen keepers off one point from all different depths. Remember to use the proper color, based on conditions, forage and activity level, and the proper depth for your crankbaits. If the point drops from, say, 7 feet down to 13 feet, cast the shallow end with a crankbait that dives to 9 or 10 feet, and then work the deeper end with a crankbait that'll dive to 15 feet. Stay with it, and you'll find the bass.

Topics: Points, marker, bouy
10
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Culling Systems

Just a quick note - If you fish in tournaments or for whatever reason need to cull out fish, I've found that the Bass Pro Shops digital fish scale and culling system is the easiest to use. It comes with a digital scale and color-coded fish markers, as well as a waterproof log and wax pencil to keep track of your catches.

Using the scale is simple, then just clip on one of the lip clips and write down the weight of the fish. Then, when you catch and weigh another fish, you know exactly which color to grab to cull out and replace in the log. From start to finish weighing, logging and tagging a fish takes about 10-15 seconds, so you can still make the most of your time on the water.

Topics: Cull, tag, weigh
10
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Scents - or lack thereof

Ask 10 anglers how they feel about scents (spray, liquid and grease), and you'll get 10 different answers. I have a few, and I use them from time-to-time, and to be honest I haven't notice a difference if I use them or not. I think the more important thing is to MASK scents that could cause problems.

Human odor, cigarettes, oils, virtually anything not natural has been shown to be a repellant to fish, especially bass and trout. Make sure to keep your hands clean and free of offensive scents, and I think you'll benefit more than spending $100 on different scents.

I use unscented wipes, Berkley's Odor Shark, and after catching a bass I just rinse off my hands in the lake water. Instead of grabbing the lure to remove hooks, I use pliers to take out the hooks, in order to try keeping my hands off the lures.

Topics: Scents, smells, odor
8
Vote

Keep those rod reels covered

Sounds simple, and maybe I'm just making a big deal over nothing, but rods & reels are expensive - and can be a lasting investment if you take care of them. Reel oil, grease and cleaning aside, I keep my rods covered by Bass Pro Shops rod socks while in the boat and for winter storage, and I use Bass Pro Shops reel covers during the wintertime. For $7.98 I can keep each rod & reel protected and in good condition all year long.

Topics: Rod, reel, cover, protection
15
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Go Silent

OK, so if you haven't figured out by my catches, I'm a big crankbait guy. I love to fish crankbaits and cover a lot of water - runnin' and gunnin' can be very fun, or very frustrating, depending on how you look at it. Anyway, there are times, through trial and error, that a silent approach is better than a standard "rattle-y" approach. If you're throwing crankbaits in every direction and at all the cover you can see, and you're still not getting bit, switch to a non-rattling or silent crankbait. Sometimes just the little difference in noise makes all the difference.

If you're wondering, I fish with Strike King Pro Model Series 1-6, and the Silent Stalker versions of the same sizes, primarily in Sexy Shad and Gizzard Shad.

Good luck, and go catch some fish!

Topics: Silent, Crankbait, Bass, Strike King
14
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Fishing journal

I like to keep a notebook filled with information that I can reference from time to time, maybe to be successful in similar conditions or to find a pattern.

I keep notes of what lake, date, time, weather conditions, bass & catch locations, lures used, structure, cover, water temperature, depth and clarity, and any other information I think would be important.

Topics: Log, Journal, Notebook
10
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Keeping your rods reels simple

So, we've all seen the Bassmasters on ESPN, and everyone seems to have 50 rods & reels ready to go. I don't know about you, but I can't afford that. I have 6 rods & reels, 4 baitcast & 2 spinning. I know that wisdom says for crankbaits you should have a 6' medium action rod with a winch for a reel and flourocarbon line to get it down to depth, and for worms you should spool mono on a 7' medium-heavy rod and baitcast reel, yada, yada, yada.

All of my baitcast outfits are 7' medium-heavy rods with 6.3:1 reels spooled wiith 12 lb. mono. All of my spinning outfits are 6'6" medium rods with mid-sized reels and 8 lb. mono. I find that having all of my rods & reels be the same allows me to get a better feeling for each rod & reel, and gives me a lot of flexibility for different fishing styles. Also, it saves a lot of money when you don't have a different rod & reel for each type of bait.

Point is, do what you can afford to do. If you can afford to have 20 rods & reels, then let that work for you. If your budget allows you to have a couple set-ups, then make the most of it. Pick out some good quality equipment and get good at using it!

Topics: Rods, Reels, Combos
11
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New Hampshire Bass Fishing Reference Guide

Just a quick props - I have, study and reference Clark's Guide for bass fishing in New Hampshire. Lots of good info about lakes, plants, where to find the bass, etc. I've even taken it a step further and photocopied all of the info I need for each lake I go to and put the copies into a folder I keep on my boat.

Topics: Reference, Bass, New Hampshire, Clarks
11
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First rigs of the spring season

Up here in the northeast, fishing doesn't usually start until at least the third week of March, usually the first or second week of April (we have hard water). Anyway, once the ice goes away, that leaves the lake temps around 35-40 degree range. Here's what I keep tied on my rods for the first few trips of the spring (then I'll change up depending on what pattern I find):

1. Strike King Series 6 in Gizzard Shad
2. Strike King Pro Series Spinnerbait 3/8 oz. in Sexy Shad
3. Strike King Red Eye Shad 1/2 oz. in Chrome/Black Back
4. Strike King Wild Shiner Suspending Jerkbait in Sexy Shad
5. Strike King Wild Shiner Suspending Jerkbait in Chrome
6. Berkley Gripper Jig 3/8 oz. in Green Craw

I make color adjsutments based on water clarity, but for the most part, you want a more natural color base in clear water and go a little darker or brighter in stained or muddy water.

Topics: Spring, Bass, Crankbait, Jerkbait