Finding Bass vs Lure Selection

[Bartableman7]

Just in general terms...I'm thinking finding bass is 90% of the battle and lure selection/presentation is about 10% toward success.

 

Close?  Way off?

 

(I've fished in a lot of tournaments as a non-boater and when paired with the winner...they fished in spots I would have never thought of.  SMART. I once fished for 7 hours anchored in one spot.  3 and 4 pounders all day. Another time...only boater with a jet motor.  We whipped across a stump field and crushed them. LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION.)

 

 

[Choporoz]

Hard to catch fish that aren't where you are fishing.

[WRB]

Most bass anglers acknowledge location is the key factor yet rarely stay at a good location when not catching bass. Bass anglers like to keep moving and changing lures hoping to catch a few bass and just left bass in the wake.

Why? Location is important but activity level of the bass at the right location, the right time, then lure selection and presentation comes into play. 

For example a crank bait doesn’t work in heavy cover, you need to select a lure that works at the depth and conditions where the bass located.

Tom

[Deleted account]

About right.

[dodgeguy]

You need to locate catchable bass. That's 90 percent. 

[scaleface]

 Bass are not endangered . Where I'm located bass are everywhere . You go down the bank fishing visible cover and you will be showing bass your lures . 

[gim]

In some situations, I think its 100% location and 0% lure selection.  I can think of at least two:

1) Under docks.  If there is a fish there, they'll bite anything you present in front of them.

2) In a small river.  When I fish this small river in midsummer, the spot I need to hit is about the size of a dinner plate.  I'm fully convinced that lure selection makes no difference at all.  I just have to hit the spot and those brownies will whack it.

 

In a lot or most other situations, I think the OP is about right.  A lot of times you can find bass but they are in a neutral mood or they've been pressured so only a specific presentation might work.

[LrgmouthShad]

26 minutes ago, gimruis said:

1) Under docks.  If there is a fish there, they'll bite anything you present in front of them.

Come again? Don’t think so, but not necessarily because wrong lure, but activity level 

[gim]

2 minutes ago, LrgmouthShad said:

Come again? Don’t think so, but not necessarily because wrong lure, but activity level 

The lake I primarily fish when I target docks is like this.  If there is a fish there, any lure will catch it.  You just have to get it under there.

[Bird]

38 minutes ago, scaleface said:

 Bass are not endangered . Where I'm located bass are everywhere . You go down the bank fishing visible cover and you will be showing bass your lures . 

This is largely the way I approach it.

If I'm fishing a bank with an abundance of cover, usually catch an abundance of Bass.

[LrgmouthShad]

7 minutes ago, gimruis said:

The lake I primarily fish when I target docks is like this.  If there is a fish there, any lure will catch it.  You just have to get it under there.

That’s fair enough then. I don’t fish your lake so I don’t understand it. 

[Mike L]

Unless I don’t understand 

You’re 10% off

It’s 100% “finding bass” after that everything else matters

 

 

 

 

 

Mike
 

 

[scaleface]

I agree that you have to find the bass to catch them but I think finding bass is the easirest part of bass fishing .

[fin]

I fish one spot where schools of bass chase shad. It’s about 50 square feet on a few hundred acre lake. There are only certain times and under certain conditions that they chase shad, so if you’re not there at the right time, you’re not going to catch one. If you’re there at the right time, there are a lot of baits they will bite, but there are many baits they just will absolutely not bite. Same thing goes with presentation - they’ll bite at any depth, but if your bait isn’t swimming like the shad they are chasing, forget it.

 

It’s not just location. It’s kind of like a cooking recipe. If you leave out just one ingredient, it’s probably ruined. Some ingredients might be more important than others, but focusing on only one is a bad idea.

 

3 hours ago, scaleface said:

 Bass are not endangered . Where I'm located bass are everywhere . You go down the bank fishing visible cover and you will be showing bass your lures . 

 

Are you in heaven? Cause that sure sounds like heaven to me. ?

[scaleface]

4 minutes ago, fin said:

Are you in heaven? Cause that sure sounds like heaven to me. ?

Maybe . Bass are everywhere in Missouri . I even catch them out of ditches . 

[DitchPanda]

2 hours ago, scaleface said:

I agree that you have to find the bass to catch them but I think finding bass is the easirest part of bass fishing .

Was gonna say maybe where your at...my local ponds and lakes aren't exactly loaded with bass. Takes some skill and work to find them.

[Mobasser]

I have found fish, and still not been able to catch them. Other times it seems easy. I've realized that almost anyone can catch the fish that are feeding aggressively, but it's much harder to catch those that are not.

[VolFan]

Finding active, sizable bass is 98% of it. Once you find them, location and season should give you a good idea of what lure to use. Something that looks like a minnow or crawdad, and fished like one or the other, is usually a pretty safe bet.

[Tennessee Boy]

Much of this is speculation.   I think 95% of the bass that are aware of you’re lure do not strike it.   If I’m right then you’re locating 20 times more fish than you’re catching.  The best proof I can offer is to compare fishing to electro fishing studies.  Electro fishing boats always find fish.  So finding fish is easy.  Finding catchable fish is the key.

[Deleted account]

On 7/23/2022 at 8:46 AM, Tennessee Boy said:

Much of this is speculation.   I think 95% of the bass that are aware of you’re lure do not strike it.   If I’m right then you’re locating 20 times more fish than you’re catching.  The best proof I can offer is to compare fishing to electro fishing studies.  Electro fishing boats always find fish.  So finding fish is easy.  Finding catchable fish is the key.

Assuming you are correct or close to it, one is still catching 5% of the bass you find, but still catching zero when you don't find any.

[Sphynx]

I don't think it is quite that simple...bass being where you are is a precondition, no fish it doesn't matter what lure you throw...once you locate fish, you gotta figure out if they'll eat, lots of studies posted here I'm too lazy to look up that give the percentage of bass that will bite lures under various conditions, so "locating fish" is an over simplification. I'm also not convinced that "catching fish " is functionally any different to "locating fish" given that the only way we know for sure which kind of fish we see on our graphs etc is to put a lure in front of them and see if they will eat it.

[Catt]

Can y'all explain how to find catchable bass?

 

[scaleface]

2 minutes ago, Catt said:

Can y'all explain how to find catchable bass?

 

nope . I just keep on keepin  on and hope to figure it out . Good thing bass are abundant and hang around stuff , that narrows the search down .

[WRB]

They are at the end of your line fighting.

Tom

[Catt]

All bass are "catchable", just not all the time.

 

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.