Your Bass Fishing Expertise Is Needed

There are ALOT of very good bass fishermen on this forum and then there also are guys like me who aren’t much of a bass fisherman who needs you to share your great fishing knowledge with me/us so we may learn more about bass fishing. Such info like type of reels, rods, line, lures, plastics, jigs, patterns, when to use what lure and where, etc would all be very helpfull. I’m sure you bass experts will know of other things that would help us learn too. I very much appreciate your knowledge of this sport fish and look forward to learning from yous. Thanks in advance guys.
Thanks, Bill

Bill, I am not an expert but I do catch some bass. Today I had an extraordinary day. I caught 2 over six pounds, 5 more over 4 pounds, and several more over 14 inches. I was fishing a public lake in Illinois. The barometer was jumping up and down. Perfect day for fishing except the high winds made boat control a constant job. I personally use Excabiler 17 lb line on most of my rigs, I do use 12lb on my Senko rod. If you do not do it already, learn to “pitch”, that way you can lay a bait down accurately and without much splash. This is important. You already know that gamet of baits us bass guys use, so use them. One thing a lot of bass guys around here do not do enough is pitch crankbaits around timber. This is a deadly combination. Just use a fairly big/heavy shallow diving crankbait and hang on. You will get hung up occassionally, but not as much as you would think. Keep your rod tip high when doing this and run the crankbait into the timber, then let it float up after it hits. A lot of times the hits come when the bait stops and begins to float up. Then just reel until you feel the fish and set the hook. Remember to use a net on big fish with crankbaits, they can throw these better than you would think. If you have any questions, PM me.– Rob

Here’s where all of the bass guys say “Hey… who let the Walleye guy in here ?”

I’ll probably end up showing my ignorance over walleyes more then giving you bass tips but here’s my impulse thoughts..

I would think as far as rod/reel go, my existing spinning outfit would work fine for bass, walleye, panfish, etc. I’m using Pfugers President reel on a 7 foot med action rod with 8lb floro.

As far as plastics we’re concerned, I started by texas rigging worms on a Power pro braided line, Gander guide series baitcaster & a 6’6″ Fenwick MH. I started with the Gulp product in a 7″ turtle back worm in shallow water. The Gulps aren’t great for longevity, by the time you pull up anchor & move to another spot, they start to dry out bad enough to rig another. (someone please shoot me if I’m sounding like an advertisement)

Try throwing some of those in shallow 1-7 feet water in the spring around opener & be sure to post us pics of your success !!

Enjoy !!

Also.. Plastics on sale at Gander right now so might be able to pickup 10 pumpkin guide series tubes for $1.49..

If this helps you in anyway.. send me a walleye tip cause I know nothing about them except they sure to taste good !!

Bill,

I don’t think there’s that much difference in the actual fishing for either species. Location of course is a lot different, and there are some differences in presentation. Since Bass (especially Largemouth Bass)tend to hang around in heavy cover you can get away with heavier line and terminal tackle than you would with Walleyes. But I still maintain that jigging is jigging, whether the jig is a rubber worm, a “Bass Jig”, a ringworm, a jig/minnow, a hair jig, etc. It’s all pretty much the same skill. Same thing with crankbaits.

The biggest difference is gong to be where you find the fish, not how you catch them.

Rootski

Thanks guys. Keep the tips coming as there are alot of members who fish for other spieces here from what I’ve seen from their postings. Learning how to catch other fish than the one you usually chase after can save a day many times when your favorite isn’t biting. The more multispieces fishermen and fishergals we all become the more we learn and start ”thinking like a fish.” That may sound funny to some but in order to catch them we need to better understand them. And that makes our time on the water alot more fun.

Thanks, Bill

ps. Here you go Theodore

Here is some good info on plastics that Robby sent to me in a pm. I am posting it with his permission. Thanks Robby.

Bill, thanks for the link to FLW on demand, very cool! When fishing tubes I personally use casting gear, a medium to medium-heavy rig. If you are going to fish wingdams and the like a spinning rig could also work. I would opt for this when fishing deeper structure like rock piles in norther lakes. Anyways, I use 3 1/2 to 4 1/2 tubes, most being right at 4 inches. I like salt impregnated tubes or the new floating tubes from Gene Larew. The Larew tubes are pretty fragile and are sometimes only good for one fish. Most of the time I rig with a 3/0 or 4/0 EWG hook,( I use Gamakatsu, but there are many quality hooks out there) depending on the tube. Take your tube and lay it flat, next compare the 3/0 and 4/0 hook to the tube. The best match occurres when the eye of the hook is even with the top of the tube and the bend of the hook falls about even with the top edge of the tentacles. Some have longer tentacles. First thing is to feed a bullet weight on the line. In slack water I usually use 1/8th oz, 3/16 for slack water with weeds, and 1/4 for current. I only peg the weight when I absolutely have to, like when in really thick weeds. I tie the hook on using a Trilene knot, the palomar is plenty strong, but is a fatter know and tears the nose of the tube more. So thread on your bullet weight with the point towards the rod tip, then tie on the hook. Next Texas rig the tube, make sure you pull the entire knot inside the tube. This rig is extremely snag resistant when rigged right. Cast your line to likely cover or structure and let it fall straight down. A lot of the time the strike occurres on the fall. Let it hit bottom, if it makes it there. Keep your rod tip at about the 10 o’clock position. Move the bait in short hops with the rod tip, only taking in slack line when the tube is on the bottom. When you get hit a lot of times you will feel a “ping”, at that point reel in until you feel the fish and then quickly set the hook HARD. Imagine crossing the fishes eyes when you set up. One very important thing is to keep your eyes on your line. Sometimes you will not feel a hit, you will just notice your line to jump a bit. Same thing, reel till you feel, then set up HARD. Other times you will simply see your line moving away or towards you, the fish has it and you never felt a thing. This all takes practice, if I can do it, rest assured you can. Another great bait is the Senko or stick worm. Check these out, some call them “do nothing baits). And boy do they catch fish sometimes. Anyways, I am no expert, but do catch some bass. Feel free to ask me anything you think I may be able to help you with. Take care and good fishing!– Rob