Your tips and tricks

[the reel ess]

Try a Trick Worm weightless. Carry Finesse Worms and downsize if needed. Keep an inline spinner in the box and a light combo in the truck. It can save the trip.

Popping hollow body frogs outperform regular ones.

If you know a place with lots of little hungry bass, use that place to try new techniques.

Cheap equipment can cost you a new PB. Buy BC reels with one-piece metal frames.

20# braid on spinning gear will all but eliminate twist.

Premium hooks!!! Berkley Big Game line!!! 

Don't get too drunk to fish.

Leave the phone in the car. Wives have a way of "needing you to do something" in the middle of a great day. Mine did last Sunday.

Big bass usually are loners and won't be around the dinks much of the year. Spawn is an exception.

The best times of the summer for topwaters are mornings and evenings of the most humid days. (a personal observation, not a fact).

 

3 hours ago, scaleface said:

 

I must be fishing in that other 1 percent . 

I feel you. I know they work, but I have one place they won't. And it's my best place.

[Bassin' Brad]

Never squat with your spurs on. 

[Dorado]

@the reel ess I've noticed that you're a big fan of the weightless Trick Worm. I tried it for the first time at a friends pool to see what it does underwater.  It's mesmerizing! How do you like to work it and what colors do you recommend for me to start off with? Do I treat it like a weightless tx rigged Senko? Thanks 

[WRB]

There are no panacea lures for bass fishing. 

The majority of strikes on artificial lures go undetected.

There is a reason I catch more DD bass then most bass anglers.

Tom

[jr231]

11 minutes ago, WRB said:

There are no panacea lures for bass fishing. 

The majority of strikes on artificial lures go undetected.

There is a reason I catch more DD bass then most bass anglers.

Tom

 

Alot of that has to do with your location and resources. Such as the amount of time you get to spend on the water , boat and #of DD bass in the lakes you fish. 

[the reel ess]

8 hours ago, Dorado said:

@the reel ess I've noticed that you're a big fan of the weightless Trick Worm. I tried it for the first time at a friends pool to see what it does underwater.  It's mesmerizing! How do you like to work it and what colors do you recommend for me to start off with? Do I treat it like a weightless tx rigged Senko? Thanks 

I'm glad you asked. LOL.

I fish ponds a lot and this is a killer shallow water bait. I usually have it on a MH 7' spin combo with 20# braid and let the fish tell me how to use it. If I see fish busting near weeds or in shallow water, I'll just throw it over and let it sink and often a fish will pick it up-no skill required. If a bass misses a topwater it's a good follow up bait. If fish are active, you can use it like a jerkbait. You can just drag it around weightless. Throw it into the limbs of a laydown. The slow fall tears up the bass's nerves. You can use it as the traditional T or C rig. You can also wacky rig it. During spawn it's a stealthy bait so you can use it around beds without spooking fish away. It's my Senko because it outfishes the Senko, for me.

 

My buddy who only fishes when we kayak only has one rod and only uses this one bait for bass and usually catches some. He just drags it slowly. The bubble gum is my best color, followed closely by limetreuse and methiolate. I have some natural colors I use for T rigs. I even have a bag of magnum size, but no luck with that one yet. It's the most versatile bait I have. And the Finesse Worm is just a smaller Trick Worm. Check this out:

 

 

 

[Dorado]

1 hour ago, the reel ess said:

I'm glad you asked. LOL.

I fish ponds a lot and this is a killer shallow water bait. I usually have it on a MH 7' spin combo with 20# braid and let the fish tell me how to use it. If I see fish busting near weeds or in shallow water, I'll just throw it over and let it sink and often a fish will pick it up-no skill required. If a bass misses a topwater it's a good follow up bait. If fish are active, you can use it like a jerkbait. You can just drag it around weightless. Throw it into the limbs of a laydown. The slow fall tears up the bass's nerves. You can use it as the traditional T or C rig. You can also wacky rig it. During spawn it's a stealthy bait so you can use it around beds without spooking fish away. It's my Senko because it outfishes the Senko, for me.

 

My buddy who only fishes when we kayak only has one rod and only uses this one bait for bass and usually catches some. He just drags it slowly. The bubble gum is my best color, followed closely by limetreuse and methiolate. I have some natural colors I use for T rigs. I even have a bag of magnum size, but no luck with that one yet. It's the most versatile bait I have. And the Finesse Worm is just a smaller Trick Worm. Check this out:

 

 

 

@the reel ess dude solid response! You motivated me to build more confidence in this bait. Thanks again

[the reel ess]

34 minutes ago, Dorado said:

@the reel ess dude solid response! You motivated me to build more confidence in this bait. Thanks again

I should add that I've caught a good many bass over 4 lbs on this bait and one over 6 in this pic.

[WRB]

13 hours ago, Yeajray231 said:

 

Alot of that has to do with your location and resources. Such as the amount of time you get to spend on the water , boat and #of DD bass in the lakes you fish. 

California issues approx 1.8 million sportfishing licenses annually, if 25% of those are fresh water bass anglers then 450,000 anglers are trying to catch bass. Let's say for sake a of discussion 10% of those anglers are skilled bass anglers, that is 45,000.

You can see where this going, of all those bass anglers very few ever catch a DD bass, let's say 1%. So how do you get into this 1%?

Tip, to catch big bass consistantly you must fish for them, It takes dedication. Catt defined the answer, understand structure, bass behavior and factor in weather. Time on the water only helps if it's productive time being at the right place, the right time with the right lure.

