How Do You Know Where To Fish For Bass?
When it comes to bass fishing, having the latest gear won’t assure you that you will capture them if you are not aware of where they are. Finding the fish is often looked at and considered to be the most difficult task of bass fishing.
After all, if you do not have the proper tools and knowledge, it will be an expected failure.
How do you know where to fish for bass? When it comes to finding bass, you need to have the proper research on finding them. Normally they can be found in many stickup blocks of wood, weeds, and even in some rocks underneath.
Learn where to find bass below and note the important things when you decided to pursue bass fishing. It might be harder than it looks compared to other fishing you’ve encountered.
Where To Find Bass
Having the right knowledge on where to fish for bass is what you need as an aspiring angler or just a regular fisherman.
But it can be quite difficult for some, even the professional ones because bass tends to move from one place to another.
Either it can be a lake, a pond, reservoir, or even a stream as the season and water condition starts to change.
It is important to note the time of the year, water temperatures, water level, weather, availability of food, and light can be some factors that contribute to all the migration.
If you are looking for some bass, you might want to start looking for sharp contour changes, and points should be the first place to start fishing. You should check for some rocks and brush piles in this kind of location.
Usually, largemouth bass are highly attuned to cover or places where they can be out of sight, feel secure, and ambush prey.
This kind of cover is most likely to be in such shallow water, but it can be deep as well. On the other hand, smallmouth bass can be related to cover but do not tend to hide.
They usually suspend 2 feet off a stump compared to just sitting tightly against the stump.
Here are some prime locations that you should be checking to find out where to fish for bass:
Wood
Wood is the primary location for most bass because it can provide them an excellent cover.
Typical wood cover includes standing timber and faller trees that are totally and partially submerged.
You can also check for some stumps, brush, logs, logjams that are floating or even sunken, and last but not least, a human-made wood structure, and this includes fence rows and some pilings.
Many wood blocks deteriorate over time, and in a newly inundated reservoir, brush in the water can attract many quantities of baitfish.
As brush starts to decomposes, baitfish often move farther offshore, and bass fishing becomes difficult to do.
Many decaying planks of wood in many water bodies can spell trouble for most bass fishers because the decay process uses a lot of oxygen.
With that being said, if you spot a lot of brush and logs that are decaying right on the bottom.
As a result, the bottom layer of water will most likely be unproductive for bass, and in situations like this, a topwater bait might be more productive. Just keep in mind when fishing docks that isolated docks will tend to hold bass better than a whole group.
Weeds
A lot of bass fishers tend to believe that weeds are the ultimate cover for bass.
This is because many weeds can produce oxygen, which increases the life potential of any body of water. Although, weeds can also be tough to many fish and may require specialized lures and tackle.
Good weed for bass fishing is usually green, and it needs to have a defined structure compared to the ones that are colored brown, slimy, and filamentous.
It would help if you looked for some weeds: hydrilla, lily pads, hyacinths, emergent grasses, subsurface grasses, green mosses, and some reeds.
For lily pads, make sure to watch the movement of it as spooked bass will start to zigzag their way through the pads. Just be patient and wait for like 2 minutes or so as they usually come back.
Rocks
Another thing to look out for is some rocks as they provide enough cover for bass, but this cover’s quality is often not as good as the other two.
This is because rocks are inert objects, and they neither make oxygen nor offer bass the ability to hide deep within their structure. However, rocks can provide a storage system for nutrients in many bodies of water.
However, minutes particles of decaying matter are usually caught in many spaces between cracks. As a result, this attracts minnows and crawfish, and of course, bass.
Small rocks are perfect for bass fishing compared to giant rocks like boulders if you think about it.
Gravel is a good type of rock for bass, and because gravel can hold a lot of decaying matter, it can attract different baits. It can also provide a suitable spawning surface for most smallmouth bass.
Bass Fishing Tips
Bass fishing, just like any other type of fishing, starts with mastering all the basics. This consists of finding the ideal bass boar or a suitable freshwater fishing boat.
Then it would help if you incorporated the tips and tricks many pros use to capture your trophy bass. Here are some of the best fishing tips that you can incorporate in your next bass fishing adventure:
Find Cover And You Will Find Bass
When it comes to fishing tips, all you need to know is to find any cover, and you will find fish in there. The most vital factor and most relevant of these tips are putting your lure to where the fish are.
To do that, you need to find cover on the body of water you are trying to fish. Covers can be in the form of rocks, weeds, boat docks, and a whole lot more, and bass love to hang out around these covers.
Match The Hatch
Bass are known to be savages, and all over the United States, they have a comprehensive diet ranging from baitfish like shad and bluegill.
It is essential to know how to match the hatch so that your lure can imitate the type of forage that bass in your area is feeding on. If bass in your area likes feeding on shad, throw a silver-colored crankbait or just a swimbait.
Watch The Water Temperature
Depending on the season and the location, water temperatures can change drastically. It greatly affects the activity level and feeding patterns of most bass.
It is best to throw slower moving baits in many cooler areas with cold water temperatures as a general rule. Then you can throw in some more aggressive ones in some warmer waters.
Do Your Research
Technology is your partner when it comes to many things, and this can apply when you decide on bass fishing. You are literally fishing in the age where technology can really help you out and revolutionize how anglers approach fishing.
You should take advantage of Google Earth and Fishid to get more concrete information about the places you will be fishing.
Using this kind of technology, you can easily identify key areas of a body of water that might have plenty of fish and start to develop your plan for your fishing trip.
When you look at a lake or river map online, you should always check and identify points, creeks, some ledges, and other features where bass like to hang out.
Be Persistent
Being in a rush is not an ideal way of fishing in general, and this can be quite hard if you are not that kind of person. When it comes to bass fishing, it is essential to be persistent and not give up on an area or pattern too quickly.
There are times that the bite is tough, and it is best to fish an area in which you are comfortable thoroughly.
This is in comparison to just running all over the late like a chicken without its head. Grab your tools and your go-to technique and pick apart every piece of the cover there is where bass could be lurking.
The Wind Is Your Friend
You should know that wind is a significant factor in fishing, and it is the same as bass fishing. If you have days that the wind is gassing over at 15mpg, it is most likely that it can be tough and aggravating for many.
Not to mention you have to fight the wind for casting and holding the boat in position. It would help if you always considered the wind as your friend.
Wind will often stimulate bass, and the bite will pick up, and the water surface is most likely to be disturbed by it.
Conclusion
Overall, knowing where to find the bass is not hard, especially in these modern times.
There are many ways to find out where most basses are hiding hanging out. Along with all the information mentioned above about bass fishing, you will be able to catch your very own in just a short amount of time.
Always remember that you need to be patient with this kind of activity, and it will be worth it in the end once you capture a bass.
