Catching Bass

Question
QUESTION: I am about to go to our friends cabin on the lake for a week of vacation.  It is on a 120 acre lake, not very big, and it is shallow most places.  The deepest point is about 40 feet.  We have a boat there, so what places would be good places to try to fish for bass?  I can catch everything else there, and I know there are bass in there.  Seen people catch them and I have seen them in the water, so on and so forth.  Also, is it better to use worms for bass, or is it better to use lures?  I don't know what kind of lures to use, but there are plenty there.

Please respond soon, I leave Thursday.

Thanks,
Garrett

ANSWER: Garrett; In many ways I envy you.  I love fishing in a small lake.  My most favorite lake in the World is only 54 acres, is 55 feet deep in one little spot and the rest is mostly under 20 feet.  It is almost oval but has three little coves of really shallow water and one end is not over 6 feet.  It is lined with lilly pads almost entirely around or a few areas where there is grass very much like the yard kind growing down to the water. It is a slightly stained lake and clean otherwise.  It has large areas of sub surface weeds in one end.  There are a few areas where there are some bullrushes growing in the water that come out to about 3feet depth.  In the summer the center of the lake is uaually not fishable because the lake stratifies.  Below a certain depth there is not enough oxygen to support fish.  There are four cabins and docks on the lake at the shallow end.  We camped in a campground on one side of the lake.  The other side has a ridge then falls off into a swamp.

I am telling you all this because this lake has just about everything you could wish for bass.  Bass are usually, with a few exceptions, are shallow water fish. Especially largemouth.

If your lake has any of the features I mentioned I woould suggest trying the following the first day.  Start with a plastic worm about 6 inches long Texas rigged, a 1/8oz or 1/16oz bullet weight not pegged to the worm, on a 1/0 extra sharp hook, red if you like.  With a spinning outfit start casting the worm right up against the bank in the grass or other weeds.  Now I would also try an unweighted Senko or like worm.  Let either lie motionless for 5 seconds then just slightly twitch your rod tip enouth to make the worm jiggle but not move more than an inch.  You may have to practice this in a clear place at the landing to see how much it takes to move it.  Give it another 10 seconds then move is slowly 6 inches.  If you do not feel a pickup reel in and cast again a foot down the bank.  If there are sticks, downed trees etc along the shorling toss the worm in there and follow the above proceedure.  If after 50 or so casts try another color quite contrasting to the first one.  If you still don't get anything get in close to the shore and cast at a 45 degree angle from the boat around to straight out from the boat.  
The next thing I would try would be a crankbait that dives just deep enough to tick the tops of the weeds or to just now and then tick the bottom if there are no weeds.  Don't be afraid to cast a crankbait right up against the bank or into a fallen tree.  Crank it so that it now and then hits a limb.  If you don't jerk it around too much a crankbait will come through an amazing mess of lims and twigs.  Often bass will grab it as it bumps off a limb.

Somewhere along the line try a spinnerbait.  I like one with one big Colorado blade and a small Colorado blade or one large willow leaf and one small Colorado blade.
Cast into places in lilly pads where the pads have some space between them.  Keep your rod tip high as possible to keep your line out of the water and the pads.  Work the lure over, around and between the pads at a steady pace. When the lure comes to a bigger open space or the edge of the pads keep your rod tip high but suddenly stoop reeling. Let the spinner fall then start it back toward the boat with a short sharp jerk followed by a steady reeling slowly to keep the lure deep.

My lake has a couple of places where the water drops off sharply from a few inches at  water's edge to several feet a few feet off the bank.  There are a few weeds on the bottom but a crank baait or a spinner bait tossed up into the shallow water and then worked slowly down the drop into deep water often takes bass.  If this doesn't work try the reverse as before by moving the boat right up against the bank and fishing out.

If there are large areas of essentially unchanging flats of two to 10 feet deep I have found a lipless crankbait such as a Rattletrap or Shadrap works by cranking it fast so that it runs just above any weeds occasionally letting it catch a weed.  Often just as it pulls off the weed a bass will grab it.

If you can find trash of most any kind on the bottom ar at almost any depth this time of year it is likely to hold fish.  Try using worms, deep running crank baits.(I can't afford to have every crankbait in the store so one thing I can do is to put a small 1/4oz bullet sinker on the line above the tie.  It slips down against the bill and does not affect the wiggle but the bait will run several feet deeper.  It is harder to get one of these free if you hang it up though.

I haven't mentioned jigs yet because I seldom use them for bass even though they catch a lot of big ones.  I would rather use a crankbait or spinner bait but this does not mean that you shouldn't use them.  There are many ways of fishing them.  Usually some sort of trailer is used, a worm or a piece of pork rind or plastic replica, a skirt etc.  They can be cast out and bounced on bottom if heavy weeds or other bottom stuff is not around to foul them.  You can drop them straight down into a treetop in deep or shallow water and slowly work them up and down around the limbs.  You can swim them back to the boat with various jerky movements or with a steady retrieve now and then. On occasion this last will be a killer but most often it will not do much.

