You can find these materials in grocery stores, discount stores, and outdoor stores all across the country. Just go in and ask for guides published by your state’s parks and wildlife division. The information will usually be located in the same area where they sell and distribute hunting and fishing licenses.

What to Look for in Bass Fishing Lakes

Just remember what makes bass fishing waters great – lots of varied structured, lots of cover, and warm, but not hot water. Remember that bass usually bite the best when the water temperature is between 68 and 80 degrees. So once you have your sights set on a particular lake to fish, see if the parks and wildlife division has a topographic map of that lake. Look for points, drop offs, holes, and any other sharp contrasting structure. These will be good areas to test when you are fishing.

Then, ask them if there are any fishing reports for that lake. This will give you an idea of what type of lures are working for that lake, and that season. It should also let you know about the water clarity, temperature, and movements of the bass.

After that, check the weather report, and make sure that there will not be a significant change in the weather when you go fishing. This is not necessarily a bad thing, as you can catch tons of bass just before a cold front hits, but it may kill the rest of your fishing. Steady weather patterns create steady bass feeding patterns, making the fishing reports reliable.

The Best Bass Fishing Lakes

Ok, so now that you have an idea of what to look for in a lake, let me give you a list of top bass fishing lakes in the US. Here they are:

This list was courtesly provided by Dan Eggertsen of http://www.askbassfishing.com/ and his US bass fishing page.

So that’s where using live bait comes in. You see, with a live salamander, worm, frog, or minnow, you can use a slow retrieve, and the bait will still have plenty of action in the water. Additionally, with live bait, you will have the benefit of scent in the water. Most artificial lures do not have any scent (unless you are using the new Gulp lures, or something similar), which can be a major player in murky or otherwise visually impaired bass holding areas.

I’ll have to say again, that bass eat a wide variety of foods. From an inch long fry, to a small grasshopper, to foot long worms, salamanders and eels, the largemouth bass likes it all. One thing you want to try to do is to make sure the bait that you are using stays alive, and thrashing in the water. The more action, the better. So baits that survive longer will be easier to manage, and help you (especially during tough economical times) to stay out there longer.

Many top anglers will tell you that the waterdog is the best live bait to use for bass fishing. The waterdog is a tiger salamander in its larva stage. For some reason, these young salamanders are just super appealing to bass. If you are fishing a deep cover area, you may be able to use a free hook, hook the waterdog through it lips in an upward fashion to ensure the water dog can easily swim right side up, throw your line right into the cover area, and allow the waterdog to swim as it likes through the cover, and to get hammered by a hungry bass.

Another favorite bass live bait among bass fisherman is the frog. A live frog can provide some great action in the water, and along with the scent, can drive a stubborn bass into striking. Again, hook these frogs in the lips with the barb facing up, and work them through good, shaded cover areas with a slow retrieve.

Another technique you can try out is using a spinnerbait or other lure, and adding some live bait to it. You’ll still get the action that the lure produces (except in the case of crankbait) and you’ll have the added benefit of the natural scent and appeal of the live bait.

So get yourself some live bait, and get started fishing for bass with live bait.

Warm Fronts

During the winter, if a warm front comes through for several days, as the water warms up, the bass will tend to come up from the deeper water to the surface, to catch the rays of sun. This can provide better fishing for anglers, because the shallow runners will be usable, and the fish will be more likely to feed in the warmer water.

On the flip side, an unusually warm front that comes through in the summer time may cause bass to be sluggish in feeding, as they tend to not like to feed when the water temperature is above 80 degrees.

Cold Fronts

Bass tend to sense when a cold front is about to hit, and they do not like to feed during the front. So a few hours before a cold front sets in, you can be in an utter feeding frenzy! But don’t be late! Once it comes in, the bass will dive looking for warmer water and will refrain from feeding for several days until the front moves on.

I remember one time fishing with my uncle, and we were just shy of catching some great fish. There was a cold front coming in, and we hit the water, caught a couple of fish, and the action just stopped. What I would have done to get there just a couple of hours earlier!

Wind

The wind can have a significant impact on successful bass fishing. Constant wind can be the catalyst that drives bait fish to congregate in certain areas to feed, and thus bring in the big boys! But heavy winds can cause to much turbulence, and drive the bass into deeper waters, harder to find, and thus harder to catch.

A moderate wind that creates waves on the shore can be a good sign for bass fishing. This will cause the bottom to be stirred up slightly, creating murky water near the shore. The bass will come and hang out along the mud line, and feed.

Rain

Rain can be a good thing for bass fishing. The clouds will create shade, and bass will be more comfortable in the shallow water. Runoff from rain can deposit mud and create some murky water, and again, bass will move in on the line between the clear and murky water. But if runoff muddies up the entire body of water, then the “biting” will likely turn off.

Where does largemouth bass spawning occur?

The male bass spends time looking for the perfect area to build their nest. They will travel up and down the shore line, looking for that perfect spot. The bass are looking for firm bottoms in about 1 to 4 feet of water in which to build their nests. They’ll tend to choose areas with weeds, lilies, or bulrushes, but the bottom must be solid, thus bass will not usually go for areas where the bottom is mostly silt. If there aren’t enough covered areas, the bass will go for open areas on the sunny side of a rock or log submerged in the water.

Bass usually will not setup a nest close to another nest location. So if they can see another male setting up a nest, they will move on. This generally leads to nests being about 30 feet or more apart. Once they find a spot to spawn, they will use a shaking motion of the head tail to stir up the bottom and remove the loose debris. This will lead to a saucer shaped depression in the bottom of the shallow area.

It is important to note that the largemouths will not begin the actual spawn until the water temperature reaches 63 – 68 degrees Fahrenheit. The water temperature must remain in this range for several day in order for the bass to spawn. If a cold front or other weather interrupts this water temperature range, it will delay the spawn. Once that temperature is right and the fish are ready to spawn, the male will nudge the female to release the eggs, then the male will cover the eggs with his sperm (also called milt).

The typical nest will yield 2,000 – 10,000 fry (baby bass) from which only about 4 or 5 bass will reach 10 inches in length. After the fry reach 1 inch in length, the male bass watching over them will relinquish them, and may even begin to eat them.

So if you are in the spawning season, and the temperature is right, look for those saucer shaped depressions in shallow water, as those are the best spots to fish! Because of the instinctive protection measures that the male bass exerts over its young, these bass are going to be prone to striking a lure or other bait that invades their spawning territory. So using vibrant colors during this time of the year has merit. A hot pink or red crank bait moving through a spawning ground of a protective male bass may very well lead to a defensive strike, and thus a fish!