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Logan Millwood
Ms. Erin Schubach
8th Grade Research
21 November 2014
How to Catch Largemouth Bass: The Basics
Bass fishing is a popular sport in the United States. It is also an extremely complicated
sport. Successful bass fisherman must be knowledgeable about fishing gear, weather patterns,
and where and how to catch bass. An example of a good professional bass fisherman is K.V.D.
He has earned over 5 million dollars in his career, he has won 4 Bassmaster Classic titles, and he
has won 7 Toyota Tundra Angler of the year awards. (“Kevin Van Dam”). He has also got 1st in
20 Bassmaster titles, 2nd 13 times, and has finished in the top 10 of an astonishing 100 times
(“Kevin Van Dam”).
To catch a largemouth bass one would need the correct gear to do so. Many fisherman
have different opinions about which gear to use and what gear is the best to use. Eventually it all
comes down to where you are fishing and what the weather conditions on that specific day are.
("Choosing The Right Rod."). There are two types of fishing rods and reels: baitcaster rods and
reels and spinning rods and reels. Most people who go bass fishing use a reel called a bait caster.
There are many types of baitcasters. When someone is buying one they need to consider how
long their rod is, and what ratio they need on their reel. ("Choosing The Right Rod."). The
higher the ratio the faster it will reel in. A reel with a higher ratio is most commonly used with
swim baits, crankbaits, and other live simulator baits. A baitcaster is also more compact than a
spinning reel. This makes it so someone can hit a spot (cast to a specific area) almost every time.
Baitcasters allow people to adjust how fast the spool
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lets line out and how fast it reels in. ("Choosing The Right Rod."). Rods are also an extremely
important part of someone’s fishing inventory. If someone has a bait casting reel they have to
have a casting rod.
Reels are a important part of a fishermen’s inventory. To fish successful a fisherman will
need the right reel to do so. Casting reels have a star drag that looks like a wheel on the right
side, attached to the handle. Turn the star clockwise and it tightens the line. ("Kevin Van Dam.").
Counter clockwise turns will of course loosen the line. If the line is too loose then a fisherman
may not catch fish. Spinning reels, you can change the handle to the right or left side by simply
unscrewing and removing the handle from the reel. Unscrew the cap cover from the right side,
place the handle in the opposing slot, and screw the cap cover into the left side and if the settings
are wrong then again a fisherman may not catch fish. ("Kevin Van Dam."). Many reels are
made for a specific bait. Use the mid-range 6.6:1 gear ratio for spinnerbaits around shallow
cover, as well as for lipless crankbaits in clear water. That gear ratio is a great blend of speed and
power. The 5.3:1 is the ratio use for all crankbait fishing. ("Kevin Van Dam."). The 5.3:1 gives a
fisherman smoothness and power with less torque. Since there’s less torque, you have the
ability to feel what the bait is doing at all times. The 7:1:1 gear ratio reel is mostly used if a
fisherman wants the max amount of power and speed at the same time. Most fisherman use 7:1:1
for heavier baits like frogs, oversized crankbaits, and some jigs. ("Kevin Van Dam."). “Slow it
down. Don’t reel so fast. You’ll get a lot more bites. This water is really stained,” says Kevin
VanDam.
Casting rods come in varies of lengths, flexibility options, power options, and backbone
options (how much resistance a pole can take before it breaks). Longer poles are usually for
people who are flipping (a short cast, usually someone flips there rod up fast it will cast) and
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pitching (like flipping but the bait will travel a longer distance, and to pitch someone will hold
the bait close to the reel and throw it out when flipped up) into heavy cover (“Choosing The
Right Rod”). Usually longer poles have a greater power and more eyes (rings going all the way
up your rod to help guide your line for better accuracy). Examples of power options are:
medium-light, medium, medium-heavy, heavy, and extra heavy. These options are how stiff your
pole will be and how much flex it can have. Shorter poles contain a lower power and less eyes.
("Choosing The Right Rod."). Shorter poles are usually for fishing crank baits, worms, and
swim baits.