Now  I come to my favorite lure, the topwater.  I probably have more of these than any other single kind but I use about three or four of them about 90% of the time.  Why, Because I like them, that's why.  All makes and models will take fish but there are some that I have had much more luck with than others.  I will talk about lures a little more later.
Topwaters are often best in low light times like, dusk, dawn or on overcast days.  I like a quiet lake for this but there are times when a little chop is ok too. I like to cast the lure as close to a stump or hole in the pads as possible.  Let the lure sit for 5 seconds or so then like with the worm just barely move it so that it makes a small ripple.  It should not move more than an inch from where it landed.  Be ready because just after this twitch is often when the bass will strike.  BUT do not strike when you see him hit.  I know this is difficult to see the water open up and a mouth as big as a bucket engulf your lure and you wait.  For many this is just too much so they give up on topwaters, yet I can say without, bragging, that I seldom miss one on a topowater anymore.  I have missed a lot of them but I learned to wait until I could feel the fish before setting the hook.  Of course if your hooks are extremely sharp you do not have to strike really hard.  Timing is more important than power here.

I am now going to go out on a limb somewhat because I am going to mention names of particular lures.  Some of these have many other brands that are just as good while some are completely or nearly completely in a class of their own.  Here is what I would suggest you have in your tackle box.

Worms.  Some 6 inch plain tail worms maybe black, dark blue, purple and pumpkinseed.  More if you want but this will catch you some fish I feel certain.

Two billed crankbaits such as bomber.  One shold run deep as 7-8 feet.(It will probably say 10-12 ft,) one that runs 1-2 feet.  More if you want but these will catch some bass. Remember the sinker on the line trick will make the deep one of these run about it's claimed running depth.  Colors should be some silver or gold with a little red somewhere on it and a little yellow too.

One regular size and one magnum Rattletrap or other lipless crankbait.

Two spinnerbaits as described before as to blades.

One full size but not magnum Jitterbug frog color. The only thing near this is Heddon's Crazy Crawler if you can find one.

One Devil's Horse or like douple propeller lure. Make sure you look at the ones available and pick out the one that is the fattest in the middle since they are not all exactly the same size.  I like yellow/black.

One Zara Spook.  I better explain how to use this one.  While most of the above can be jerked or in the case of the Jitterbug reeled steadily.  The zara is fished by what is called walking the dog.  It is designed so that when a slight jerk followed by allowing slack in the line will make the lure jerk it's head to one side without moving foreward much.  Another jerk causes its head to jump the other way.  by a series of repeated small jerks followed by slack line will result in the lure's seeming to walk from side to side without moving very far ahead. By making the jerk on one side a little harder followed by an easy jerk on the second then a harder jerk on the third etc will cause him to walk to one side.  With this you can walk him right up to a stump and then walk around.  This is a killer on big bass.

I think if you have the above mentioned lures you will catch bass in virtually any lake in America where bass exist.

I hope this has been of some help.  You are likely to find some of the conditions that I found on my little lake in Minnesota where I have fished since 1959 and want to go back again.  I now live in Southern Georgia on one of the best bass lakes in the country but still I would love to go back and do as we did back then, camp all summer in a tent and fish the lakes around but mostly on Noma.  It is now 1300 miles away and at $3 a gallon I probably won't be going soon and I better go soon as I am now 74 years old.

Oh! there is one lure and technique that I forgot to mention.  This is the use of a Johnson Silver Minnow. (I have never found another spoon to match the Johnson)  Put a real pork frog on it and cast it way back in the pads or other weeds and work it back on top of the pads and down into openings and expect an explosion but remember ""WAIT UNTIL YOU FEEL THE FISH BEFOE SETTING THE HOOK"" or the spoon may come back and hit you in the noggin.

I hope you have good luck on your fishing trip.  I would like to hear how you make out.  You can contact me via the AllExperts.

I am
Jack L. Gaither  (JackfromSeminole)

---------- FOLLOW-UP ----------

QUESTION: Thanks a bunch Jack.  I am a beginner here, seeing as this is the only week of the year that I fish.  I will probably be using mostly worms, because there are a bunch up there.  I will print this and try whatever else is up there, but I don't know if I will do good or not.  I will tell you when I am done.

Also, this lake is just like the lake you described, but bigger.  More like 50 houses and a bunch of boaters and swimming (i love doing that).  Me and my friend will take the pontoon out a few mornings and go find some places like you described.  The lake has three branches, and one is like a big marsh that is 4-5 feet deep for about 40 yards or so.  It is filled with reeds and lily pads and so on.  Is this a good place to fish?

thanks

Answer
This place sounds like an ideal place to catch bass.  Try the outer edges of the pads looking for anything that is a little different than the rest of it such as a dip in the weed edge or perhaps a half floating log sticking out. Use the worms or the surface bait.  Be sure to get that Johnson Silver minnow and some real pork frogs though.  It will cost $7-8 bucks for both but In a place like that this is probably one of the best and most exciting ways there is of fishing.  Flip worms back in the pads and let them set on a pad if they land there.  Jiggle the rod tip hard enough to move the pad but don't pull the worm off.  Do this a time or two then pull the worm off the pad and wait for it to sink and hang on.  A big ole bucketmouth saw that pad move from a long ways away and when it wiggled again he became interested.  When it wiggled again he started toward it and when the worm came off he watched it sink then charged in and slerped it up.  I have seen this happen lots of times.  Exciting fishing.

Thanks for the follow up.  Be sure to let me know how you did.

Jack