| The sport of bass fishing has become very | | | | In the fall, the largemouth bass often feed on |
| popular over the last 10 years with television | | | | large shad schools and can be found at medium |
| shows on ESPN and Versus displaying the top | | | | depths of 6 to 12 foot deep. Deep diving |
| fishermen in their NASCAR like apparel. Prizes in | | | | crankbaits and even topwaters can often |
| the hundreds of thousands of dollars are not | | | | provoke fish to strike. |
| uncommon for the top professionals but the key | | | | The spring is the mating season for the bass. Pro |
| to their success is often time spent on the water | | | | fishermen seek sandy bottoms with available |
| using proven techniques. | | | | structure in the 2-4 foot range as the ideal depth. |
| A successful bass fisherman adapts to the | | | | Fish can often be seen fanning their beds and a |
| changing seasons as well as to different patterns | | | | good pair of polarized glasses is a must to be able |
| on a wide variety of lakes. The summer finds | | | | to sight fish. Tube lures, lizards and worms are |
| many bass anglers probing the shallows in the | | | | often the ticket to catching the bass of a lifetime. |
| early morning light targeting stands of vegetation, | | | | The winter is perhaps the toughest season to |
| timber or manmade structure. As the sun rises | | | | catch bass since the largemouth is cold blooded |
| the successful angler must move with the fish | | | | and their activity is proportional to the water |
| and that often means moving the boat to deeper | | | | temperature. Pros often downsize their baits and |
| structure such as creek channels, submerged | | | | rely heavily on jigs, tubes and small finesse |
| timber and deep underwater humps and | | | | worms on a drop shot. A slight tick of the line |
| drop-offs. The proper selection of fishing gear in | | | | maybe all that is felt on a winter bite and the |
| both scenarios is a must in order to catch their | | | | successful angler must set the hook fast and |
| limits of bass. Shallow early morning fish strike | | | | hard. |
| topwater baits, Texas rigged worms and | | | | Follow the major patterns for the seasons and |
| spinnerbaits while deep late morning early | | | | with any luck you will be doing more catching with |
| afternoon fish will likely hit worms on a Carolina rig | | | | less fishing. |
| or deep water crankbaits. | | | | |