More Quick Bass Tips

In today’s fast-paced world where articles and videos are popping up everywhere, it’s easy to fall prey to information overload. There are times most of us would much prefer to get some friendly advice in the form of a short tip rather than a several hundred word article!

So here is the second of a series of quick bass tips to help lessen burden of the information avalanche surrounding us…

1. Best times to use “noisy” baits are when fishing dirty water, heavy cover, dense weed mats or trying for a reaction bite…
2. Some of the noisest lures include lipless crankbaits, buzzbaits, poppers & chuggers, prop baits and crankbaits with rattles…
3. Best times to use quiet lures are when fishing in clear water, on high traffic lakes, during cold fronts & when bass are short-striking…
4. Personally I don’t like to eat F/W bass but I do respect others right to practice selective harvest and take a few home for the table…
5. Some of the quietest baits on the market include soft plastics & swimbaits on jigheads, Texas-rigged plastics, & rattleless spinnerbaits…
6. Change your line often to avoid catastrophe when the “fish of a lifetime” hits…
7. Consider pegging your sinker when using Texas-rigged creature baits in heavy cover…
8. Keep your soft plastic baits and jigs in contact with cover (rocks, weeds. wood) as much as possible for more strikes…
9. One potential summertime hotspot is a flat point with steep drop close to deep water summer holding area…
10. Did you know some “bass-perts” say larger bass can distinguish between live forage and artificial lures…
11. Sometimes crawling your floating minnow bait across the surface is more deadly than fishing it as a jerkbait!
12. Use a quiet topwater when the surface is dead calm and a noisier version when there’s a chop on top…
13. Four great deep water (> 20′) baits/rigs: Carolina rig, the football jig, jigging spoon & drop shot…
14. Though slow rolling spinnerbaits is often touted as a cold water method it can be just as deadly during those hot summer night trips…
15. Five “go-to” baits when there’s a tough bass bite: a grub, an in-line spinner, a floating minnow, a weightless worm & hair jig…
16. Pick the right rod, reel, line and crankbait combo when fishing offshore structures for the best results…
17. Top fall bass baits include topwaters, lipless cranks, squarebills, jerkbaits, swimbaits, chatterbaits and jigs…
18. When fishing a topwater bait, always keep a follow-up lure like a jig or lipless crankbait ready for short striking bass…
19. Use an O-ring as a band around your soft plastic stickbaits when fishing them wacky-style & get more fish out of each bait…
20. Soft plastics baits sliding down the shaft of the hook when casting? Use a drop of super glue behind the hook eyelet to keep in place…
21. Keep a low profile and Sun in your face when fishing shallow, clear water bays to minimize the chance of spooking fish…
22. When fishing through the fall season, move from the points to the back of coves in mid-fall and back out towards points in late fall…
23. Swap your drop shot weight for a jig or skirted grub to offer bass different baits and increase success on pressured lakes…
24. Some anglers say that bass and other wildlife really become active and feed more on the “Harvest Moon”. Time to hit the water?

Feel free to cut and paste any of the tips you see and please feel free to cite the source.

Image loaned by: Jeff Bucchino, “The Wizard of Draws”