Hey guys! Just wondering what you would say your biggest tip / trick would be in regards to bass fishing.  Just wanted to see what you guys would say for other people as well for me come at below!

When in doubt, set the hook

Understand what structure is, how to truly identify it, interpret it, and then fish it effectively.

 

Understand what the predominate prey species in your lake is and how that species relates to structure with each season...morning, noon, and night.

 

Understand that next after location is timing; just because you don't get bite does not mean the bass aren't there or you tied on the wrong lure.

Swings are free

White and black covers most top waters

Greenpumpkin and Black/Blue covers most plastics

Don't use a heavy wire when a light wire will do.

Removing a gut hooked fish through the gills

Pull up your anchor before motoring away

If you miss on a top water, throw the wacky rig

If your not loosing lures, your not taking enough chances, or your technique needs work

Always check your line for nicks or abrasions and knot damage.

Use premium sharp hooks and check the point as you check the line.

Learn to set your drag and back it off when storing the reel.

Feel your line, don't rely on your rod to telegraph strikes.

Check your rod guides for damage using a cotton Q-tip.

Skin hook soft platics.

 Use line conditioner.

Tom

PS, the above tips are timeless.

Wear a Life Jacket while in manually propelled craft, and a Life Jacket & Engine Kill switch lanyard while the operator and on plane in power vessels.

Tell a responsible adult where you're going, when you're coming back and who to call if you don't.

  Make sure they have a good description of you, your boat, tow vehicle & trailer (if applicable).

Carry a quality hook cutting tool you can effectively operate with your weak hand only.

And try fishing a SK Rage Bug on a Greenfish Tackle Creeper Head.

A-Jay

Make sure the little ball in your whistle flows freely.

When it's really windy and feeling a dropshot or tube is difficult, switch to a Carolina rig and a finesse lizard and drag it. The strikes can be so hard, the fish hook themselves.  This has saved many a trip for me.

Be willing to put in your time on the water and not make excuses about why the fishing is hard. Find solutions to why the fish are not biting as well, and change the way you fish until you start catching fish well.Learn from every single fishing trip you have and understand that fishing is a sport where you will learn for a lifetime. Above all, always make your fishing trips fun and don't take fishing too seriously, its just fishing.

Along the lines of what Catt said.  Successful fishing is like hunting. If you go around the woods, blindly firing of shot after shot, you may hit something. If you learn about your quarry; where it eats, what it eats, how it gets to and from where it eats you can reduce all that effort or at the very least, put it to use where you're likely to contact your prey.  Find where the fish call home, what they eat, and if that forage doesn't pass by their 'house', how they get to their food and back home again. Location. Without finding it, you'll be doing a lot of casting and not much catching.

Slow down!

Respect our resource....be a line watcher too.

Find the bait and you will find the fish.

Lots of good tips and/or tricks listed above. Only thing I can add is go fishing as often as you can, can't learn if you don't put in the time. Try some Zoom Ol' Monster 10.5" worms, they work great for me and possibly for you too. Catch and release unless you plan on cleaning and eating the fish. Have fun and have a great day!

You don't need 500.00 rods and 300.00 reels to catch a fish. 

You don't need boxes and boxes of different lures of different types or colors to catch a fish.

 

You do need to keep learning regardless of how good you think you are. 

 

Always remember, tounament anglers are people too.

 

 

 

Mike

  Slow down to fish more thoroughly and  speed up to cover a more water .  Works for me .

Be willing to try new things and be patient with them. You never know when a new technique might become your go to technique. Be thankful for the good days and the bad because how bad can a day of fishing really be. Try to get as many new people involved in our sport as you can and be willing to teach them. 

Always wear clean underwear. Never dance when drunk, you will never dance as good as you think you do. Stop and smell the roses unless they are along a busy highway. If you have a friend who can't keep a secret, don't tell him where the bodies are buried. Never pay a bill until the 3rd final notice. Don't bet on the Jets this year. Shoes bought at a gas station are probably not the best quality. 

Tip one - there is no such thing at 'skill' in catching bass.  

Tip two - there is 'skill' in finding bass.

Tip three - 99% of the time, around 99% of the country, all you need is a soft stick bait(Yum-Dinger, Sinko, etc..)

 

 

3 minutes ago, hoosierbass07 said:

Tip one - there is no such thing at 'skill' in catching bass.  

Tip two - there is 'skill' in finding bass.

Tip three - 99% of the time, around 99% of the country, all you need is a soft stick bait(Yum-Dinger, Sinko, etc..)

 

 

I really like this one. A bass is a bass. If it sees a snack it wants, it's going to take it from you, Kim Kardashian or Kevin Van Dam. Most baits are self explanatory. The main way to screw up is fishing soft plastics way too fast. The hard part is finding the bass and understanding your surroundings, their habits and patterns, etc. And yes, a plastic worm or a stick bait is all you truly need to catch some bass all the time. Good advice.

12 minutes ago, hoosierbass07 said:

99% of the time, around 99% of the country, all you need is a soft stick bait(Yum-Dinger, Sinko, etc..)

 

 

I must be fishing in that other 1 percent . 

3 minutes ago, scaleface said:

 

I must be fishing in that other 1 percent . 

I've seen a few people say this. Baffling to me, really. Most days I'll start with Senkos or worms and never switch it up because they keep on coming. 

25 minutes ago, Sword of the Lord said:

I've seen a few people say this. Baffling to me, really. Most days I'll start with Senkos or worms and never switch it up because they keep on coming. 

 

Perhaps it may have something to do with where one's fishing.

Most days here, about an hour into stick baiting - one would most likely get un-baffled.

However one's co-angler bass netting skills should see an immediate up tick. 

A-Jay

37 minutes ago, A-Jay said:

 

Perhaps it may have something to do with where one's fishing.

Most days here, about an hour into stick baiting - one would most likely get un-baffled.

However one's co-angler bass netting skills should see an immediate up tick. 

A-Jay

True on the location. I've found one location here where they didn't work, and that was a fast moving river. I hate worms and stick baits in fast water. If you've got lakes and ponds with vegetation, they're nearly unbeatable imo.

If you want to get good at this sport.  Do it often.  Do it with other fisherman and keep an eye on what they are doing right.  Learn something new each day, whether from the internet, print, or observation.  Soon you will be fishing with the best of them.

3 hours ago, hoosierbass07 said:

Tip one - there is no such thing at 'skill' in catching bass.  

 

 

 

With all due respect this is one statement I have an issue with. 

 

In my opinion there are technique's that do require an angler to have a certain level of skill to catch a bass.

 

Granted catching a bass on a 2 trebled crank or a 3 trebled jerkbait where the fish more times than not will hook themselves does not require much skill.  

 

However, imho hooking up with a frog, or punching though 2 ft of hydrilla, or working a craw through submerged grass, or skipping a jig under a dock with a baitcaster does. 

 

If no skill level is ever required to catch a fish, then a great number of posts on this site wouldn't be worth reading. 

 

 

 

Mike