How To Be Successful At Fishing Largemouth Bass

If you are reading this then you are interested in learning some largemouth bass fishing techniques.

There is so much information about bass fishing available on line as well as in your local sporting goods store or tackle shop, that it can become confusing to try to figure out what equipment is needed or what techniques are used in order to consistently catch bass.

Hopefully, this article will provide you with some simple tips and techniques that will answer a few of your questions and make your next bass fishing trip more successful.

Beginners Listen Up!

If you are a beginning bass fisherman, keeping it simple is recommended. You don’t need to spend 100's of dollars on rods, reels, and fishing tackle.

There are many places that you can go to get some reasonably priced rod and reel combos. Most bass fisherman prefer bait casting or spinning rod and reel combinations.

If you are just starting out I would recommend that you get a spinning rod and reel combo as they are generally easier to use and less expensive. For tackle, just start with a few of the basic and easy to use lures.

Pick up a few plastics worms, jigs, spinnerbaits, minnow baits, crank baits, and top water lures. Pick a few different colors and sizes for each. Natural colors generally work best under most conditions.

Start by going to your favorite lake or pond and get used to the action of your fishing rod and lures. Start out by fishing shallow water close to weeds, lily pads, logs, stumps or other cover.

Once you catch a few fish and get used to your rods, reels, and lures then move out to deeper water close to drop offs or breaks. Below is a video that explains some of the different types of rods, reels, and lures that are used to catch bass.

Rods, Reels, and Lures

Where to Fish!

Early morning, early evening, and night time

Generally speaking, bass will move shallow to feed on bait fish, crawdads, tadpoles, frogs, etc. during the early morning, early evening, and night time hours. Faster moving baits like topwater lures, spinnerbaits, or minnow baits work well in lower light conditions.

Concentrate your effort in shallow water around cover such as weeds, logs, and docks. Make long casts with your lure and fish close to or just above the cover.

Mid morning and afternoon

Bass will normally move to deeper water once the sun has moved over the trees and they will normally stay in deeper water until the sun starts to go back down again. They will be hiding or holding very tight to cover or even right down in the cover during these hours.

Focus on deeper water close to drop offs, breaks, or humps that have cover like weeds, stumps, logs, or brush piles close by. Use slower moving lures like jigs, plastic worms, or deep diving crankbaits and get your lure down on or close to the bottom.

Make long casts parallel to the edges of the drop offs and make long casts right into the any cover that is close to these drop offs.

Setting the Hook!

A common problem among many beginning and experienced bass fisherman is knowing when and how to set the hook once a bass has grabbed on to their lure.

Most anglers tend to set the hook too soon. Below is a short video that explains how and when to set the hook.

Best Fishing Knot to Use

There are many fishing knots you can use to tie your lures onto your fishing line, but the best and most simple one to tie is the palomar knot. Below is a video that shows how to tie a palomar knot. This is the only knot that you will ever need to tie in most situations.