[Hanosandy]

I was wondering if you guys could help me out with some tips, techniques, and tricks.  Thanks.  Please don't flame me - I was flamed on another fishing forum for asking a question/request similiar to this.

I am an experienced Trout/Pike fishermen (I fish mainly in the mountains), but recently I've been fishing the Denver lakes and it seems like there is hardly any trout....so....I might switch gears to Bass for a change. Hear they are a heck of a fight to get in too.

 

[water]

There is so much to learn it would be hard to tell you everything. I have a suggestion though. By a bag of senko's in a couple of different colors. Rig them up weightless on a worm hook. They should fall horizantal. Put the hook through the head just past the barb then run the senko up the hook to the knot, turn it around on the hook and put the hook through the body so that the senko is straight. ( Jesus i just read that and it makes no sense LMAO) Bass are spawning right know and this is a killer bait this time of year. You throw it out and let it sink. ( Remember bass are shallow right now doing there thing this is a shallow water bait so don't go to the dam and throw it in 50 feet of water. find some shallow coves at your favorite bass pond or lake) when it hits bottom let it sit there for a ten count and then lift the rod and let it sink again. Reel in the slack so that the line is loose but you are still in contact with your lure. They will pick up the bait (on the fall or when it is resting on the bottom almost all the time) and start to run one direction or the other. If you are seeing bedding bass and you are not getting any hits you are fishing the bait to fast, SLOW DOWN. You can not fish this bait to slow.

This is just a starting point bass fishing is like pike fishing there is a ton of different angles to it. Hope this helps. If you are ever going to go to Pueblo this spring and you don't understand how I explained setting up your senko let me know I will be up there a lot on the weekends and fridays I can try and meet up with you and show you how to hook it up. See ya.

 

[farmer ted]

If you are an expreienced pike fisherman, try your pike techniques for bass with appropriately sized lures. I like to say that LMB are like garbage disposals and they will hit anything that looks like it's from mars.

There is a lot to learn for sure, but try fishing near cover...reeds, sunken brushpiles, overhanging trees, etc etc. As fish recover from the spawn they will start getting hungry and will still be realtively shallow. As the water heats up this summer, they may be suspended deeper off of structure during the day but will be shallow in the morning and evening and those are perfect times to hit them with some surface lures. You can catch bass on anything that moves if it looks like a good opportunity to a hungry bass. Try the senko mentioned above or spinnerbaits, in line spinners, floating rapalas or buzzbaits in the summer, deeper crankbaits around structure when bass are suspended, skirted jigs with twister tails for getting into cover...etc etc etc.

The best way to learn is to go fish. A good book on bass techniques will also help a lot.

 

[Hanosandy]

Thanks for the tips guys!

 

[silicone boy]

Farmer Ted is right. Just go out and do it. I have access to a small private pond that has some small bass and some good sized ones. I'm a bass newbie, so I've used it as a learning experience. I've learned so much in just three weeks. Yes they will hit just about anything. I'm learning about different lures in different situations. The lakes on I-70 (Rocky Mountain, Berkeley) have lots of small bass you can sight fish for. My favorite technique has been using a light flyrod with a small silicone worm. I can pick them off at will when the conditions are right. Caught a 14 inch fat female this morning though, and I almost didn't have enough rod to land it. Great fight though.

 

[milehighdan]

Structure for sure! even just a shadow might hold a nice shallow bass. just toss a plastic worm right on it; it will hit instantly probably. Then when its colder consider the fact-a tree trunk or somthing can actually bring heat down from the sun, into the water. Most the time thou its just underwater structure they are near(dropoffs, lilly pads, any vegatation really)
tons of lures; plastics-worms and twister tails are pretty cheap; generally Id say worms=L mouth(purple for me), twister=smalls(chartruese maybe). Tons of lures for largies- one of the funnest is the top water! just twitch that plug along the top, and dont crap your pants when one jumps, wait to feel it, then set. It's easy to jerk it too fast. (even thou expensive, they don't snag up like cranks.)
Naturally only fish this in shallows, last one I caught was in maybe, AT MOST 3 feet of water! but maybe down to 5-10 might work; try hind lake(largemouth only) with top waters(south side). (maybe bring some polarized sunglasses too)

And whoever said they will hit anything almost, is a wise man. they even make a rat bait! lol ???
to sum it up, if u want to spend lots of $ try some cranks and spinners, but i seem to have just fine luck with my plastic worms.
Btw senkos for sure, action is great. ??? except i havnt caught one with one yet, still new to them. oddly I think a huge walleye cut my senko off one time thou.

rig your worm with a bullet slip weight, let it drop, reel it up, let it drop.
now senkos I have been trying weightless. just twitchen them.

 

[McFish]

You may want to read In Fisherman for a year. Every issue has some type of article concerning bass fishing. The mag used to be very detail orientated.

 

[bobber]

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[bobber]

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[Walking Eagle]

My favorite technique has been using a light flyrod with a small silicone worm.

I'm almost afraid to ask where you managed to get a silicone worm.

 

[jtbass]

Go out and buy a couple of spinnerbaits if you really are serious about catching bass. They work anytime of the year and you can fish them at any depth and any speed. In my opion they are the most versitile lure out there for bass. They are weedless and difficult to snag. You can fish them through any cover weeds,laydowns,brush or in open water. Just start casting and let the fish tell you how they want it.

 

[Spin Dr.]

Lots of good advice here. Mr Twister on a 1/4 oz jig head, spinner baits, and Texas rigged worms will usually work. A hot new bait that is getting lots of use by the pros are plastic frogs. The most popular ones are stanley Ribbit Frog and Zoom Horney Toad (neat names). These have solid, soft bodies and are easier to cast than older hollow body, lightweight ones. Frogs can be fished on the surface, in weedy shallows, as a drop bait or dragged behind a Carolina or Texas rig. Fish them fast, slow, or stop and go.

 

[silicone boy]

My favorite technique has been using a light flyrod with a small silicone worm.

I'm almost afraid to ask where you managed to get a silicone worm.   

Silicone is my favorite substance, naturally