Hooks are also an enormous part of a fishing inventory. There are many different types of
hooks. Depending on the size of the fish, the hook set style and weight of the rods and line, there
is a specific hook that will increase the landing percentage for each bait. Each one has a specific
purpose and style. . ("Picking The Right Hook."). There are three main types of hooks. An offset
hook are similar to straight shank hooks but have a slight offset double 90 degree bend near the
eye of the hook. This helps to keep lures from sliding down the shank. Offset hooks are most
commonly used with weightless soft plastics, jerk baits, magic shads, zig-zags, and senkos
(different kinds of lures and baits). ( "Picking The Right Hook."). Another type of hook is
straight shank hooks. Straight shank hooks were dominant for years till the invention of Slug Go
in the 80’s creating the wide use of offset hooks. Most people today use straight shank hooks for
rigging worms, creature baits, craw worms French fries, or similar baits like ring frys, fork
worms, and fork craws (different kinds of lures and baits). On a straight shank hook the point of
the hook rides substantially above the eye of the hook and it aims for the top of the bass’s mouth
resulting in more hooks and catches. ( "Picking The Right Hook."). Straight shank hooks are in
the shape of a “J”. The last type of hook is called an extra wide gap hook (EWG). Extra wide gap
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hooks are more in the shape of a “G” with a rounded shank similar to kale style hooks. They
have an offset near the eye of the hook. Extra wide gap hooks have the hook point directly line
with the eye of the hook, so when somebody sets the hook on a fish the weight and the front of
the lure clear a path for the hook point to escape the bass’s mouth without penetrating. ("Picking
The Right Hook."). “EWG” hooks stay in the bass’s mouth more than other hooks for bass
fishing.
Line is also another important piece of gear. There are three main kinds of line that
fishermen use to go bass fishing. There is monofilament, braid, and fluorocarbon. To get the
correct cast with each bait a fisherman has to have the correct line to do so. ("Choosing the Right
Fishing Line | Bass Pro Shops."). A fisherman would use braided line for drop shooting,
flipping, carolina rigs, spoons, and top water lures. Braided line has almost no stretch making it
also really strong. Bass have a hard time seeing braided line in and out of the water. ("Choosing
the Right Fishing Line | Bass Pro Shops."). Braid is the heaviest line so baits and the line dive
deeper into the water at a faster rate. When braided line is struck by the fish it immediately
transmits the feeling to the rod, resulting in more catches and hooks. Since braided line is heavier
and stronger is pushes the line out faster causing longer cast. A second kind of line fishermen use
is monofilament line. ("Choosing the Right Fishing Line | Bass Pro Shops.").When fishing with
monofilament line a fisherman would most likely use deep diving crankbaits, topwater baits,
poppers, shakeyheads, and shallow-water crakbaits. Monofilament line is lighter than most line
and it isn’t as strong as the other kinds of lines. Monofilament line is also the line that stretches
the most. Since monofilament line is light it sometimes depending on with option a fisherman
buys it in will float in water. ("Choosing the Right Fishing Line | Bass Pro Shops.").The last line
that most fisherman use to fish for bass is fluorocarbon. Fluorocarbon was most commonly used
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by fly fishermen, but has recently been adapted by bass fisherman. Fluorocarbon is heavier than
monofilament so it sinks in the water and is best used with bumping baits such as jigs or worms.
Fluorocarbon also doesn’t have a lot of stretch. ("Choosing the Right Fishing Line | Bass Pro
Shops."). Like braided line, fluorocarbon is difficult to see to bass in and out of the water.
Every fisherman should know where and when to fish different parts of the body of
water. In the early spring it is best to fish in the northwest part or corner of the lake. In early
spring this is the easiest time of the year to catch the largemouth bass. Some good baits best used
to fish with in the spring are spinner baits and softplastics. Fish these baits over reed beds and the
bass’s homes. In the summer it is best to fish in shallow cover. Some good baits for fishing in the
summer are crankbaits, jigs, spinnerbaits, worms, spoons, topwaters, and finesse lures. Larger
fish during the summer usually go down to the deeper waters. To be specific, bass stay in 1-20
feet deep of water during the summer. Bass resource says, “Use a topwater bait such as a
zaraspook even if the water water is 20 feet deep. In the summer smaller fish tend to stay in the
shallower ares of the lake or the body of water someone is fishing in. Here are some good tips to
use as fall comes along. In fall topwater baits such as spinnerbaits, jigs, and oversized crankbaits
are a good choice to use. Flip jigs and plastics on remaining green weeds and deag plastics on
deep outside breaks. Also search for steeper shorlines, vertical drop offs and green weeds to fish
near. River channel bars and ledges provide good places for bass to feed on baitfish during the
fall. Boat docks are also a good place to fish during the fall. They provide good cover for the
bass. As fall is wrapping up and winter is getting near, slow down your presentation and down
size your lures. These means to start slowing down on how fast you reel and jerk the bait. It all
says to downsize lures, meaning to fish with smaller sized baits and lures.
