I want to read some bass fishing books. I have looked a little and I see a lot of various books. I want to make sure I don't get involved with some bunk theory though. So would others here please suggest to me some books?

 

A couple on my list so far are:

 

In Pursuit of Giant Bass, Bill Murphy

Knowing Bass, Dr Keith Jones

 

I don't remember where I saw the suggestion for the latter. But the former suggestion came from one of WRB's posts.

One of the first books with some bass fishing within... 1895. It showed Rick Clunn winning the first classic in 1894. (kidding) These are among some of the earliest books published.

 

 

This one is 1898. Rick Clunn is in this one too!

 

 

1940's

 

 

17 minutes ago, FloridaFishinFool said:

One of the first books with some bass fishing within... 1895. It showed Rick Clunn winning the first classic in 1894. (kidding) These are among some of the earliest books published.

 

 

This one is 1898. Rick Clunn is in this one too!

 

 

1940's

 

 

Those are really neat. But, they aren't what I'm thinking. Don't get me wrong, I expect they are full of neat historic information. Are they relevant for bass fishing today? 

Are they relevant? I'd say yes. The only difference is the technology.

 

But the stalking of the fish, and details on how and when and things like that don't change. We do!

 

Modern bass fishing came from books like these.

 

Out of curiosity, how far back would you go? I mean how far back do you think is relevant? How modern are you sticking to?

 

Another vote for Knowing Bass by Keith Jones

 

The In-Fisherman Critical Concepts Bass series of 3 books covers all the basics without introducing unscientific  opinions.

 

Destroying Bass Fishing Myths by John Mark Warren challenges many common beliefs in the bass fishing world.  I don't agree with all his conclusions but appreciate his thought provoking arguements.

15 minutes ago, FloridaFishinFool said:

Are they relevant? I'd say yes. The only difference is the technology.

 

But the stalking of the fish, and details on how and when and things like that don't change. We do!

 

Modern bass fishing came from books like these.

 

Out of curiosity, how far back would you go? I mean how far back do you think is relevant? How modern are you sticking to?

 

Well, I fish modern lures. Crankbaits, spinnerbaits, plastic worms. I don't see how those books could be relevant as to when to throw a plastic worm vs a fluke vs a jig.

 

How about how to fish structure like bluff walls? Sure, I know bass get on bluff walls, but how do I approach them? To me, this is not a question of where the bass are, rather a question of which lure to use.

 

No offence meant to you or those authors of those books, by the way.

 

Could you explain some things in those books that would be relevant today?

 

I suppose I was thinking, 1970s and newer.

 

70's and newer means technology based fishing.

 

Those older books cut through all the modern commercialized circus we see in bass fishing today.

What you will get in those books is more pure nature. Observations of pure nature. Observable bass behavior.

 

The truth is as I see it those older books might be more relevant today because of that.

 

Books written in modern times tend to lean more into the technology of fishing.

 

In 1895 and 1898 those guys were not concerned about mentioning sponsor lures, sponsor rods and reels, sponsor boats, sponsor sonar and FFS. None of that.

 

What you can do with those old books is learn from the pure natural observations and bring those forward and apply your modern technology to older nature observations.

 

We got a museum curator around here who still fishes with 1895 tackle! And he LOVES it. Probably catches more fish than most of us too.

 

Is bass fishing all about the modern technology? Or, is bass fishing about learning about the fish itself and what its natural behaviors are? Learn those and you can throw whatever you want at them.

 

I'd say bass fishing is nature first, technology second. Not the other way around. Bass fishermen today try and tell us about bass behavior but in relationship to their sponsor products.

 

I'd like to eliminate that and get back to basics- the nature of bass. That's how I see it anyways.

 

It can't hurt to go both ways can it? Modern and old timer too? All I can say is it can't hurt, but who knows, maybe it sure could help.

I can see that rationale. I'll have to look for a few of those.

