5 Large Mouth Bass Fishing Tips

If you're new to bass fishing and really want to up your game, these 5 largemouth bass fishing tips will help you learn what it takes to consistently land fish. Whether you fish from a boat or from shore, you need to learn the basics if you want to be successful. From picking out your first rod and reel to knowing how to find that lunker bass, the following five largemouth bass fishing tips will walk you through the first baby steps to becoming a better bass angler.

1. Picking A Rod And Reel Combo While learning to catch bass, most beginners do best with a medium action rod. A five foot (about 1.5 meters) rod is a good starting point. A spin-cast, or closed face reel, is the easiest to master. The simple push button design makes them ideal for beginners. There are a lot rod and reel manufacturers out there. To get a good feel for what's best for you, head out to a sporting goods store or tackle shop and try a few. Most reputable shops have knowledgeable sales staff that will help you pick the right one.
2. Live Bait Or Lure? There are literally hundreds of brands, styles, and colors of fishing lures available; and each type of bass lure has its own unique fishing technique. For a novice bass angler, live bait is a much less complicated (and less expensive) way to go. If you're on a budget, you can easily catch your own live bait for free. As you get better at finding and catching largemouth bass, you can always begin to add artificial bass lures to your tackle box one or two at a time.
3. Fishing From A Boat If you already have a boat, that's great. Keep in mind that largemouth bass prefer relatively shallow water. You'll probably catch the majority of your fish at depths of fifteen feet or less, but they do like to stay close to deeper water.  Fishing the edge of a drop off is often a productive bass fishing technique, as is fishing around rock piles and other submerged structure. Don't spend too much time in one place. If you don't have a strike within five or ten well placed casts, reposition and try from a different angle, or a completely new spot. With a boat, you can increase your chances of catching bass by covering a lot of area in a short time.
4. Shore Fishing If you don't have a boat, that's okay, too. You can find just as many fish from the shore if you know what to look for. Weed beds, stumps, and fallen trees are prime bass fishing hotspots.  Watch for bait fish to be active near the surface. That often means there's a big bass nearby.
5. How To Find Largemouth Bass Now that you have your rod and reel, it's time to get out on the water. Knowing where bass like to hide can make the difference between a great day of bass fishing, and going home empty handed. Depending on where you live, bass fishing tips and techniques can vary a lot, but in general, these are the places that bass love to hide:

• Structure- This is anything that changes the contour of the bottom. Fish around submerged logs and brush piles, drop-offs (sudden depth changes), or pilings.
• Cover- Any place a bass hides. Look for weed beds, undercut river banks, and docks, just to name a few popular fishing spots.
• Points- An inside bend in a stream or river or a rocky outcropping are examples of points. They make excellent ambush points for hungry bass. Try floating a lure or bait past a point and there's a pretty good chance you'll get a strike.

Now you can get out there and have fun! If you get to the lake often, and keep these five largemouth bass fishing tips in mind, you'll be hauling in the big bass like a pro. Just remember to practice the catch and release philosophy. If you take a picture instead of taking the fish, he'll be even bigger the next time you catch him.

Michigan Department of Natural Resources: Bass