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To choose a certain bait and where to fish every fisherman needs to know what spot to
fish in and the weather conditions of the water and out of the water. When it is raining bass will
move to the top of the water because the rain will heat the water faster than the temperature of air
will. After a cold front comes though bass will not seek deep water, they will move into heavy
cover. So flip the cover they move into with jigs and worms When the temperatures start rising
above 45 degrees the bass will move toward the top of the water. ("Seasonal Habits of the
Largemouth Bass."). When the temperatures start dropping or rising to the 50’s and 60’s
depending on where someone is fishing the bass will seek out to a well protected area for them.
During these temperatures fish in shallow lakes and concentrate on dense, shallow cover with
slow baits and lures like jigs. This makes it to where they can quickly return to their home to stay
hidden and protected from other predators. When the temperatures start getting into the 60’s and
70’s the bass will attack a faster moving bait. ("Seasonal Habits of the Largemouth Bass."). Bass
are more active in these temperatures. Usually these temperatures start showing them selves in
the fall, so fish downhill in the fall. As the temperatures start rising into the 80’s and 90’s the
bass return to the shallow waters in the early morning, evening, and late hours to feed. The bass
will also stay calmer, moving around less. When fishing during these temperatures in midday
and the sun is bright and when the wind is calm, bass will rarely be found in shallow waters.
("Seasonal Habits of the Largemouth Bass."). Bass will also go under docks an log booms just
after spawn. Use a jerkbait the first time you cast in these areas and a jig on the second pass.
Depending on what time of the year it is bass will usually stay in 2- 12 feet deep of water.
When fishing in spawning areas make sure these areas have direct sunlight, so look for
shallow flats protected by rough water. ("Seasonal Habits of the Largemouth Bass."). Bass
usually hang around creek arms on the lake. This is where good cover is found. Jimmy Atkinson
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said, "Most people try to find bass in the obvious places. I don't. ("Seasonal Habits of the
Largemouth Bass."). I am looking for the places which are not obvious. When I am fishing, I
seldom see anybody else. Fishermen have to find their own fish. I can't go to somebody else's
fish and fish them and do any good because I will be fishing differently. Somebody else can't go
to my fish and catch them like I can." ("Seasonal Habits of the Largemouth Bass.").
To choose the correct lure a fisherman needs three things, clarity, conditions, and
confidence. To know when to use the correct bait on which days and conditions a fisherman will
have to know which bait to use on different types of water clarity. Water clarity and choosing the
right colored bait or lure is important when it comes down to know what to fish. ("Best Colors or
Lures for Stained Water."). Primarily the lure colors mostly used are brown, orange, red (to
resemble a crawfish) blue (to resemble a blugill) and chrome/black. There are four names of
water clarity categories. Muddy, dingy, stained, and moderately clear with greenish hue. ("Best
Colors or Lures for Stained Water."). In muddy/ dingy water with a visibility of one to four feet, it's
a good idea to use florescent-colored baits because of the high visibility and in particular,
chartreuse and fire-tiger work fantastic under muddy and dingy conditions. When fishing in
stained water, stick to lighter colors that make a suddle noise such as crankbaits, spinner baits,
swim jigs, and rattle traps. Now on to clear-water fishing. To fish successful in clear waters a
fisherman will have to master the skill it takes to fish on clear water. When fishing on clearwater most fishermen will end up using darker colors such as smoke, salt'n pepper watermelon
and pumpkinseed hues. ("Best Colors or Lures for Stained Water."). Now for the baits there are
many choices. It is best to start with jigs type lures and work your way down to top-water lures.
