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Bass fishing is like so many other hobbies. You can read and study all you want, but there's nothing like experience. Just get out there and do it. What works for someone else, won't necessarily work for you. You have to develop whatever works for you. I do a lot of fishing with my cousin and his wife. We can all be fishing worms. We're always telling her to "work" the worm. She pretty much just casts out and reels in. Guess what? She catches as many fish as we do. Whatever works, do it. Here's the basics:
I'm an avid reader and fishing show watcher. You can usually learn something from anything you read or watch. But not everything you watch or read applies to where you fish. Here's some things that work for me, where and how I fish. I typically fish small ponds with muddy water. Plastic grubs: This was the lure of choice when I first started fishing. It would catch anything that was in the pond. Crappie, bluegill, bass, and even a catfish or two. Glen Eidson and I spent hundreds of hours fishing these things back in high school days. I recall having the best luck with 2", chartreuse Mr. Twisters. The little spinners also worked well. Sometimes, you can catch more without the spinner. I have since switched to the plastic crawdad lures. Slowly dragged right along the bottom works well. Sometimes I pump up about a foot and swim it one more pump and then let it drop to the bottom. I attended a Jimmy Houston seminar. Because of this I tried, liked and still use: Shimano rods and reels, and blue and chartreuse spinner baits. I suppose the spinner bait has been my number 1 fish catching lure. I like to fish them close to the surface and cause a wake from the spinner. You want to almost break the surface, but not quite. I really appreciate Jimmy's joy of fishing. He's not ashamed to put away the bass tackle and fish for crappie, catfish or whatever is biting. If all you ever do is fish for Bass, you are missing out on a lot of fun. Buzz baits: The funnest way to catch bass. Typically spring and fall are best. But if you are having a slow day, don't forget to try them in the summer heat. Don't believe bigger is always better. I use very small buzz baits with great success. I also have huge clacker buzz baits that work. If you're in a mossy pond, try an inline buzz bait. They don't hang up as much. You want to fish these in and around cover. Open water is sometimes productive, but don't count on it. Using a trailer hook will help you hook more fish. One final pointer. Don't set the hook by sight. Wait until you feel the fish on the line. This is very hard to learn. "Rats" and such: When the moss gets too heavy to fish with a buzz bait, switch to a rat. There are several lures that work. The original "rat." There are several kinds of "frog" lures. Color doesn't seem to matter. The bass can't see through the moss, they see dimples in the moss. There isn't anything more exciting than seeing a bass nose up through the moss to kerwhallop your rat. Plastic worms: I like to pitch plastic worms into fallen trees. Make sure you have very strong line. I like to fish them on plain jigs. Carolina rigs take to long to set up. Sometimes I fish texas rigged. Floating lizards (bubble gum) work well for me either texas-rigged or with no weight on a bare hook. A good friend Dave Bell used to have great success with 9" Electric Blue worms. Crank baits: These are old stand bys. I use rapalas for top or near top conditions. Jointed smaller rattle trap type lures work well if the weeds and moss aren't too bad. Color: Since I fish mostly murky waters, fluorescent orange and black work best for me. Live bait: I don't fish live bait for bass, but did catch a huge bass one time on a crawdad fished about 3 feet under a bobber. One of my main suggestions is get yourself a good quality reel. This is not an area where you should pinch pennies. Go ahead and get a good baitcasting reel and learn how to use it. It will last for several years. I've had mine about 10 years and it is just now needing a good tune up. Always keep good line on your reel. Nothing worse than hooking a big one and breaking off because you haven't changed your line in 2 or 3 years. I have a small old style bass boat with a 10HP engine. I call it my banana boat. You are actually in the boat, not on top of it like modern day bass boats. I gave $600 for it and have gotten many years of use from it. It has a built in live well. There's no need for a big fancy bass rig when you mainly fish small ponds. The local lakes all have a 10HP limit on them. Why spend half a day getting to the big lakes in south Missouri? I won't catch any more fish than I do around here. You don't even have to have an engine. A trolling motor will do just fine unless it's very windy. Just get out there and do it.
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