Bass will be deeper than in warmer months.
Fish slower with more subtle movements.
Winter can bring major low-pressure systems which can cause bass to feed heavily.
Watch your line intently when fishing plastics as the bite will be soft.

Water temperatures below fifty degrees call for a much different game plan on the water. You should consistently evaluate the body of water you are fishing and determine where the greatest elevation drops are located near key structure. For instance, in the winter you want to find a shallow flat that is located right near a steep ledge that drops off in say twenty or thirty feet. The bass will remain at the bottom of the ledge in the 20-30 feet of water and move up once per day, usually around 2-3pm, to feed on bait fish. If you have a depth finder, it is good practice to scan the edges of such ledges for any schools of bait fish. When you locate some bait fish, take notice of the depth they are at so you can gauge how deep you need to present your baits.

We cannot stress enough how important having extra sensitivity to strikes in winter is. Winter bass fishing is a true mental and physical challenge and the sad news is you will probably get bites and not even know it. Fish strike baits so soft that it is unlike the majority of strikes you get throughout the warmer seasons of the year. If you feel any resistance whatsoever, by all means set the hook. You do not want a cold water bass to spit your bait out before you can get a handle on the fish. Watch your line and hold your rod lightly with your finger tips for the best sensitivity.

Winter is a tough time for bass fishing, but the bass are still there and can be caught if your patient enough and you use some effective winter bass fishing techniques. good luck out there and tight lines.

#1 Bass quite actively feeding in hot weather

This has to be the most common misconception about bass activity during the dog days of summer! Do you quit feeding when things heat up? I didnt think so and either do bass.

Bass are a cold blooded animal, cold blooded animals that adjust their body temperature to their surroundings. The only major change hot weather will have on bass is their metabolic rate and the speed of some other natural functions. In fact a bass will need to eat more in high temperature conditions to be able to produce and expend enough energy to survive.

Knowing a little bit about fish will go a long way when it comes to your bass fishing success, learn more about fish in our Learn About Fish section.

#2 Bass Will Always Head For Deep Water In Hot Weather

This bass fishing myth almost made it to the number one spot, this is just not the case. Bass do not always move into deep water when things heat up, in fact the time of the year that bass can be found at the deepest depths is winter, not the sweltering days of summer!

Most bass will move into the mid depths during the hot summer months, they wont be as shallow as they were in early spring and no where as deep as many bass anglers assume.

One situation that may entice bass to move into deeper water is the fact that crawfish and smaller bait fish can not sustain in warmer waters, so they will move into deeper, cooler waters. In effect bass will follow the food. Dont misconstrue this though, we are still talking mid levels here, 10 to 15 feet of water or so.

Bass Prefer Specific Temperatures Indexes And Never Stray From Them

There is only one time throughout the year that bass will adhere to a specific temperature range, which is the spring spawn and hatch. Other than this period bass usually seem to disregard temperature fluctuations and do what they normally do follow the food! 95% of a bass’s movements are dictated by the migration of the bait it seeks to feed on the dog days of summer are no different

I hope you have a better understanding of how bass feed and move during the hot summer months, I hope Ive also dispelled a myth or two about bass fishing these periods. Now you know get out there and go bass fishing!

During the late summer to fall transition we begin to see drastic changes and with these changes the angle in which you approach bass fishing must also change. Its time to start changing tactics and presentations in order to continue catching bass.

With falling water temperatures bait fish will start to migrate and begin setting up in their fall staging areas. Many times these bait fish will stage up in creeks, mouths of creeks and main lake points. This movement will entice bass into their transition, the bass will follow suit soon after. Its a simple game of cat and mouse! The trick to catching bass during this seasonal transition is locating the schools of bait fish, when you do your almost sure to also find bass.

Bass can many times be found suspending off secondary points, from which they will begin to move in behind the bait fish and begin feeding. Crankbaits are a good choice for locating these bass. You can cover allot of water with a crankbait at very specific depths, making locating bass a much easier proposition. Spinner baits are also a good choice for locating and honing in on feeding bass.

Once Im in good water I will usually slow things down a bit and start throwing carolina rigged worms or lizards. Jigging tubes rigged with a mushroom head jig will also produce. The movements and feeding habits of bass change daily during the late summer to fall transition, so the key here is to play around with different presentations and baits. Let the bass dictate which lure and presentation you use.

Bass fishing during this period is very rewarding, in fact there is only one other season throughout the year that will produce bigger and better bass, that is the spring spawn. So take advantage of the season, go out and catch some trophy bass!

Just keep in mind that this is a major transition and the bass will feed and act differently from day to day, and hour to hour. You have to stay on top of your game, letting the bait and the bass dictate what lures and techniques you use will go a long way during the late summer to fall bass fishing transition!

