Bass Books

[soldier]

In an effort to share good info acquired via books, I thought it might be of value to spotlight some of them with a brief review.  Feel free to add to this list with yours, so that I can learn even more.

General/beginner books

Homer Circle.     Bass Wisdom   great info, told interestingly w/ an index for follow-up

Freshwater Angler.  Luring Largemouth Bass    not as good as Circle's, but a fair intro for the newbie.  Indexed.

Ken Schultz.  Successful Bass Fishing   Better than Luring L.M. Bass (above), about equal w/ Circle's book, however so good tips for the more  experienced bassman.  Indexed.

Advanced Books w/ many helpful hints:

Larry Larsen.  Bass Tactics    Well-done even though it's a 1992 print.  Valuable tips, excellent sketches.  Indexed.

Steve Price.  Best Bass Tips   Brief, but excellent.  Good on breaking down a body of water, either seasonally or a new lake.  

Steve Price.  Catching Bass Like a Pro.  More of the above, w/ some overlap.  Covers the entire range of baits.  Brief but well-done.

Mark Sosin.  Field & Stream Bass Fishing Handbook.

Brief, as above, not quite as good for about the same price.  Mostly drawings, rather than illustrations.

Outdoor Life.  Big-Bass Secrets.  Top notch tips, well worth the cost and read.  Excellent layout and illustrations, but NO index.

Bob Underwood.  Lunker   A different concept.  He spend 1700 hours underwater observing presentations to to bass.  Shatters some of our long-held beliefs, e.g. line color does not matter, he says.  See why.  Good info as a reference.  Index

Bill Murphy.  In Pursuit of Gian Bass.  A classic.  Focuses on little used techniques, like stitching.  Great on patterns discussion, different bait presentations, seasonality etc.  A must !!  NO index.

John Weiss.  The Bass Angler's Almanac   650 tips arranged by equipment, baits, different water body fishing, etc.  Well-written and valuable.  Illustrations/drawings.  Index.  Worth the $.

Mike Folkestad & Ron Kovach.  Serious Bass Fishing

Comprehensive, yet boring to read.  Some tips of value found here, among the massive verbage.  Not worth the time and $.  No index

Bass Pro Hints Books:

North American Bass Club.  Secrets of the Bass Pros

Well illustrated, well-written articles.  A good tip source and reference.  Indexed

Field & Stream.  The World of Fishing for Largemouth Bass   Similar to above.  Same comments.  No index, however.

Dick Sternberg.  Advanced Bass Fishing  More of the above two, but better illustrated and layout.  Easier to pick out tips.  Indexed

Tim Tucker.  More!Secrets of America's Best Bass Pros     With Sternberg above, this is the best of this category.  Check out the last 3 chapters on Rick Clunn's seasonal system for bass location.  NO index.

Gary White.  Bassing with the Best.  Doesn't look like much, but ten very good articles by the big names on the pro tour, followed by an extensive tips chapter.  Valuable.  NO index

I'd welcome any additions you all feel are worthwhile for a bass fishing library, and I hope this one assisted you in compiling the same.

[Shad_Master]

Soldier, how do you have time to fish with all that reading? : Thanks for the list.

[soldier]

Shad master,

Here in RI, it's been a horrible winter....lots of down time....can't help but try to add to your knowledge then hope to try the things out when lines get wet.  The way things are going, we're looking at, at least, a couple of more weeks of non-fishing time.  That's optimistic !!

[Nick_Barr]

Here are 2 good bass books that are more for story reading which i really liked and just read.

Bass Wars By Nick Taylor

Diary of a Bass Pro by Tim Tucker

It is on Joe Thomas it is good!!!

[jbrazWI]

soldier,

I posted this under another thread, but have to add it to this one:  In-Fisherman's Critical Concepts 1:  Bass Fundamentals.  I think it was well worth the $13.00.

This is the first installment of 3-4 other books coming out soon.  

jb

[roadwarrior]

"Smallmouth" In-Fisherman series.

[BCAlbin]

    Don't forget the two Kevin VanDam/Louie Stout books; Bass Strategies (1995) and Secrets Of A Champion (2002). They're both great books.

    Also Don't forget about your local public library. My fiancee had to go to the library to get some books for teaching, I tagged along, went to the sports section and found a ton of good bass fishing books, including many of the ones listed above. I've read a few cover to cover and it hasn't cost me a dime.

[earthworm77]

I actually found Serious Bass Fishing to be a decent read, I like the finesse concept and those guys did a bunch of that.

Michael Jone- Finesse Bass Fishing is a dynamite read

[somethingaboutsomething]

Dont forget one of the best books I know I ever read, Shaw Grigsby, Bassmaster, I think Natl. Georaphic put it out, but dont remember.  I got more out of this book than I have out of a dozen others.  Interested if anybody else read it and what they thought.