Finding The Best Bass Fishing Spots
What is it about bass fishing that makes it such a popular activity? People get so hooked on bass fishing that they fanatically follow every report and trend that they hear about.
“Where are the bass?” How many of the anglers (tournament and recreational) go to a body of water they've never fished before, drop the boat in the water, then, ask this question of themselves? Locating the best bass habitats is one of the most important skills in bass fishing that an angler should learn.
Keep reading to getthe information on how to locate the best areas for bass fishing.
Locating bass and understanding the water would be the number one question among bass anglers today. The next most asked question is which baits they should use to catch a "big" bass.
Now when you think about it, there are really only two (2) main topics that go hand-in-hand when it comes to bass fishing. If you understood more about these two, you would definitely become a much better angler, and they are:
1. Knowing how to locate bass.
2. Knowing how to catch bass using all the different techniques, presentations, and baits.
Learning how to locate bass can be somewhat of a challenge to most anglers because there are so many different factors that need to be considered:
1. Knowing how to read a map - this is the fundamental skill that you'll want to learn because through a map it is easier for you to determine the appropriate location good for bass fishing.
2. Knowing the most practical places to look for active bass just after cold fronts and during early spring and late fall periods - weather condition must be considered as well.
3. Understanding water depth is an important element because the depth or the shallowness of the water will influence the type of bait you use and how you present it.
Other factors are water clarity, water temperatures, seasonal patterns, locating structure areas, and finding vegetation areas.
And there is more! Being a consistent bass angler is about so much more than just getting in your boat, hitting the water, and casting your baits. That's why bass tournaments are so competitive and exciting, because the more you learn about locating bass the quicker you can start catching them right? And hey, isn't that half the battle?
Let's start by looking at a lake map. There are two general types of lake maps that most anglers will use which are referred to as the “Hot Spot” and “Topographical” maps. The differences between the two is that a “Topo” map shows more detail, and the “Hot Spots” map shows more fishing spots (well, at least they’re supposed to).
The secret (or key) in learning how to use a lake map would be to sector the map. What I mean by this is that I will take the map and study it for a moment (looking for areas where the fish would most likely be.) Next, I will (using a highlighter) divide the map in sections based on how much time I have to pre-fish for a tournament or how many days I have to just fish the body of water for fun.
The size of the sections will vary depending on contours, structure, and how many places I may want to check out during the course of the day based on what the map shows me. I am certainly not one to just cast bait into the water and work it for five minutes and leave; I will try an assortment of baits if I see signs of fish in any given area to try to establish a working pattern.
Here are some key elements that you can usually look for when it comes to locating bass on any given body of water:
1. Vegetation areas
2. Irregular contours
3. Shallow water close to deep water areas
4. Points and point drops
5. Various types of structure
