Starting Bass Fishing
People just starting out at largemouth bass fishing are embarking on an extremely rewarding and exciting sport. This activity has also been known to be somewhat addictive as it does call for some techniques and methods one has to master in order to become successful.
While starting a new hobby usually will require a monetary investment into the fishing tackle that is needed, you won’t have to spend a fortune on new gear when getting started with bass fishing. All you will need are the basic pieces including a fishing reel and rod, fishing line, hooks and bait. You can often times find these for a total of around $50. This is all that you will need in order to begin reeling in plenty of bass. Tackle shops or sporting goods stores will have every item that you need.
Once you have all of your fishing gear set up and ready to go, it is time to get out onto the water and begin fishing. You will want to start in the shallower parts of the water as bass tend to prefer these areas. This will also assist in familiarizing you with your new equipment. Once you feel as if you have somewhat of a feel for the task, you can then begin to venture out into deeper waters in order to focus on the bigger fish. You will want to aim to fish near drop offs in the water or submerged logs or trees to find the big ones.
You may begin to notice that depending on the time of day, different fishing methods may work better at one time then at another. Very early in the morning as well as dusk, you might have better luck at hooking some largemouth bass in shallower areas as they search for small animals and bugs. During these hours, smaller bait and tackle will work the best. Later in the morning and early afternoon, the bass will usually move out into the cooler parts of the water where it is deeper in order to wait until it cools off so they can once again feed. These are the times that you will want to use bottom lures like crankbait and jigs. Cast them into deeper regions and retrieve them slowly for the best chances.
Once you have felt a fish bite, never make the mistake of prematurely setting the hook, or jerking back on the line in order to ensure the hook penetrates the mouth. If you don’t wait for the bass to fully get the bait within its jaws you will unfortunately only reel in your hook. Wait until the fish have taken some of your lines slack and then go for it. Now all that’s left to do is reel him in!