Bass Fishing Basics

For an amateur bass fishing enthusiast, the fundamentals of this sport are very important in order to reach an efficiency level that can be both rewarding and plain fun. First of all, it is imperative for all amateur fishermen to know that all bass fish have a metabolism that depends greatly upon the temperature of the surrounding water. Their metabolism rises and falls in direct proportion to the increase or the decrease of the water temperature. This means that in water that has a low temperature level, the case of deeper waters, the bass are less active which means that they eat less.

In other words, in January, all amateurs should start bass fishing in increasingly warmer waters because all bass will try to leave the colder and deeper waters in order to spawn. During the fall months of the year, the bass fish will begin moving towards colder and deeper waters where they will be safer during the cold season of the year. What all fishermen need to know is that they should not expect the bass to migrate great distances very fast because their moving cycles from one place to the other takes a good several months.

Luckily, the bass is known to be quite a sociable fish as they have the tendency to shoal together into large schools which contain fish of the same sizes. In translation, if a fisherman catches some bass in a certain spot, it usually means that he has the chance to catch a lot more if he remains in that area and does not throw the fish that he already caught into the water dead because this will create panic among other fish which will make them ran away as fast as possible.

It is quite easy to detect a good fishing area as long as you remember that the bass are predators, however they are not quite active once since their preferred food is not exactly a type of food for which they have to work very hard. On the opposite, they lazily and patiently wait for prey to swim past so that they could grab a fast meal.

Sometimes they prefer chasing injured or less energetic possible meals although these meals might not be part of their usual diet. They usually eat insects, worms, crawfish, frogs and other similar living creatures that populate the water. The key to efficient bass fishing is to learn about their mating habits, preferred food and other similar issues.

Amateur fishermen also need to know that the bass itself is a prey which means that it has to find cover from time to time which means that bass fishing can be successful in areas where the bass can find safety among small or large rocks, weeds or any other areas where they cannot be easily detected. Bass fishing depends greatly upon the type of bait chosen by the angler. The bait should be chosen accordingly to the season as well as the spawning cycle.

In the following we will be presenting some useful fundamentals regarding bass fishing:

- Fish out the worm and keep it suspended 90% of the time;
- During spring, anchor the boat in shallow waters and cast to deep water;
- During fall, do the exact opposite;
- Sharpen the hooks in order to maximize your hookup rate;
- Stay as close as possible without being spotted. Stay too far, accuracy will decrease;
- Use only the wrist when casting. Do not use the arm or the shoulder;
- Land the lure as silent as possible;
- Prior to casting, lower the lure a few inches below the tip in order to obtain extra momentum;
- Prior to checking a strike, reel down until you reach a hookset position;
- For inactive fish, use plastic worms with a glass bead located between it and the weight;
- At all times, keep your eyes on the target;
- Ever fish caught gives you an idea about the whereabouts of other fish in the area.

Of course, these are only tips regarding what we think to be the fundamentals of bass fishing, others can be learnt from experienced anglers that have hundreds of hours spent practicing this sport.