 

My thinking is that a modern book would include studies that have been made more recently. Maybe some of the Berkley studies. Maybe just opinion.

 

No, I don't want one that is written by a pro angler that is just an infomercial for a brand. But a book by a pro that is full of actual information is something right up my alley.

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I have High Percentage Fishing By Josh Alwine on PDF as well.

 

I could not find In Pursuit of Giant Bass, Bill Murphy or Knowing Bass Dr Keith Jones on PDF, so it'll be a while before I can collect a hard copy. If anyone has a copy of these they'd loan me, I'd be obliged, and return them in same condition.

F3, I assume those are your books and if my assumption is correct, congrats! It's cool that you've collected them. I treasure my old fishing magazines and my three old bait signs. Old bait/guide/tackle shop signs are soooooo hard to find that I've stopped looking. 

 

Anyway, the more you share about your approach to fishing, the more kindred I feel to you.

 

Mr. Bazoo, I wish I had some suggestions for you. As always, I appreciate the many threads that you launch and the discussions that your threads initiate. My only comment about your query is that I wouldn't just look for books written by pros. There are many insightful anglers who don't want to compete in tournaments.

"To me, this is not a question of where the bass are, rather a question of which lure to use."

 

Man, have you got it backwards!

 

 

Also, those that chose to ignore the past are gonna pay for it.

@Bazoo, do you hunt smallies? I read, and reread Tony Bean’s The Last Smallmouth. It’s detailed and well written.

6 hours ago, FloridaFishinFool said:

What you will get in those books is more pure nature. Observations of pure nature. Observable bass behavior.

 

The truth is as I see it those older books might be more relevant today because of that.

 

Preach! 

 

This is a big reason I've started going back to the older materials and accounts as well. These folks were catching bass without technology, in ways modern bass haven't seen in decades, outside of the particular quirks of tournament fishing, and without the dogma of big lure company laboratory research that dominates modern thinking. 

 

Our modern approach is so deeply impacted by the commerical demands of "buy more gear" (which is often rhetorically masked as "buying the right gear for the right situation" 🙄) that it's really worth taking a step back and intellectually starting over. 

 

Inspired by my reading, and being a surf fishing guy on the side, one of my projects next year is to start using more natural baits like minnows. We spend millions as anglers each year and thousands of hours in practice trying to immitate one. Why not just throw the real deal? Also fishing pork rinds seem fascinating, but hard to source. Might make my own. 

 

It's also just flat our enjoyable to read an older book. It's a direct mental connection to our forbearers. Closest you'll get to a time machine. 

I’ve mentioned before Tom Mann’s “Think like a fish” - really entertaining read, with some good habits to pick up in it.

 

Iaconelli did one on Finesse fishing that has quite a bit of good insight.

 

I like cruising Half Price Books and the local thrift stores - you can virtually always find books related to bass fishing, some that are just completely under the radar. 

☝️ Realized I never recommend a more modern book to answer your question. Apologies on that. I'm a little passionate on the historical technique topic. 

 

I'm currently reading through the North American Fishing Club "Complete Angler's Library" series. Written in the 80s and early 90s, so you do have some electronics advice, but mostly a behavior and technique guide book series. Good DIY ideas in there for homemade gear as well. 

A good book on light tackle fishing is On Slider Fishing by Charlie Brewer. Good info on the Slider, but these principals apply to other lures as well. It's still available from the Slider company for 6.95.

 

Don Iovino book Finesse Bass Fishing and the Sonar Connection. You have a boat ( sort of) and learning the basics of sonar is helpful. Finesse bass fishing is also helpful. Easy read paperback.

I believe the video’s and articles in the BR site is a better resource for you.

Tom

4 hours ago, ElGuapo928 said:

Iaconelli did one on Finesse fishing that has quite a bit of good insight.

 

 

Learn from Ike without getting screamed at, not a bad idea.   

6 hours ago, Lottabass said:

"To me, this is not a question of where the bass are, rather a question of which lure to use."

