101 Bass Fishing Tips

Smallmouth Bass Fishing Tips

Smallmouth Bass

Smallmouth fishing is said to be best experienced in Southwest Louisiana. This is a place near bayous, canals, freshwater and salty lakes. The waters here draw numbers of smallmouth and largemouth bass ranging up to eight-pounds.

Smallmouth bass fishing is enjoyed by fishermen all over America. Searching and then finally catching the big smallmouth bass is a real achievement for the true blue American sport fisherman. It is considered to be the Americaís number one fresh water sport. Believe it or not, this sport has grown 70% higher than any other fresh water sport in America.

The smallmouth bass is believed to be, pound for pound, one of the hardest fighting freshwater fish. The bass runs acrobatic leaps and does “tail walking” making it one of the most exciting fishes to pursue.

Before you go in search for thet elusive smallmouth bass, you must first know its characteristics or how it looks like. Smallmouth bass are habitually bronze to brownish green in color. It has dark vertical bars on the sides. Unlike the largemouth, the upper jaw of a small mouth does not merely extend beyond rear margin of the eye. The eye of a smallmouth is reddish. It has 13 to 15 rays of soft dorsal fins. Its length would go from 12 to 22 inches. And it normally weighs 8 ounces to 7 pounds.

Here are some guides and tips that can help you bag a smallmouth bass:

ï If you fish for smallmouth in the northeast, particularly in Maryland, you will find that small mouth bass do not stick too tight to cover their presence. This is more obvious in some of our the slack water reservoirs. This fish relates much more to a sudden or rapid depth change when they do go for cover.

ï Small mouth bass can be caught on a rock ledge that drops off quickly from about six to twelve feet.

ï When trapping a smallmouth bass that is about four or five pounds, try to swim along with them maki9ng your presence inconspicuous.

ï An effective trap for smallmouth bass are plastic worms or flies.

ï They are less aware when they are feeding or think they will be feeding.

ï This type of sport fish will be usually found on rocky structures with and without light weed lines.

ï The smallmouth has and exceptional sense of sight, smell, and hearing.

ï The smallmouth. like most fish, is light-shy.

ï Smallmouth bass are schooling fish by nature, so you are likely to catch several bass in the same locations.

ï Once you catch one smallmouth, chances are you will have a chance to catch more about the same size in the immediate area.

One of the most effective and most popular methods of tricking or catching a small mouth is to work over the top of these weed beds. Some fishermen prefer jigs, while others choose live bait.

Hereís a list that shows the best top water flies in order to trick small mouth bass:

1. Stonefly Bugger – size 6
2. Franke Hellgrammite – size 4
3. Clouser Minnow – size 6
4. Sneaky Pete – size 4
5. Crayfish – size 8
6. Popper – size  6
7. Zonkers – size 4
8. Bead Head Wooly Bugger- size 6

When is the right time to fish a small mouth?

Smallmouth bass are active in cold waters so, you might catch up with this fish in the early spring. Start searching for them when the water temperature is in the mid-40s. The smallmouth might just be about 20-30 feet deep in the waters, or might be waiting for the temperature to rise a little before emerging higher.

When the temperature begins to reach mid-50s, the smallmouth will start to move on to cooler or deeper holes, change your technique. Or else do not even bother yourself in attempting to search them out. All you will need is something to aid you in searching the bottom. It could be a bait or lure that will catch the attention of small mouth bass. A plastic worm will be a good strategy with this because even the most slow-moving bass will respond when you drag one slowly in its nose. Then when that happens start the battle in search for these small mouths.

If you catch a fish DON’T LEAVE THAT SPOT stay there and fish more after you have removed the hook. Fish will follow the fish on your line and try to steal the bait. Especially if it is white bass you can sometimes catch two at a time with crappie and perch that is if you have a double rig.

Worms usually work well during light to heavy over cast skies and spinners usually work better in the morning when the sun is reflecting off the water. When you set the hook, try to keep your line tight and maybe even give it another set. When they jump it is real hard to keep your line tight.

