Know Your Bass Part 2

[papajoe222]

A buddy and I have gone to Florida in early March for the past few years to catch the college spring baseball tournaments.  Of course we bring our fishing gear. The first time we were on the water he asked me this question: Why do you fish differently down here than you do back home, you always say a bass is a bass no matter where it lives?  I attempted to explain to him that  Florida bass are a different strain than their northern brothers and although they are both bass, the Florida bass' reactions to weather changes  is more drastic and unlike the bass by us, they are at the top of the food chain down there and behave as such

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So, in an effort to get to know other's bass, What differences do you notice in what you've heard, read, or experienced vs. what you experience on your home waters. Are they really differences or just the way the fish in your lake are really doing the same thing?

 

I'll start off by saying that most of the information I read and gather over the internet is geared toward fishing  impoundments (man made lakes) and I fish mostly natural lakes. We don't have creek channels or main lake and secondary points (to an extent), or some of the other structure that they have? Applying that information to the water I fish would seem like a wasted effort except I do live by what I always told my buddy; a bass is a bass etc.

No shad here, but they still follow the bait.  No creek arms to follow in their seasonal movements, but they still make those movements, No bluff walls or ridges, but they still use vertical structure in the same way. 

 

 

[Sam]

Papa, you say " Florida bass are a different strain than their northern brothers and although they are both bass, the Florida bass' reactions to weather changes  is more drastic and unlike the bass by us, they are at the top of the food chain down there and behave as such" which I find interesting.

 

In Virginia the Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries (VDG&IF) along with a conservation group stocked the Chickahominy River with Florida strain bass about five years ago.

 

The bass were expected to continue reproducting with our Northern Bass and VDG&IF has said the experiement has been a success and there will be other Florida strain bass stockings in the future.

 

Do you think the Florida strain bass in Virginia also react to weather changes like they do in Florida and if so, do you think the mixed strains would do the same?

 

The Chick shuts down when we have wind from the east. You may as well go home or fish for crappie, catfish and bluegills as the bass will get lockjaw.

 

Now I am thinking that the Florida strain bass will react to weather changes to a higher degree than the northern bass which will have a negative effect on fishing.

 

What do you think????

 

Thanks in advance for your and the other guys' input.

[Nitrofreak]

It's little different for me in the fact that most all of the waters I fish are man made lakes, all are here in my home state, but as you speak of fish behavior in different areas of the country, I feel like I have somewhat of a head start if I should ever leave my home state just by being a member of this site.

 

Everyday I get to read different things that require different techniques, different mind sets of how to approach different areas, with different baits, baits I have never used, one thing remains the same, you have to put yourself in the right position to catch the bass first, it does not matter if you do not have structure like the deep water lakes that have all of those things, no matter what,  you still have to find them to be successful.

 

The more educated you become about your own bodies of water can help you in your quest when you fish other bodies of water, If I were to fish a lake,  I know the LMB is the dominate preditor in several of the lakes I fish here, I can find bass on structure, in cover, and in the open, there is really no threat other than the angler, in a river system their enviroment is different, they are no longer as you say the top of the food chain, Pike, Snakeheads, and other big toothy preditors dominate and control this enviroment,  so places with good cover are much more important when I am looking for bait fish and bass.

 

One can read all the books and watch all the videos there are and be quite engauged in the knowledge of how to go bass fishing, but if you don't get out there and see things for yourself and learn from what the fish are doing then you have only accomplished fishing as a theory.

 

The reality of fishing is a wake up call IMO, what we see and read from anglers all over this country is astounding, one thing remains a constant in all of the books and all of the waters we fish, in order to catch fish, you must first find the fish.

[Felix77]

It's little different for me in the fact that most all of the waters I fish are man made lakes, all are here in my home state, but as you speak of fish behavior in different areas of the country, I feel like I have somewhat of a head start if I should ever leave my home state just by being a member of this site.

 

Everyday I get to read different things that require different techniques, different mind sets of how to approach different areas, with different baits, baits I have never used, one thing remains the same, you have to put yourself in the right position to catch the bass first, it does not matter if you do not have structure like the deep water lakes that have all of those things, no matter what,  you still have to find them to be successful.

 

The more educated you become about your own bodies of water can help you in your quest when you fish other bodies of water, If I were to fish a lake,  I know the LMB is the dominate preditor in several of the lakes I fish here, I can find bass on structure, in cover, and in the open, there is really no threat other than the angler, in a river system their enviroment is different, they are no longer as you say the top of the food chain, Pike, Snakeheads, and other big toothy preditors dominate and control this enviroment,  so places with good cover are much more important when I am looking for bait fish and bass.

 

One can read all the books and watch all the videos there are and be quite engauged in the knowledge of how to go bass fishing, but if you don't get out there and see things for yourself and learn from what the fish are doing then you have only accomplished fishing as a theory.

