locating bass

[fishingdude41791]

when your looking for bass wats the best things 2 look for? the only thing i know 2 look for is variations in weed lines and cover like branches sticking out of the water. Is there anythignelse I should look for?

[Shakes]

shade. under pads, trees, weeds, whatever. If the suns out, chances are they are going to be in shade. If its cloudy, fish with a spinnerbait or crankbait, b/c the fish are most likely roaming. A faster bait will help you locate them faster.

[gatrboy53]

the first thing i look for on any lake is points,any part of the shoreline that sticks out farther than the rest.it could be the shoreline itself or some structure in the water,grass,trees,rocks...and the second thing i look for is breaks,these are underwater contour changes of the bottom. if your mainly a bank beater again i key in on points,if possible i try to fish the side the wind is blowing into,this is harder for the fisherman but better for the fish.i try to find where theres deep water close by and in fl. i always look for submerged grass.i fish alot of shallow weedy lakes and usually they are going to be buried up in the thick stuff.sometimes theyr on the edges and sometimes they r out from the shore.

[senile1]

ryanmah,

There are many people on this forum with much more knowledge about bass than I, so I'm sure you will receive some good answers to your question.  First, are you using a depth/fish finder?  If you are, look for underwater points, humps, ledges, channel banks, and channel bends beneath the surface.  A channel bend with cover such as stumps, trees, grass, rock, etc.  is an excellent place to find bass that are deep.  Also, you should be able to tell differences in bottom composition with your fish finder which will allow you to see those break lines where rock turns to mud, and so forth.  You should also be able to see baitfish on your fish finder as well.  So you're looking for changes in depth contours or bottom composition and you should prefer those that have some kind of cover like trees, stumps, or rock.  If baitfish are present, you've found everthing a bass needs.  

Without a fish finder, you'll have to study a map and observe the bank to get an idea of where possible changes in bottom contour may lie under the surface.  In addition, you can drag a carolina rig through an area to get some ideas of the depth and the cover in that area.  And as you suggested you can sometimes see cover sticking up from the water as well as schools of baitfish.  

Oh . . . . welcome to the forum

[Thefishy1]

The biggest thing that I always pay attention to is Temperature because if you are fishing shallow in 40 degree water or fishing deep in 65 degree water you probably arnt going to catch anything. There are 6 main seasons that I pay attention to

Winter- 48 and below     Bass are deep and sluggish

Prespawn- 48-55           Bass are staging on points waiting for higher temp

Spawn- 55-70                easy enough

Postspawn- 70-75         Bass go on feeding binges to regain energy

Summer- 75-90             Bass are deep and sluggish

Fall- 75-55                     Go on feeding frenzys to last them through the winter