bass fishing locally

[Bofire]

  I saw people this week on St Clair lake, casting lures toward the shore, I assume for Bass. How can I learn about this? I have a little boat but no knowledge. catch trout steelhead but never tried for bass.
Share a trip??
Carl

[Black Plague]

I would go to youtube  .....   then go find someone that fishes for bass and pay your way for them to take you out.   

[bassquatch]

For getting started do the following:

Buy 2 spinning rod and reel set ups. Try and get reels that come with spare spools? That will in essence give you 4 rods! Make 1 rod a medium action and 1 a med-hvy action. Spool the medium with 8lb mono and 8lb fluorocarbon on separate spools. Spool the med-hvy with 20-30lb braid and 10-12lb mono on separate spools. This will give you about all the options you will need for starters. (If you are familiar with a baitcaster then make 1 a baitcasting rig for the heavier line)

Bass are cover / structure oriented so you will spend your novice years pounding the bank and you will catch bass! Cover means "objects" in the lake, ie... docks, rocks, logs, grass, reeds etc.. Structure means the features of the lake, ie, drop offs, flats, humps, channels etc...

Buy these simple lures to start:
Spinnerbait: 1/4 - 3/8oz in gold shiner or chartreuse/white (run a trailer hook)
Jig: 1/4 - 1/2oz black and blue and a pack of Zoom Super Chunk Jr's or Paca Craws to use as trailers.
Buzzbait: 3/8oz BLACK! Single blade for starters.
Crankbait: Rapala DT6 in a couple colors that match the forage will get you started.

Throw the Buzzbait on the braid, the jig on braid (just color the line black from the jig up 3')
Throw the spinnerbait on the 10-12lb test
Use the cranks on the 8lb set ups.

As mentioned, go on YouTube and study! Bass can be very easy to catch or can make want to join a monastery, but they are a ton of fun to pursue!!!!!!!!!!!

Good luck and welcome to the sport! 

The above won't break the bank, are the top bass producing lures possibly of all time and if you decide you don't like it those rod and reel combo's are pretty versatile for other species.

[bwhntr350]

So, I thought that I would respond to this thread, and in doing so, it came out long, very, very long. Sorry. After I typed it all out I figured that I would not post it. Don't want to be "that guy". But, after reading it, I think I will post it. If this new guy takes just one or two things from my long winded post, then great!

[bwhntr350]

You will learn more by just doing it. I am a self taught basser of 5 years now. It is amazing how much you will evolve from your beginning days. I have boxes of junk that I have bought and will, now, never use. If you stick with it and have the budget you will, continually, be adding to your arsenal of rods and reels, baits, colors of bait, line, boats, motors...it is a sickness. A sickness that you will not understand until you catch a few fish and fall in love with the sport. You will be on the internet @tacklewarehouse.com everyday wanting this or wishing for that.

 Are you married?

 If so, don't even start. If you are and you want to stay married through this period, make your wife your #1 fishing partner. Make her believe you that you really have to make this $150 order or that $300 order and that you really do need 8 rods (sorry, getting ahead of myself, you will see though, in time, in time). Make her think that those two new rods and reels are for her to enjoy, as well. Maybe even tell her that without this stuff you cannot take her fishing because of a lack of gear.

 Stay humble. I don't care who you are and how good you get, nobody likes an arrogant know it all. It is only fish and these fish hardly have a brain. Because you may be good at it does not make you a better human. Stay real. Keep learning everyday. Ask questions, much like you did, then take it to the lake. Don't be afraid to fail. Don't get discouraged when you get skunked 6 trips in a row. Just know that someday, when it all starts to click, that some guy may ask you for help. Give him what you can.

 Practice catch and release for preservation of the sport. If you are curious and want to eat some of these fish, eat the little 12 inchers. Don't kill the big spawners. Target them and then treat them well if you catch one. A lot of people think that if they catch an 8 pounder that they have to kill it. Not true. Worse thing to do. Proven fact: Big fish spawn big fish! Take some pictures, take a measurement, use a cloth tape and take it's girth and let the fish go. A fiberglass mount can be made from this criteria and will last you forever. They look awesome to. The only way to go.