Make sure you aren’t using dull hooks. Also, smaller hooks can penetrate easier, making them harder to throw. In most instances, though, nothing beats an aggressive hook set, and then keeping steady pressure on the fish, especially when they go airborne.

Well the cold weather has put the bass into their winter patterns. Forget about rip baits, spinner baits and crank baits here are some bass fishing tips for the winter months. One of the most common techniques for getting bass to bite during this season is splitshotting or split shot fishing. It is a fairly straightforward technique and requires little investment in terminal tackle for the split shot rig hook or sinkers.

101 Bass Fishing Tips

Splitshotting can mean the difference between taking a cold boat ride and a great day of catching fish. Invest the time to practice this technique and you will have more fun bass fishing in the cold winter months. This and other Bass fishing tips are required to master the art of bass fishing.

The hardest thing  is to teach a bass angler learning to split shot is detecting the bite. The bite will vary according to the activity level of the fish. There will be times when they pop the bait hard and you will know immediately that they are eating the bait. Other times there will be a soft, almost imperceptible tick and then nothing. And finally there is the dreaded pressure bite. The pressure bite will take two forms.

The first way to describe a pressure bite is you will feel a slight resistance to pulling your line forward. This is somewhat like hooking a soft, spongy rubber band. The second pressure bite is when you lose contact with the bottom.

A bass has picked up your bass lure and is just following along with your forward movement. This is why it is so important to maintain bottom contact. Once you realize that you’ve lost the feel of the weight against the bottom, and your depth hasn’t changed significantly, you have to put two and two together and get ready to set the hook.

The preferred hook set for this technique is called a sweep set. Once you have detected a fish holding your bait drop the rod tip towards the fish, reel down to the point of feeling resistance (or just shy of that point) and ‘sweep’ the rod horizontally away from the fish.

If the rod loads up good and you’re sure that you’ve got the hook in the fish just fight him to the boat. If you set the hook and it didn’t feel solid you may want to set the hook a second time. The drag on your reel should be set tight enough that it doesn’t give on the initial hook set. But it shouldn’t be set so tight that a larger fish can’t take the line if needed.

British Columbia, Canada’s foremost sport fishing web site containing BC saltwater fishing, BC freshwater fishing, maps, fishing tackle news, sport fishing destinations, fishing tips and techniques, editorials, articles and much, much more. Inside you’ll find everything you need to tackle trophy fish of all varieties including salmon, halibut, steelhead, trout, bass, and sturgeon to name a few.   They also had their own approach and techniques regarding bass fishing.

Since the best spot to catch bass is never on weeds and cover, use weedless bass lures when possible. This will cut down on the expense of losing lures.

Bass exist in a wide variety of temperatures, but tend to get inactive during a cold front. Fish swim deeper during the sunniest part of the day. Sun seems to adversely affect bass fishing. Seek out shady spots or deeper water with cover. On cloudy or overcast days try shallower waters. In cold water, retrieve your bait slower. Fish tend to react slower in colder temperatures.

The contour of the underwater terrain is also a thing to consider in bass fishing. You may consult an expert in the terrain of the lake you are fishing and he will guide you to the best place to fish.

Of course your choice of fishing gadgets will spell much of your success in bass fishing. Choose the most durable hooks that will hold firm when opportunity is given.

The choice of baits is also crucial. There are plastic baits that do but natural baits such as worms and flies make better. Remember always that the bigger the bait, the probability of catching the big fish is better that having small baits.Freshwater Fish Identification is another technique used by anglers. So whether you’re watching a consummate professional angler check-in fish during a tournament, or listening to an on-air running commentary on a television fishing program, you know that he’ll be speaking the truth of the matter.

Watch this Super Sized Small mouth Bass fishing Video and make your guesstimate below

They claim that this smallmouth bass is an impressive 8lbs 5 oz however we are a little doubtful. Its a very impressive small mouth bass that’s for sure however we think that it would weigh in at around a 7lb mark. This massive bronzeback measured 23 1/4 inches in length, and 17 1/8 inches in girth.

Whats your guesstimate on this bass fishing video ?

Comment below.