Bass Fishing

The dog days of summer are upon us once again and once again the largemouth bass have made their way to deeper waters. Some anglers dread this time of the year, while others look at it as just another season and another movement they must make adjustments for in order to bag bass. I am hoping you are the later, or at least interested in becoming the later.

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.