The spring season in many areas poses a few problems for smallmouth bass anglers in many areas, one in many states the bass fishing season is still closed when smallmouths begin their yearly prespawn movements and activities. This prevents any chance of observing and studying the smallmouth bass during this period. Some states allow angler to study and follow smallmouth bass year round, even in these areas much of the smallmouths prespawn activities remain a mystery. With that being said lets move forward.

Fishing gear of choice for early season smallmouth bass;

• 6 1/2′ medium action baitcasting rod
• A medium sized baitcasting reel
• 10 to 12 LB mono

In most rivers throughout the country early spring means higher river levels, dirty waters and strong currents. In these conditions prespawn smallmouth bass will move away from the main channels of the river and into protected coves, and shorelines that provide less current and more cover.

The most common areas that smallmouth bass will spawn in are areas of small gravel and rock. Smallmouth bass will rarely spawn in sandy areas, unless of course there is gravel mixed with the sand. The optimum set up for spawning smallmouth bass is in water that is less than 5 feet deep and is free of heavy current.

Your presentation for fishing early season smallmouth bass should be allot of water at a fairly high speed. your lures should not be over sized, nor to loud, the key here is covering allot of water fast, yet being fairly quiet and stealthy about it. At this point you are scouting and locating once you have found where the bass are holding, slow your presentation down a bit and make more concentrated casts.

Natural colored crankbaits and spinner baits work well in situations like this. Try throwing crank baits in open water that consists mostly of rock, submerged timber and tree stumps. Try using spinner baits in denser cover along flooded shorelines and flooded areas. They work great for fishing weeds, semi submerged brush and timber.

Remember though focus on slack water, the tail end of islands, protected coves, and any other areas that offer protection form the push of the main current and you should do well fishing for them early season smallmouth bass.

The most important aspect of going deep for largemouth bass is using the proper gear. You may have to put down your favorite rod and pick up something a little different to get the job done. This is one of the biggest mistakes bass anglers make from season to season. They become accustom to fishing with their favorite gear and rarely stray from using it. When in reality each set of circumstances calls for the right gear to get the job done, not the gear you are most accustom to using.

Some of my favorite baits for picking off deep largemouth bass are deep diving crank baits. as well as these baits work on bass holding in deep water they can become very tiring. Fishing a deep diving crankbait for hours on end can really put a hurting on your wrists as well as your forearm. So with this in mind I choose to use a 7′ with an extended but section. My favorite rods for the job are St. Croix Avid Series Rods! They have that long but section that I use to rest against my waist to prevent fatigue and also provide a level of sensitivity need for fishing deep. Whichever brand of fishing rod you choose to go with just make sure it has plenty of strength a medium to a medium heavy at 7′ with the long but section is idea for deep water bass fishing.

The next critical piece of equipment I should mention is your fishing reel. Selecting a high quality reel with a smooth drag system and the ability to hold allot of line for long casts is important here. The reel should also have a high gear ratio, the higher gear ratio will burn your baits to the bottom without burning up your cranking wrist.

I generally use a line weight of over 12Lb test in these deep water situations, if Im fishing a deep running crank Ill go higher, jigging in deep water ill go lower. Just keep in mind that when fishing a crank your main objective is to one get the bait in the strike zone obviously, but two you want to be bashing the bait off rocks and other structure which will lead to the best of lines breaking down, fraying and becoming weak. Also remember to strip a few feet of line off your spool when retying, you don’t want to tie a new lure on a frayed or damaged length of line.

One of the most frustrating aspects of fishing deep for bass is the fact that you will loose more gear. You will also bring up much more junk with your retrieves. This can get frustrating and even costly, keeping a lure retriever on hand can lessen the loss. Also learning the correct way to get a lure free from a snag can be of great value. There are specific techniques you can use that will loosen your lures grip on whatever its snagged on, just be sure to pull to hard or get to aggressive or you might just spook some really good fish.

My lure of choice during this mid summer period, top water baits of course! You would do just as well with blades or grubs during this period of time, but why would anyone want to fish those if the bass are eager enough to smash top water baits? Don’t get me wrong here, there will be days during this period that top waters wont produce, but it is always my starting point during the mid summer bite.

I’ve found the best top water bites take place on those HOT, muggy, mid summer days when there is a low pressure system in place. You know those days when the air is so thick you can barely breath? Those are the days you need to get out there and take these fish off the top.

I am fortunate enough to live within minuets of one of the best smallmouth bass fisheries in the world, the Susquehanna River in north east PA. In this river it is not uncommon to catch 100 smallmouth bass off the top in a days time during the mid summer period, 50 smallies in a days time is really quite average.

During this period I change my focus and start fishing faster waters. Oxygen levels in the faster moving water is higher, so naturally shiners and other bait fish migrate to these areas, in turn the smallmouth bass follow and feed. I stay away from the extremely slow moving waters, whether they be deep or shallow. Moving water is key to catching these mid summer bass.

The mid summer top water bite is by far my favorite time of the year to fish for bass, or any other type of fish for that matter and Im sure it will quickly become your favorite as well after getting on a good mid summer top water bite.