Tom 

[soflabasser]

I wonder if Mr. Kurita is a member of this forum and what advice he has for bass fishing. He has the current world largemouth bass so it would be interesting to hear his perspective.

[jr231]

44 minutes ago, soflabasser said:

I wonder if Mr. Kurita is a member of this forum and what advice he has for bass fishing. He has the current world largemouth bass so it would be interesting to hear his perspective.

 

Yea his tips are fish where big bass are and  use a live sunfish as bait 

[WRB]

5 minutes ago, Yeajray231 said:

 

Yea his tips are fish where big bass are and  use a live sunfish as bait 

He was honest and that is rare in bass fishing.

Tom

[crypt]

 pay attention to what's going on around you.and, patience, patience,patience........

[GrumpyOlPhartte]

Pee to the leeward side.

[Sword of the Lord]

Tips:

 

Fishing for bass doesn't have to be stressful or expensive. Most people overkill on line size and gear in general. For example, I'm teaching my son to fish. He's 9. Today we took 2 Platinum Zebco 33's on 6'6" MH Shakespeare Excursion rods, spooled with 10 pound fluoro. Baits were Senkos, tubes, power worms and trick worms. 27 bass between us both. You don't need 60 pound line or high tech gear. People prepare for their PB and heavy, heavy vegetation, but that isn't the usual reality.

 

I'm not telling you to be cheap and take a Zebco, but I'm telling you that you don't need professional grade gear. Its easy and fun and doesn't have to cost a fortune.

[riverbasser]

Find a proven knot and learn to tie it well. 

 

All time on the water is a chance to learn something, whether you catch em or not.

 

Spending money does not equal catching success. 

 

Always tell someone where your going and wear lifejacket/kill switch

 

2 must haves on a boat- water and toilet paper

[soflabasser]

6 hours ago, Yeajray231 said:

 

Yea his tips are fish where big bass are and  use a live sunfish as bait 

 

Sounds like he is a wise and honest man since not everyone can say they caught a bass over 22 pounds.Most if not all trophy bass anglers have used or continue to use live bait for trophy bass, its part of the game when targeting trophy bass. I give Mr.Kurita lots of credit for being honest on catching the +22 pound bass on live bait, since their are many California anglers that have caught most of their DD's from live bait( such as live trout, crayfish, etc), but tell others they caught these fish on big swimbaits or jigs and even put down live bait to look like they don't use it all.Mr. Kurita claims he's lost bass much bigger than his +22 pounder on a lure and says he sees trophy bass in schools together, which is something that many expert bass fishermen says does not happen( it does and I have seen small schools of trophy bass before).

[caclunker]

On 8/19/2017 at 2:58 PM, Mike L said:

 

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

Agreed...casting accuracy,Timing,patience,and knowledge/understanding of fish are some of the "skills" required to catch the big ones or lots of good ones..but my tip is more along lines of advice take the chance to throw to the tight spots don't fear getting hung..gotta risk it to get the biscuit!!

[scaleface]

Best tip I have discovered the past few years . Go back to the basic Texas rigged worm . The improvements I  made to it  over the years resulted in poorer success .

[reb67]

The only thing I can add is this. When the fishing is tough, your not hitting your targets, getting hung up constantly just having a bad day, put every thing down take a good long look around and think how lucky you are  to be on the water and how much you Love this sport.

[XpressJeff]

My best tip (and only tip) is to read the info at bassresourse.com.

[Sword of the Lord]

Use your beat up Texas rigged Senkos and Senko style baits on a wacky rig when they get to be too bad (unless it just completely tears obviously). You get more use out of them and I've found that since they're even softer and more flimsy at that point they have even more action to them.

[38 Super Fan]

Don't be afraid to ignore conventional wisdom and fish "against the grain", so to speak.

[KTinman86]

Learn about the seasonal movements (aka seasonal patterns or calendar periods) of the bass, apply them based on the region of the country, and fine-tune them based upon the body of water. It sounds stupid because everyone wants a magic bait or a secret to catching more and bigger fish, but no such thing exists, but possessing the knowledge of how, when, and why bass move is the single most useful tool that any angler can have, period. If an angler truly understands the seasonal movements of bass, they can go anywhere in the country, at any time, and be successful. That is why pros are so good, not because of their equipment or anything like that, but it's their understanding of how to locate bass at any given time. Just about any Elite or FLW angler could go to any body of water in the country and beat the best local sticks from that area because they understand seasonal movements and will find areas locals would never find or fish. So, take the time to do lots of research on seasonal patterns and apply it every time you're on the water. It won't be easy because it takes time to get really good at finding fish fast, but it'll pay off little by little, and when you can consistently break down any body of water and catch a good limit, you've acquired a skill very very few bass anglers possess. Oh, and it's easy to revert back to what's comfortable or familiar to you on the water, but it will not make you grow as an angler. 

[toni63]

Don't listen to dock talk.

Don't buy every lure that "looks like it should catch fish" in the store.

Realize many fisherman are habitual liars and whatever they are telling you is what may, or may not have, actually worked for them, when they said it did, where they say it did.

Start simple and try to stay that way.

Just because it worked for KVD and he won a big tournament doing it doesn't mean it will work everywhere, all the time.

Like many other posters have said, there is a reason certain presentations are still commonly used today as much as they were 30 years ago. Because they are simple, inexpensive, don't require any special equipment or skill and they work.

If it starts feeling like work, it's time to go do something else for awhile. Or maybe just go to some great spot you always catch fish at and get back to enjoying catching instead of fishing...