Bass advice needed

[Joejarl]

I’m looking for a little advice on bass fishing. This year, I’ve tried to put more time into fishing for bass with limited success. In the past, I’ve almost always gone after eyes. I fished a lake last night that does have a good population of decent bass. Mostly pitched the docks with a jig/pig and also with a worm. Managed 2 and lost 1 in 3 hours of fishing. Given the following conditions, how would you attack this lake? Worm? Jig? Spinnerbait? Topwater?

-smaller lake without a ton of structure
-water is somewhat green, about 2′ of visibility
-mostly submergent weed growth from shore out to 6′
-did not mark any number of fish out deeper so I suspect they are mainly in the weeds

Let me know if you need more info.

Thanks,
Joe

[SpoonbillSlayer]

Sounds like some of the stuff I’ve been fishing lately.

I would use a 1/2oz-3/4oz Chatterbait to fish the edge of the weeds and try to locate some fish. It stays closer to the bottom than a spinnerbait when fishing a little deeper. Don’t be afraid to just hop it on the bottom.
If you see a good spot on the weeds or catch one, I would use a t-rigged creature such as a Black/Blue Havoc PitBoss or my favorite lately, a Missle Dbomb. Peg the weight, this way it seems to fall straight and will stay along that weed edge better.

Early in the morning you could try topwater too or fish over the weeds, but I have been finding the fish concentrated on the edge the last couple weeks.

Jigs work too, but so far this year, those creatures have been outfishing jigs for me. Use rattles in that murky water.

Good luck.

[backup63]

When I first get on the water I want to figure out the mood of the fish as quickly as possible. I always start aggressive and slow down if necessary. My go to has been a cabelas mean eye square bill 70 in yellow and black with rattle. It an be fished in a lot more cover than I expected and it gets a lot of reaction strikes. When I slow down, I slow way down and throw a weightless wacky rigged senko up to docks. If I feel a lot of little strikes from bluegill, it is a great sign. Blue gill tell the story of the rest of the fish moods often, so active bluegill will often mean active bass. For top water, I love throwing s frog over thick vegetation. These three techniques have been by far the best producers for me this year. Good luck!

[Joejarl]

Thanks for the tips fellas. Another question. Since I’m light on bass tackle (but working to fix that), what would be your 2 or 3 go to setups if you were limited to those?

[SDDLSK]

If I could only have 2 setups and only 2 I would go:

7′ Medium/Fast Spinning rod for spinnerbaits

7′ Medium Heavy/Fast Casting rod for jigs

But this is based on the way I fish. I live and die shallow and the power techniques. I cover lots of water and fast, I don’t have the patience for finesse techniques very often. 75-80% of the time I am flipping/pitching/swimming a jig or spinnerbait. For jigs all I throw is Buckeye Lures Mop Jigs, with any trailer that looks like a crawfish.

If adding a third setup for it it would be a crankbait rod, 7 Medium/Moderate casting rod.

As your building your collection, feel free to shop the local stores, and I feel bad saying this cause I like to support local, but always check prices online after looking. Tackle Warehouse runs some really good sales and carries about every brand you can think of. Good Luck!

[SpoonbillSlayer]

Those 3 set ups would be a good start. You should be able to use some for multiple things depending on the action you get.

The spinnerbait rod could work for squarebills, chatterbaits and maybe swimjigs. The jig rod would work for texas rigs/weightless senkos. Maybe a light frog rod if using braid. Crankbait rod should work for topwater too, if it isn’t to soft of one or spinnerbaits maybe. With 3 rods, there will be some compromise in some situations. But that should be good for a start. Just a warning, before you know it, you will end up with a dozen rods like some of us!!

You also don’t have to break the bank for a good set up. I guess I would spend the most on the Jig/Worm rod, to get something that is somewhat sensitive. Also, I would make sure at least that reel has an Aluminum frame. More durable and won’t flex like a graphite one can.

The spinnerbait rod doesn’t have to be anything to spendy.

Have fun.

[Author]

Posts