 The further into it you get the more people that you will meet, the more that you will learn. In the beginning you may think that this should be easy. It is a lot of work. I call a day of bass fishing a day of a thousand casts. It is work. You may throw those 1000 casts in search of just a bite or two. Be prepared for that and accept it. If you have a 10 fish day, then you are doing something right and the fish and yourself are all on the same page. Enjoy those days. I, personally, would rather cast 1000 times a day and go home with a skunk rather than sit in a boat mindlessly trolling around for floppy little trout. I try to learn from everyone of those casts. I like the proactive athleticism of standing all day long casting in, over, around or under docks and limbs. I have a boat with two pedestal seats, front and rear, that never go with me. I tell people that I take that I am not bringing the seat. You want to fish with me, then stand up and fish.

 I reckon bass fishing, in a way, to steelheading. You have to read the conditions and the water, decide what to throw in there, present it the proper way to match the fish's wants, the water and those conditions. Then, if all goes well, the best part of the day, feeling that bite, recognizing it, and getting a good hook set. A culmination of "you did something right".

 Remember, don't get lazy. If you are tossing anything that sinks, spinnerbait, plastics, jigs, swim jigs, drop shot, whatever, you have an extremely high chance that if you get bit you will get bit while that lure is falling to the bottom. I tell you this because I see people cast out there and just let a bunch of line sit there all over the top of the water while their lure flutters to the bottom of the lake. You must try to stay in contact with your lure. What I mean by this is try, try hard, make it imperative, to keep minimal slack from your rod tip to your lure, BUT, you must do so in a way that your lure will still fall naturally and not swing in back towards you.

 Think about it like this: Imagine a dock with wood pilings (It was intentional to use the word "wood". You will see someday so remember that word) you flip your jig out there and hit right next to the piling. Let's say the water at that piling is 10' deep. If you keep your line taunt while your jig falls, even a heavy jig, where will that jig end up when it reaches the bottom? 5 feet from the piling? So, if a fish is holding tight to that wood, the water is cold, that fish don't really want to move, would that work? Even back to the bites on the fall, you want your lure to fall as vertical as possible but still be able to feel a bite. Granted, trailers and the general shape of the jig may very well prevent it from falling straight down, so yeah, some of it is out of your control.

 Work hard, become dedicated, learn, and you may have a lifetime full of catching big old piggy's. But, there is no substitute for time on the water. As frustrating as it can get, at times, only time out there doing it will make you a better fisherman.


Good Luck!

[bwhntr350]

p.m. sent

[Bofire]

thanks very much. I am set for some of the gear, but need some too!!! I love to fish but have tried this Bass fishing, caught a few on worms kinda by accident. I have the 8 lb set and rapala, and a few spinner baits and a couple empty spools.
thanks again
Carl

[PolarBear]

I fish St. Clair for bass every now and then.  Plastic worms, spinner baits and crank baits are the ticket for me.  You are welcome to come along sometime. 

[snowpack]

Don't be afraid to try some really odd baits.  The tackle box might look like a toy box--seriously.  Soft plastic newts, frogs, mice, lizards, crayfish....  If you fish near a snag over the water do things like cast the mouse up in such a way it splashes like it fell out of the tree.  And an annoying, small predator like bait is good if you are trying to get them to budge off their nests when they have brood.

[BsB]

I myself have just started bass fishing this year and have found nothing is consistent with bass fishing. Fast then slow retrievals or slow then fast and also sporadic movements of the bait. Jigs, spinner baits, crank baits and flukes are my goto in my tackle box. After 2 months of fishing now I finally caught my first small mouth. Some baits work better than others at different lakes or sloughs. Having a boat, or in my case friends with boats is a good way to bass fish but not a must. I've also been scoping out some good spots to bank fish from. A guy I follow on YouTube is "fluke master" and has some good tips for different times of the year and what setups to use. Good luck! The tug is my drug!

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk

[Bofire]

  after reading and youtube I have decided this is complicated!! So I am going to try spinner baits and crank baits now. add more as I learn. thanks again to all
Carl

[Savage.06Shot]

Goin bass fishin this weekend man pm me for anything you man know. Prespawn is starting about now.

[billythekidrock]

The north end of Black Lake is good for bass.

Buzz/spin baits, floating/sinking rapala's or the very simple whole crawler with a couple feet of leader and no weight.

[rasbo]

this kind of spinner,black and some in chartrouse with plastic tails,I'm catching bass now for the last two weeks over here.In the evening catching them on hula poppers black and frog colors

[bassquatch]

after reading and youtube I have decided this is complicated!! So I am going to try spinner baits and crank baits now. add more as I learn. thanks again to all
Carl

Bass are just wrapping up their spawn now, over the next few weeks a 1/4oz buzzbait can be deadly! Fish it near cover like docks and lilypads in the morning and evening and don't use light line!