Night Time Bass Fishing

One of my favorite things about nighttime bass fishing is that it’s another one of those opportunities to catch a real trophy sized bass.  To this day, there are still not as many folks that go out night fishing as you would think… and in turn, there’s less pressure on bass.

In our latest article, we discuss some of the basics for night time bass fishing such as: Timing, Safety, Lighting, Pest Management, Lures, Colors and locations.  If you haven't tried fishing at night, you're missing the boat.

Read On About Night Time Bass Fishing

Mental Preparation A Must

Most tournament anglers make time to spool up new line, change out hooks, oil reels, and perform any other maintenance that may be required on their equipment prior to tournament day, but many don't spend enough time preparing themselves mentally.  Perhaps one of the most important thing I found that gives me a competitive advantage in tournament competition is being mentally prepared before a tournament.

If you were to ask a consistent winning tournament angler how they prepare for a tournament, I'd bet you dollars to donuts one of the items on their check list would be mental preparation.  In fact many of the top competitors in any sport know that to win, you have to have your head in the game long before the game even starts.  I'm sure it's not the first time you've heard this mentioned, but what does it really mean and how does one go about preparing themselves mentally for a fishing tournament?  Here's what I like to do...

Bass Fishing Article Continued

A Jig and What?

If you've never tried this combo, now is the time.  Here are some tips from prostaff team member Dan Galusha on this Early Spring Jig Combo.

When early Spring arrives a lot of attention turns to a jig-n-pig combination for bass fish. This has long been a favorite, and rightfully so, as it is a great producer for lunker bass. However, during the last two seasons I’ve found a smaller and slimmer jig combination. The combination, which I found to be very productive, is the black/purple, Gripper Hair Rubber Bass Jig with a 4-inch, black Mann’s Jelly Worm. For added attraction, Kodiak Crawfish Paste is applied to the blackberry scented worm trailer.

Early Spring Jig Fishing continued...

Bank Fishing

People always ask me if I still like to fish from the banks or shorelines since I have a boat and compete in tournaments.  My answer is always YES.  In fact, my favorite part of shoreline fishing is that you don't need a lot of time to go.  Here's a nice bass I caught during a lunch break from work.

I've been bass fishing since I was a kid and fishing from the shoreline was my only option for quite some time. I will admit that having a boat has advantages, the ability to cover far more water in less time.  But even as a boat owner, I haven't forgotten my roots.  

You don't always need a boat to catch a big bass.  As matter of fact, one of my personal bests to date was caught bank fishing.  Never underestimate fishing from shorelines of a lake or pond.  Every body of water has at least one dominant bass.  

There are a few tips I follow that have helped me be more successful when fishing from the bank.

Here are some bank fishing tips:

• Fishing equipment or gear
  Less is more.  Better to pack lite so you can move around more freely and cover more water. The more spots you hit the better chance you have landing a big bass. 

• How to approach the shoreline
  Bass spook easily, especially lunkers, so make sure that you are quiet when you approach the shoreline.

• What to look for to find bass
  Big bass like heavy cover on the bank. When you think of cover think of weeds, branches in the water, shade, basically anything a bass can use to “cover” itself.  Make sure you have polarized glasses, they really help to find underwater structure and cover.

• Different Casting techniques
  Shoreline access is usually limited and surrounded by obstacles.  Being proficient in as many casting techniques as possible, will increase your ability to place a lure into key areas.  

Check out my article on bank fishing tips.  There, I explain in more details how to apply each of these tactics and techniques.  

Whether you have a boat or not, never underestimate fishing the banks of a lake or pond, they can produce some really nice bass.

Ice Out Bass Tactics

Ice out is something that is highly anticipated by the northern anglers.   Many lakes, reservoirs and ponds can freeze solid for several months, keeping you away from catching bass, unless you’re an ice fishermen.  As the end of winter approaches, all we keep saying is “when will the ice finally start to melt?”  When the winter continues to linger on the excitement for the ice out builds.   For those of you who didn’t spend your free time during the winter organizing your tackle boxes, cleaning your reels and all the other stuff us northerners do, you’ve got some work ahead of you if you want to be ready for ice out bass fishing!

