How to Fish for Bass – How to Catch Bass
How to fish for bass and how to catch bass sure do sound like the same thing, but if you have ever tried the first part, you know the second part is different. There is a reason why one person comes in empty handed and the next one comes in with 3 or 4 trophy size, 10 pound or more bass in the live well.
If all bass anglers were created equal there would not be over 1,000 bass fishing tournaments happening every weekend national wide from mid summer to late spring. You will never see 1,000 salmon tournaments or even cat fish tournaments taking place at a time and especially every weekend.
Yes sire, there is certainly a difference between the person that will fish for bass and the one that will catch bass.
There are two problems and they are a couple of big ones. The “how” part of the equation is more than water plus fishing pole equals bass. First you need to know your bass (and location) and second you need to know where the bass are located.
If you are watching ESPN one Saturday morning and you see some Pro angler catch bass after bass along the shoreline it would only make sense to fish the shore. You can fish for bass every day along the shore and come up disappointed for about 7 months, but if your really stick to it, you will hit around 5 months of really good fishing.
The reason why is because the bass only collect in this area from mid to late summer up to early spring, and that is only in certain parts of the country. It is much less in the colder climates.
Throwing the correct bait in the lake is technically a way to fish for bass, but it is the old “does a falling tree make a sound” story. “If you fish for bass where there are no bass, will you catch bass even if you are not looking?”
So there you go, the first component of how to fish for bass is to know your bass.
This brings us to the second component; if they are not along the shore, they must be enjoying some other water condition. Where could this location be on this lake or waterway? For the most part, bass are bass nationwide, it is genetics. They spawn about the same time and they like deeper water about the same time.
The lakes are all different though. Lake Terrell in Washington State is a great place to fish for bass. When the bass want to go deep there is an “X” shaped trench in the lake almost like something from a pirate map. It is confined and the maximum depth is 14 feet when the lake is full.
One of the best places to fish for bass in all of America (in my opinion) is Bartlett Lake in Phoenix, Arizona. In contrast to Lake Terrell, Bartlett Lake is about 3,000 acres (surface area) and has depths that are well over 180 feet. This is not to say you should fish for bass at 180 feet, but the fish do have that option if they want a bit of privacy.
And there you have the second component, know your lake or waterway.
Know your bass and know your location, now you are ready to fish for bass and be effective at the same time.
The “How to catch bass” part of the story is simple because bass will normally hit with such force they almost set the hook themselves. The thing is they will not hit any bait if they don’t see it.
So there you have it, now you know how to fish for bass and how to catch bass that bite your bait. Technically this is a great strategy for any type of fishing.