07-26-2003, 03:10 AM
Largemouth bass: Look for early-season bigmouths in reasonably shallow water (less than 6 feet) and near emerging weeds. After the spawn, they start prowling near weedbeds for food, and aquatic vegetation provides sufficient cover for an effective ambush.
A favorite lure during the early season is a white spinnerbait. This lure often is called a "buzzbait" because of how it buzzes when retrieved.
Cast them near weedbeds or emerging weeds, and pay attention to small open pockets or indentations along the edges. These lures are not completely weedless but seldom hang up. Start the retrieve as the lure hits the water, and reel fast enough to "buzz" it across or just below the surface. The trick is to barely tick the weeds, and the strikes are hard.
Another early trick is to fish pockets of cattails when the bass are in the shallows. A Johnson Silver Minnow with a pork-rind frog can be cast into the heavy cover and twitched around and over the cattails. Hold the rod tip high, and flutter the rig through the tall weeds. It pays off with big fish.
Summer bassin' is a favorite time because anglers can fish shallow or deep. Fish shallow in the early morning, late evening or after dark, and fish deeper water during midday. Once the sun goes down is a time for exciting fishing.
Use a Hula Popper or Jitterbug (black or yellow are great colors), and fish them in stops and starts. Use rod-tip action to make a Hula Popper chug and pop on the surface. A Jitterbug can be retrieved steadily or with occasional pauses. Let these lures lie still on the surface for 15 seconds before retrieving them.
A Carolina- or Texas-rigged plastic worm inched slowly across bottom is productive in hot weather. If a strike is felt, give the fish a moment to ball the worm in its mouth before setting the hook. Black or brown worms work well, but multicolored plastic worms also produce. Experiment with colors.
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A favorite lure during the early season is a white spinnerbait. This lure often is called a "buzzbait" because of how it buzzes when retrieved.
Cast them near weedbeds or emerging weeds, and pay attention to small open pockets or indentations along the edges. These lures are not completely weedless but seldom hang up. Start the retrieve as the lure hits the water, and reel fast enough to "buzz" it across or just below the surface. The trick is to barely tick the weeds, and the strikes are hard.
Another early trick is to fish pockets of cattails when the bass are in the shallows. A Johnson Silver Minnow with a pork-rind frog can be cast into the heavy cover and twitched around and over the cattails. Hold the rod tip high, and flutter the rig through the tall weeds. It pays off with big fish.
Summer bassin' is a favorite time because anglers can fish shallow or deep. Fish shallow in the early morning, late evening or after dark, and fish deeper water during midday. Once the sun goes down is a time for exciting fishing.
Use a Hula Popper or Jitterbug (black or yellow are great colors), and fish them in stops and starts. Use rod-tip action to make a Hula Popper chug and pop on the surface. A Jitterbug can be retrieved steadily or with occasional pauses. Let these lures lie still on the surface for 15 seconds before retrieving them.
A Carolina- or Texas-rigged plastic worm inched slowly across bottom is productive in hot weather. If a strike is felt, give the fish a moment to ball the worm in its mouth before setting the hook. Black or brown worms work well, but multicolored plastic worms also produce. Experiment with colors.
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