Ice out can be a great time of year to go bass fishing, if you understand the transition bass make from their wintering holes to their spawning grounds.   The bass have been hunkering down all winter in very cold waters, as the ice and snow melts away, water temps begin rapidly increasing drawing the bass to move to more shallow areas where the water is warmer.

Locating Bass

Largemouth and Smallmouth bass can be found in many locations from steep bluff walls with stair-stepping ledges to shallow, dark bottom areas near rocks and weeds where there’s more heat.  The one common factor you need to search for is the transition areas that bass will use to get from deep to shallow.  On larger man made impoundments, old road beds, creek channels and stone walls can be used as a road map that shows you how bass will move from point to point:

A (wintering holes) to

B (deep transitional structures, bluffs, rock ledges, points, etc.) to

C (shallow transitional structures like rock piles, docks and emerging weed beds) to

D (Spawning flats)

Read More Finding Bass When the Ice Melts

Tackle Giveaway Register Now!

Register now for your chance to win a BASSIN' USA.com Hat and two packs of Havoc baits autographed my Mike Iaconelli courtesy of Northern Bass Supply...

To register simply fill out our registration form.  You must put "Havoc Bait Giveaway" in the subject line to be enter into our drawing.  All entries must be submittted before Midnight (EST) March 31, 2014.

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER!

Rockland County Hunting and Fishing Expo - 2014

Had a great time at the Rockland County Hunting and Fishing Expo this weekend.  Had a chance to speak with Bassmaster Classic runner up Paul Mueller, Mike Iaconelli as well as several companies like Northern Bass Supply, Mega Strike, Shane's Baits and more...

We have some great video footage coming soon as well as some give away items including two packs of Havoc baits autographed my Mike Iaconelli courtesy of Sandra at Northern Bass Supply!

Bobby Uhrig founder of Mega Strike was also kind enough to donate a gift BASS-kit loaded with lures from Mega Strike which will also be giving away.

Visit  Bass Fishing at BASSIN' USA.com for more details!

Consolidate your Bass Fishing Tackle

On the Bassinusa.com message boards there's a discussion about limiting the amount of lures that they carry on their boats.   There's such a vast amount of lures out there that we use for different techniques. We try to consolidate in the beginning of the season, but as one of our members posted "by mid-season there will be a small tackle shop in the boat!"

What do you do to limit the amount of clutter in the boat?

Here's what I've done to help keep the clutter to a minimum.

I've started creating smaller boxes that contain everything I need for a specific technique. Plano makes a great waterproof tray model 3640-10 that allows you to separate the interior layout in some very usable configurations:

 
For example, drop shotting. I have a small dropshot box that contains my three top producing colors which mimic the forage in the areas that I am fishing. (When traveling to other areas, I can swap out colors as needed), Weights I keep loose in the compartment on the right along with hooks which I leave inside their plastic jacket. I mostly use Gamskatsu hooks, so the package fits nicely inside this size box.

I have another one setup for jigs, swimbaits, grubs, tubes, etc.

For jig heads, I keep a separate box (same size) with a variety of the jig heads that I commonly use.

I one larger box that I use for bulk hooks, weights and other terminal tackle (swivels, split rings, etc.)

Like you suggested, I also have combined my crankbaits into one box, with a variety of colors and sizes sorted by Depth. I like a double sided box for this. I'll put 0' -12' on top and the Over 12' on the bottom (or other side).

Top water lures I keep in a medium size box that can hold about 15-20 lures (depending on size).

I have a spinnerbait/buzzbait box:

 

I keep a Plano box that holds all my fishing line and another stand-up bin that holds pliers, glue, scissors, flashlight, and other tools, etc.

I have a small mesh bag that holds my culling scale and rings (up to 10)

Everything fights into one bag that fits in the back compartment of my Ranger. That's the test, if I can keep everything down to that size, if I ever need to jump in someone else's boat, I'm good to go...

From there, I keep bulk plastics in big zip lock freezer bags that can be left in a bin which can be left at a hotel, or the truck and if I'm really paranoid, I can always through a couple in the boat compartments because there' usually plenty of room left over.