9 Bass Fishing Tips You’ll Wish You Knew Earlier
By Reuben Lim
Wanna learn how to catch bass? Here are 9 must-know bass fishing tips.
The bass is one of my favourite fish. I’ve been going bass fishing at least once a month ever since I started fishing (roughly 20 years ago). I asked myself “What do I do now that I didn’t 20 years ago?”. After pondering for a whole day, I came up with these 9 tips.
Catching bass is no mean feat. Along the way, you’re gonna make many mistakes. This guide is meant to help you avoid at least some of those mistakes, and fast track your journey to becoming a successful bass angler.
Here are the 9 bass fishing tips I wish I’d known earlier:
Tip 6: Keep Your Shredded Worms
Tip 8: Tie Your Knots Properly
Tip 1: Mind The Season
Always take into account the season when fishing. This means your baits should change every season.
This is because different seasons call for different baits. During summer, bass swim deeper to avoid the heat at the surface. This means your baits will need to go deeper. During winter, bass become more sluggish and fussier with their food and you’ll need more appealing bait, like finesse worms to get them to bite. Use the right bait for the right season and you’ll always succeed.
Tip 2: Mind The Time
Choosing the right time to go fishing can greatly increase your odds of success. A general rule of thumbs is to go in the early morning (dawn) and night (dusk).
During these periods, light levels are the lowest. This is when bass (and most fishes) like to feed. They’ll thus be much more likely to take the bait. However, sometimes, even dawn and dusk won’t be suitable for fishing. If you want a more detailed explanation, you can check out our guide on the best time to go fishing.
Tip 3: Mind The Weather
Once again, knowing how to tackle different weathers is important. You’ll need to adapt your baits to the weather.
During sunny days, bass tend to be lazier (sort of like humans actually), so you’ll need more attractive baits. On cloudy days, bass feed more actively, owing to the lower light levels. Knowing these will help you choose the right baits.
Tip 4: Mind The Water
Another important factor to consider is the colour of the water you’re fishing in. Different waters will require different lures.
For clear water, stick to lures with more natural colours like natural greens, browns, and reds, which resemble the natural prey that bass look for. In foggy water, brighter greens and yellows work better from my personal experience. In muddy water, it’s widely agreed upon that blacks and blues work the best.
Tip 5: Sharpen Your Hooks
Before any fishing trip, always sharpen your hooks. Just like how you need a sharp sword to win battles, you need a sharp hook to land the bass. If you’ve never sharpened your hooks, now is a great time to get a fishing hook file.
Bass have boney jaws. As such, it’s crucial that your hook is sharp enough to penetrate their jaws. To further ensure your hook penetrates deeply, you can also tie a Snell Knot.
Tip 6: Keep Your Shredded Worms
When your plastic worms are torn apart by bass, keep them. A shredded plastic worm is far from useless.
Bass love to go for wounded prey. This makes your damaged worm the perfect target, particularly in shallow water.
Tip 7: Find Cover
Fish around spots where there is cover, like rocks.
Bass, or rather fish in general like to stay around cover. As such, you’ll have a better chance of finding bass around cover.
Tip 8: Tie Your Knots Properly
Never neglect knot tying. It may not be a very big part of fishing, but it is important nonetheless.
If your knots aren’t tied properly, it’s more than likely that they’ll snap. How you tie knots will directly determine how much of your line strength is retained. Learn how to tie the best knots for fishing here.
Tip 9: Use Smaller Bait
If you find your bait is always getting stripped, use a smaller bait.
Bigger bait is simply easier to strip from the hook, regardless of what fish you’re trying to catch. If you keep losing your bait, don’t worry about it. Just switch to a smaller bait.
While this may sound stupidly obvious, here’s a reminder that you’ll need to buy smaller baits just in case you need it.
Areas For Improvement
Knowing these 9 tips will already make you a much better bass angler.
If you’re still not satisfied (and you shouldn’t be), however, check out our top 7 lures for bass.