 

The reality of fishing is a wake up call IMO, what we see and read from anglers all over this country is astounding, one thing remains a constant in all of the books and all of the waters we fish, in order to catch fish, you must first find the fish.

 

 

There is no substitute for actually being on the water however one thing I can say about reading books is that it helps you recognize things much faster if you are truly paying attention.  I can't count how many times last year I recognized a potential pattern, way to fish it etc. just from having the experience in my head from a book or video.  Last year was my first full year tournament fishing.  I spent my winter months (my fishingless months) reading and watching videos.  I would not have been as effective had I not done my "studies".

 

One other thing I will say about books/videos ... You have to be able to apply them to your fishing.  That means

#1 - As NitroFreak said ... get on the water and learn your body of water.  If you fish in the northeast your situations will differ from those you see on fishing shows which are filmed in Florida, Tennessee or Georgia.  You need to adjust what you see according to the conditions you fish.

#2 - Keep an open mind.  Every fisherman will tell you that there are exceptions to every rule.  Be open minded to the fact that what you read is the complete opposite from what you observed on a given day.

[papajoe222]

Sam, I believe the stocking that was done with expectations of the two strains reproducing would produce offspring with the best of both. Larger fish than the northern strain and more aggressive and less prone to 'lockjaw' than the Florida strain.  Don't get me wrong, the bass up here react to cold fronts and such, but they don't seem to totaly shut down and will respond quickly to a change for the better. 

The perfect cross species, IMO, would be a smalmouth/northern largemouth/Florida largemouth.  What a fish that'd be!

I don't give up on bass fishing during cold fronts, which normally will have eastward winds. I do realize that the fish will be less aggressive and hold much tighter to cover and make adjustments.  I also don't expect to load the boat in a few hours. I think I know my bass, but there's always more to learn.

[WRB]

In California we have the advantage of having both northern strain and Florida strain LMB in the same lakes and can making side by side comparisons of the 2 strains. In addition the 2 separate strain inter grade and their off spring are different than the parents, creating a third variation of LMB, in the same lake.

The most obvious is the size of the NLMB verses FLMB. Not so obvious is feeding preference; NLMB prefer dormasel or shoreline prey and smaller size baitfish, whereas FLMB tend to prefer pelagic or mid water column main lake larger size baitfish. Both species will feed on both types of prey, however there is a preference.

The FLMB is more cautious selecting prey, where NLMB tend to be more aggressive in striking prey and lures.

A bass is a bass is simply not true. First lession is bass are not bass at all, they are sunfish family. LMB are different than smallmouth bass and both are different than spotted bass in where they prefer to locate and what prey they prefer to eat.

Tom

[CoBass]

In California we have the advantage of having both northern strain and Florida strain LMB in the same lakes and can making side by side comparisons of the 2 strains. In addition the 2 separate strain inter grade and their off spring are different than the parents, creating a third variation of LMB, in the same lake.

The most obvious is the size of the NLMB verses FLMB. Not so obvious is feeding preference; NLMB prefer dormasel or shoreline prey and smaller size baitfish, whereas FLMB tend to prefer pelagic or mid water column main lake larger size baitfish. Both species will feed on both types of prey, however there is a preference.

The FLMB is more cautious selecting prey, where NLMB tend to be more aggressive in striking prey and lures.

A bass is a bass is simply not true. First lession is bass are not bass at all, they are sunfish family. LMB are different than smallmouth bass and both are different than spotted bass in where they prefer to locate and what prey they prefer to eat.

Tom

Good points on the differences between the different strains of bass. I have fished both NLMB and FLMB and the northerns are definitely more aggressive and less prone to lockjaw when it comes to minor changes in weather patterns and water temps. I would love to see the F1 hybrids stocked in some of our lakes but unfortunately the Fish and Game guys here are all about trout, walleye, and kokanee salmon. Bass are way down on their list of priorities.

[papajoe222]

In California we have the advantage of having both northern strain and Florida strain LMB in the same lakes and can making side by side comparisons of the 2 strains. In addition the 2 separate strain inter grade and their off spring are different than the parents, creating a third variation of LMB, in the same lake.

The most obvious is the size of the NLMB verses FLMB. Not so obvious is feeding preference; NLMB prefer dormasel or shoreline prey and smaller size baitfish, whereas FLMB tend to prefer pelagic or mid water column main lake larger size baitfish. Both species will feed on both types of prey, however there is a preference.

The FLMB is more cautious selecting prey, where NLMB tend to be more aggressive in striking prey and lures.

A bass is a bass is simply not true. First lession is bass are not bass at all, they are sunfish family. LMB are different than smallmouth bass and both are different than spotted bass in where they prefer to locate and what prey they prefer to eat.

Tom

YES. This is the kind of information you don't get from reading articles or watching the tube.  Although I have read about your favorite lakes, I never saw any information like this.  Fifty plus years fishing and I still love learning new things about my favorite fish.