 

Man, have you got it backwards!

 

 

Also, those that chose to ignore the past are gonna pay for it.

Point taken.

6 hours ago, DogBone_384 said:

@Bazoo, do you hunt smallies? I read, and reread Tony Bean’s The Last Smallmouth. It’s detailed and well written.

I do not go after smallmouth as a general rule. I wouldn't mind reading some about them though. From what I already know... I prefer fishing for largemouth as I prefer fishing cover.

1 hour ago, WRB-2.0 said:

Don Iovino book Finesse Bass Fishing and the Sonar Connection. You have a boat ( sort of) and learning the basics of sonar is helpful. Finesse bass fishing is also helpful. Easy read paperback.

I believe the video’s and articles in the BR site is a better resource for you.

Tom

Thanks, I forgot about Don Iovino. 

 

Yes, I don't know anything about fishing electronics yet. I will want some on my boats, but I have no idea what I want yet.

56 minutes ago, HawkeyeSmallie said:

 

Learn from Ike without getting screamed at, not a bad idea.   

I like his videos... I enjoy his passion.

1 hour ago, Bazoo said:

I like his videos... I enjoy his passion.

 

IDK, there's passion and then there's overacting. 

 

I do watch his videos though because of his knowledge.

 

He has more experience and knowledge in his big toe than I do.

 

He's just difficult to watch sometimes.

2 minutes ago, HawkeyeSmallie said:

 

IDK, there's passion and then there's overacting. 

 

I do watch his videos though because of his knowledge.

 

He has more experience and knowledge in his big toe than I do.

 

He's just difficult to watch sometimes.

I'll agree with all of that.

My wife doesn't like his screaming. When I'm watching, he'll get high in volume and we'll both chuckle.

 

I have found and downloaded his book Fishing on the Edge. That should be an interesting read.

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I am working on reading High Percentage Fishing by Josh Alwine currently.

 

While that book, so far, is focusing only on large fish, I want to focus more on consistently catching fish and numbers of fish, rather than an elusive trophy fish. While a 10 pounder, or even a 6 is something I very much want to catch, I want to get to the point that I never get skunked, that I can always consistently get bit.

 

Anyone suggest books along this line of thinking?

------

I have found a PDF of Catch Bass by Doug Hannon.

 

 

6 hours ago, OkobojiEagle said:

 

 

There have been a number of book recommendation threads on BR, and this one linked above is probably my favorite list -- MFBAB has quite a library! 

 

I always recommend people check out the In-Fisherman Largemouth and Smallmouth handbooks. They have been in print since the 90s and easy to find cheaply used.  Some of the gear and lure recommendations are outdated now, but they are very solid on fundamentals of the nature of the fish, location, and presentation (The so-called F+L+P equation).  A lot of the information -- especially related to newer lures -- was later updated in the 3-volume "critical concepts" bass series in  the 2000s, so you could look for those as well.

 

Knowing Bass (2002) mentioned above is the definitive scientific source, focusing on their physiology and sensory abilities, as well as experimental findings from the Berkley Labs.  Very hard to find an affordable copy, though. Might be able to find it in a library. 

 

Another good one is Lunker (1975) by Bob Underwood, which is based on 1700 hours of underwater scuba observations of bass behavior. 

 

 

I'm pretty sure the Spoonplugging book is supposed to be a good read regarding fishing structure.

 

It's a book I'd love to read some day.

I’ll give another nod to the In-Fisherman series. If you are looking for a book to tell you when to use one bait over another, for the most part, all you’re going to get is someone’s opinion, most of the time not facts. What you should be looking for is how and where to find fish. THAT is the secret to being successful. $1,000 rods & reels or  the best lures ever made won’t catch a thing if you are fishing in the wrong places at the wrong time. That’s why the In-Fisherman books are so good and have been around, still selling 50 years later. Technology and gear changes but the bass still behave the way they always have.