Tuesday, March 23, 2010

Bass Fishing Strategies

Are you ready to fill your boat with big bass? While many people enjoy the sport, only those who study fish behavior patterns and strategies for catching them will land fish regularly.

You should begin your study of bass behavior by understanding the factors that influence that behavior. Food sources, temperature, cover, and oxygen are primary factors. Learn how each impacts the life of a bass, and you will increase your catch rate.

Fish need to eat. Bass feed on many living creatures, including other small fish, worms, snakes, mice, bugs, frogs, and crayfish. You can increase your chances by studying which food sources are plentiful in the lake or river that you are fishing. If bluegill are swimming around, chances are a crank bait or minnow will catch a bass or two. If the bottom is rocky, you might have luck crawling a crayfish along the bottom. In weedy areas, try frogs; chances are the shores are lined with them, and they make a great treat for a hunting bass.

Try to adjust your presentation so that it mimics the real life food sources in the lake. Also, try adjusting your lure color based on the actual creatures in the lake, but also take water color into consideration. If the water is stained, you might need to try a different color to help the fish see the lure.

Temperature has a great impact on the life of the bass. Remember, fish are cold-blooded. That means a fish will become lethargic in very cold water. Bass will rarely bite in water below 50 degrees. That is why bass fishing is so difficult in the winter months. You can pull a lure right in front of the fish and not get a bite, because the fish has a much slower metabolism. Therefore, it eats less and reacts less quickly to food sources.

Cover is also an important factor. Bass are predators; they like to ambush prey from a safe location. Often they will hide inside weed beds, under submerged tree branches, and under boat docks. Fish these structures carefully and thoroughly.

Oxygen is also important. Living plants provide food for bugs, worms, and microscopic organisms. These, in turn, provide food for tiny fish and frogs. These fish and frogs are food for the hungry bass. Therefore, where you find plant life, you will also usually find bass. Without oxygen, underwater life can not survive, so narrow down your scope by focusing on lake areas with plenty of plant life.

For tips on catching summer bass, check out MichiganBassFishingGuide.com.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Craig_H

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