Bass Fishing Trips

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Getting Hooked on Bass Fishing
 by: Mike Long

Companies have been riding the crest of bass fishing interest for decades now. The hobby has "hooked" many people, and they have elevated this onetime recreational activity to a legitimate sport. Outdoors shops, gear and even businesses have been built in that time, and many other peripheral areas have benefited.

More and more people are starting to realize what the buzz is all about today. The sport of bass fishing is about a whole lot more then just netting a bass. With tournaments, growing in popularity, it’s become more and more about landing that perfect trophy bass. To someone who is just starting out, it can seem overwhelming.

Probably the very first thing to cover is some of the lures that are vital to your success in bass fishing.

Any idea what some of the best lures for landing trophy bass might be? While there isn’t any particular scientific method applied to this, an informal poll was taken of many of the professional bass fisherman, and they determined that plastic worms seemed to be the number one choice among the pros, followed up closely by spinner bait and crank bait.

Often times however, you have to dig a little deeper for the right lure.

There are a number of other things you need to consider. First off, if you think it might be better to work a smaller area of water or if you want to very quickly work a larger body of water, then a plastic worm isn’t going to c

ut it. The use of worms is a more time consuming process, and they tend to work best when you find bass that are running in schools. That of course takes time.

The other area where you can sometimes run into a problem with plastic worms is with strikes. Plastic worms require the use of a fairly heavy sinker to get them far enough under the water to be useful. However, the weight of the sinker can sometimes cause you to not feel a bass strike when it happens.

Conversely, spinner bait can be moved about much more quickly across the surface of the water. You can temporarily bounce it on the bottom, and move it in ways that mimic a live insect, and influence bass to strike. Spinner bait is also an effective lure for the shoreline due to its tangle free design.

Finally, crank bait can also cover a wide area of water in a short period of time. This also helps out with investigating a specific area in a brief amount of time. If you can’t find the schooling bass in the water, this may be your next best bet.

The main idea to pull from all of this is that, whatever type of lure you decide to use, wherever you have decided to cast your line, you absolutely must make it as easy as possible for the bass to see the lure, and strike it. Fish have limited visual abilities, but can sense distance very well. The closer you put your lure to the bass, the more likely they are to make a strike.

This is the single biggest key to successful bass fishing – learn the characteristics of your lures very well, and everything else will fall neatly into place.

Before we wrap up, let’s quickly discuss exactly when you should be out on the water for maximum effectiveness.

Fish tend to go deep into cooler waters when the sun is in the sky, and they are considerably less active. This makes the times just before sunrise, and just after sunset the absolute best times of the day to pull in the highest number of fish.

One thing to keep in mind though…when fishing during these times, be sure to being your lure in at a steady pace. With poor lighting adding to their limited vision, it becomes even more imperative that the bass can consistently sense the bait so he has the opportunity to strike it.

Finally, if you are going to be out at dawn or dusk, make sure the temperature is over 50 degrees. Same as being too warm, bass will become much more lethargic when the ambient air temperature drops below 50 degrees Fahrenheit.

With a solid understanding of the proper time of day to fish, and the proper bait to use to catch them, you’re already ahead of many anglers who have been at this for years. There is much more to learn, such as the way that weather effects bass activity, and water quality and purity, but that will come later. For now, go have fun and bring home your limit!

About The Author

Mike Long is the webmaster and publisher of The Easy Fisherman’s Newsletter, a weekly publication giving anglers tips, secrets, insights, articles and other information cover the sport fishing.

You can pick up a copy of his ebook, "The Pocket Fishing Guide" for free, just for signing up for the newsletter at http://www.PocketFishingGuide.com.

In this article I will reveal some bass fishing pro secrets. I’ll tell you about one bass fishing technique that will make bass literally attack your lure! I’ll reveal why the taste and texture of your bait makes a difference, and I’ll tell you what color lures to use depending on the prevailing weather conditions.

First let’s look at how to choose the best color lure. Knowing how to choose the right bass fishing lure will increase your catch dramatically! There are three main variables to consider when choosing your lure: light, water, and what the bass happen to be eating for supper on that particular day.

The amount of light and quality of light will depend on the time of day and the prevailing weather conditions. On cloudy and grey days, lean toward a brighter color lure like chartreuse. On clear sunny days, a white color lure is often a good choice. Surprisingly, as light becomes more scarce, darker color lures seem to work best. Some bass fishing pros recommend using black or grape colored lures as nightfall approaches.

You must also factor in water visibility when choosing the color of your bass fishing lure. And in case you didn’t know, bass have excellent eyesight! According to Bill Dance, "A bass’ eye receives five times more light than the human eye and can see forty feet in clear water. In murky water, they can see up to seventeen feet. In muddy water, they can see five to seven feet."

If the water is dark or murky, bright and shiny or flourescent colors will be your best choice to attract attention. When the water is downright muddy like chocolate milk, then flashy, bulky, and noisy baits are your best bet. If the water is clear, you will want to choose natural colored lures that imitate the food found in the bass environment.

Try to determine what the bass are eating and factor that into your choice of bait. Bass eat sunfish, minnows, shiners, bluegill, crayfish, frogs, and insects. But you could add a lot more things to the list. Large bass have been known to eat baby ducklings, rats, and blackbirds. Your shiny and silver or yellow lures will imitate minnows and sunfish. Your greens and browns resemble crayfish and frogs. If you can determine what the bass are biting on, you will always be more successful.

Equally important to the choice of color is the smell, taste, and feel of your bait. According to Bill Dance, "Bass can smell eight times better than a dog."

A lot of fisherman fail to take into account the smells that rub off their hands onto their bait. Your hands must be free of the smell of any petroleum products like gasoline, suntan oil, or sunscreen. Insect repellent, nicotine, and the natural oils produced by your skin alert bass that there’s a predator in the vicinity. These man made scents will literally scare away a wary bass. Conversely, coating your bait with a powerful scent like cod liver oil or other fish attractant can make a big difference in the size of your catch.

If you’re a smoker, just remember that when you’re bass fishing, you have got to clean your hands before handling your bait or lure. Bass fishing expert Russ Bassdozer recommends, "Just keep a bar of Ivory soap on the boat. It is 99.44% pure, no added perfumes, and it floats if you drop it." The smell of soap, of course, is not exactly a plus either, so you should use some kind of fish attractant to mask or neutralize the negative smells that adhere to your hands.

As for the taste and feel of your bait or lure, it’s important to understand how a bass eats its prey. When chasing a fish, an agressive bass will inhale its prey with its large cavernous jaws. But once inside its mouth, the bass will taste and feel whatever it is it chomped on, and only then will it decide to swallow. If a bass detects a hunk of metal, it will likely spit it out. That’s why you will often have more success with a lure or bait that is gummy or otherwise imitates the feel of something natural like a fish or frog.

Still another good reason for using a fish attractant is that once the bass has your lure in it’s mouth, "the scent and taste of the attractant will cause the fish to hold the lure in its mouth longer," says Russ Bassdozer, "rather than taste an unadulterated DEET, PVC plastic and L-Serine cocktail and spit it out." This will allow you a couple extra seconds to detect the bass on the end of your line and to set the hook.

OK, I saved the best for last.

Here’s a bass fishing technique that will provoke a bass to attack your lure ferociously! As you know, bass see in color, and some colors are more effective than others depending on various factors. But when a bass sees a bit of red on your lure, it really drives a bass crazy. That’s because a little red on your lure looks to the bass like the blood of injured prey! It’s not surprising that pro bass fishermen will often attach something red to their bait that resembles blood. Adding a sploch of red can double the effectiveness of your lure.

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