The top baits to use in clear-water fishing are jigs, hair jigs, spinner-baits, jerk baits ( hard and
soft jerk baits) , crankbaits, and top-water lures. Fish boating.com says,” Clear water often spells
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small lures, slow and subtle retrieves and, the most of the time, deep water presentations. Our
lure selection will be oriented to the most natural colors, better if they closely resemble live food
for the bass. Let's assemble our lure selection for clear water. Soft-plastics: Tube jigs, grubs and
four to six inches finesse worms are the rage in clear water when we talk about soft-plastic lures.
But we have to consider even the "cow tongue" or beaver tail grubs as an excellent clear water
bait. Three or four inches are the top sizes for the plastic baits above mentioned. As for the color,
we'll select smoke, salt'n pepper watermelon and pumpkinseed hues.” ("Best Colors or Lures
for Stained Water.").
To fish in the correct spots and to stay out in the hot, beating sun, every fisherman will
need a good pair of polarized sunglasses. Glare is an extremely important reason for wearing
polarized sunglasses. Even during partly cloudy days, or even if the sun is not out during some
overcast conditions, there can still be a chance of an extreme amount of glare coming off the
water reflecting to fisherman that can cause headaches and/or strain on the eyes. ( "Sunglasses
Improve Fishing."). Another good reason for wearing polarized sunglasses is to help improve
your fishing game. Since polarized sunglasses eliminate glare. They will allow a fisherman to see
what is under the water more clearly.
All in all a good fisherman will have to have the basics down before getting out on water
and expecting to catch a largemouth bass. The successful fisherman will need to know the five
basic things to catch largemouth bass, what time of the year and day to catch largemouth bass,
what location of the body of water a fisherman is fishing in to catch largemouth bass, which baits
and lures to use on different areas and times, what gear to fish with depending on the baits and
lures, and last but not least the habits of the largemouth bass species and what they do on a daily
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basis. Bass fishing is an extremely popular sport in the United States and other places all over the
world. ” Get kids hooked onto fishing and not drugs”, said Rodger Brown.
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Works Cited
"Best Colors or Lures for Stained Water." Best Colors or Lures for Stained Water. Ultimate
Bass, n.d. Web. 06 Nov. 2014.
Brady, John. "Sunglasses Improve Fishing." Bass Fishing Resource Guide®. Bass Resource, n.d.
Web. 19 Nov. 2014.
Brown, Roger L. "Why Bass Fishing?" Why Bass Fishing. Bass Resource, n.d. Web. 05 Sept.
"Choosing the Right Fishing Line | Bass Pro Shops." Choosing the Right Fishing Line | Bass Pro
Shops. Council Bluffs, 21 Apr. 2011. Web. 05 Nov. 2014.
"Choosing The Right Rod." Bass Fishing Resource Guide®. Bass Recource, n.d. Web. 19 Sept.
2014.
"Doodling." Bass Fishing Resource Guide®. Bass Resource, n.d. Web. 12 Sept. 2014.
Garrison, Ronnie. "What You Need To Know About Fluorocarbon Fishing Line." About. About
Sports, n.d. Web. 05 Nov. 2014.
Golding, Earl. "Timeless Fishing Tips." Bass Fishing Resource Guide®. Bass Resource, n.d.
Web. 06 Nov. 2014.
"Grubs." Bass Fishing Resource Guide®. Bass Resource, n.d. Web. 12 Sept. 2014.
"Jigs." Bass Fishing Resource Guide®. Bass Resource, n.d. Web. 12 Sept. 2014.
"Kevin Van Dam." About -. KVD, n.d. Web. 17 Sept. 2014.
Another good reason for wearing polarized sunglasses is to help improve your fishing skills.
Since polarized sunglasses eliminate glare. They will also allow you to see what is under the
water more clearly.Bass Fishing Resource Guide®. Bass Resource, n.d. Web. 19 d
Nov.
2014.
"Seasonal Habits of the Largemouth Bass." Bass Fishing Resource Guide®. Bass Resource, n.d.
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Redington, Tom.
"Picking The Right Hook." Bass Fishing Resource Guide®. Bass Resource, n.d. Web. 10 Nov.
2014Bass Fishing Resource Guide®. Bass Resource, n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2014 Bass
Fishing Resource Guide®. Bass Resource, n.d. Web. 10 Nov. 2014