Fishing Knots Illustrated

5 Professional Bass Fishing Tips That You Probably Didn’t Know About

Do you want to catch monster Largemouth Bass?  I’m almost positive that the answer to this question is a resounding yes!

I don’t know about you, but I love being the guy who is ripping bass out of the water at a breakneck pace while others watch in awe.  Unfortunately for me, that didn’t happen very often until I started reading up on how to catch these elusive sport fish.

Aftr putting in a few hours of “research”, I was ready to put my newfound knowledge to the test.  At first, I didn’t have much luck, but through trial and error I began to understand what worked and what didn’t.

Here are 5 tips and techniques that helped me catch my limit just about every time out:

1. Be alert and keep an eye on the water.

Fishing in an area where there are no bass obviously won’t produce a good result.  Unless you have a fancy fish finder (which I think is cheating), how will you know where they are?

You’ll know by being alert and keeping an eye on the water around the area where you are casting from.  Bass often give away their presence, and there is a foolproof way to tell.  When they are on the hunt, you’ll see large schools of small baitfish trying to get away.  They’ll be swimming very fast, and close to the surface.  Cast against the direction the baitfish are swimming, and burn your lure back towards them.

2.  Don’t jerk your pole when setting the hook.

I’m amazed at the way I see some bass fishermen set their hooks when they think they have a fish on.  You’d think they hooked a whale.  They jerk their pole back so hard their lure flies out of the water and everyone on shore has to take cover!

All it takes is a firm pull.  The lower lip of a bass is made of very thin, almost translucent skin that tears almost as easy as paper.  If you pull too hard, you can actually tear through that and separate the lower lip, dislodging your hook in the process.  Keep this in mind when you set your hook, and you won’t lose the fish this way.

3. Use an erratic retrieve with a lot of motion.

This is something that took practice to master.  Often a bass fisherman will cast out a lure and reel it in with a consistent, methodic motion.  That’s all well and good, except that’s not how an actual baitfish behaves in the water.

You need to vary your retrieve, starting and stopping as you reel in your lure.  After every few turns of the reel, twitch your pole slightly as you slow your retrieve.  This will cause your lure to move about erratically in the water, mimicking a distressed baitfish, and an easy meal.

4. Check your line and knot strength frequently.

Let me tell you a short story to illustrate this point.  A few weeks back I was out fishing for catfish as bass were spawning.  I caught a couple of small ones and released them back.  I usually always check my line after 1 or 2 catches, but I was feeling a bit lazy, and the fish were small anyway.

About 30 minutes later, I got a good tug and set the hook.  This one was giving me a fight.  I had a decent catfish on!  I fought it to the shore and knelt down to grab my line and hoist the fish over the wall to shore.  Just as I got the fish over dry land, my line snapped just above the swivel, and away went my nice catch!  Need I say more about this?

5. Always look in the mouth of the bass before releasing it.

This might sound funny, but it can give you valuable information.  Bass usually snap up their food and swallow it whole. when you hook one, it will often gag up it’s last meal.  This may sound disgusting, I know, but you need to see what it was. 

Why?  So you can see what the bass in that area are feeding on, and set up a lure to duplicate it.  Knowing what the bass are feeding on is an enormous advantage.  If you can duplicate what it is they are currently chomping up, you’ll pull them in left and right!

Bonus Tip:

Here’s a bonus tip:

Use black and grey buzzbaits and crankbaits over light colored ones.

This is something that has been wildly effective for me.  I was always a big fan of bright yellow and orange fluorescent lures.  My logic was that the they will get the attention of the bass.  Boy, was I wrong.

As it turns out, bass will go after what looks like it belongs in their environment, and fluorescent yellow fish and plastic worms generally don’t.  Especially when it comes to plastic worms, stick to earthy colors.  Bass hunt by detecting movement more than sight.  Although it’s true that shiny things do attract them, they’re more attracted to vibration.  If you want to add a little “bling” to your rig, use a gold or silver swivel on a brown or black lure for a deadly combination.

About the Author

One of the tools that helped me the most was Largemouth Bass Extreme. This report contains unique tips from successful bass fishermen, and it’s helped me more than double the amount of bass I’ve caught this year over last. If you want to catch more Largemouth Bass, learn more about Largemouth Bass Extreme.

Richard Wagamese 3 Performance Storytelling

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