Many people think it is impossible to fish for bass without a boat. This simply is not true. There are many places to fish for bass from the bank. Some are easily accessible and some are not. But they are there waiting for you.
The first place I learned to fish was a medium sized farm pond. My father took me there just about every other week during the summer and we pulled many bass out of there. Ponds can be found throughout the countryside but now a days most are on private property and you need to ask permission. Look for vegetation and structure to improve your chances.
Another good place very similar to the pond is a abandoned strip mine. These can be found throughout the Midwest and provide excellent bass fishing. Again look for vegetation and structure but with strip mines the water can be very deep making finding the structure a little more difficult.
Creeks and streams that have a steady flow of water are good for smallmouth bass. Look for trees in the water as they provide excellent cover for the bass. Also look for breaks in the flow of the water as often times bass will sit in the calmer water waiting on their prey to go by.
Rivers can also provide excellent bank fishing but the good spots are usually a little harder to get to. You look for the same things you would look for in the smaller creeks and streams but you may have to hike a ways through heavy growth to get there. I suggest you wear a fishing vest as it will make it a little easier to get through the growth. One more place on a river that I have found really produces is what I call an eddy pool. Find a place where the water is moving really fast and look for pockets of quite water either alongside the fast water or immediately after. These pools will contain all kinds of fish either resting for the next leg of their trip or waiting for the bait fish to arrive.
You can also fish lakes from the bank looking for the same structure you would look for in a pond or strip mine. Areas of growth or trees in the water make the best choices. This is probably my least favorite place to bank fish due to the difficulty of finding and getting to a good fishing location.
By: Douglas Burns
Posts Tagged ‘Bass Fishing’
Bank Fishing For Bass
April 20th, 2010Fishing Rods for Different Types of Fishing
March 25th, 2010
Make the statement “all fishing rods are the same” and you are bound to get some laughter and more than a few lectures from experienced fishermen. There are almost as many types of fishing rods are there are types of game fish. There is simply no way that you could have a “one-size-fits-all” fishing rod. Below is a list of some of the different types of fishing rods, and explanations as to why they work well for the type of game fish that they were made for.
Bass fishing rod – The bass, both the freshwater and saltwater variety, is one of the most popular game fish. Bass tournaments are held in lakes and rivers each year, and the lucky fisherman who can land the biggest bass in one of these tournaments gets to take home not only a prize, but a great story as well. One of the reasons that bass are so popular with fishermen is that they can be crafty opponents, and fierce fighters. The type of fishing rod that is good for bass fishing is one that can take a lot of punishment. Landing a bass can take some time, and before you pull one into your boat or on shore, it is going to take your line for a ride, and bend your fishing pole every which way. Bass come in varying sizes, so of course bass fishing rods will come in different sizes, but they all need to be strong and extremely flexible. Bass fishing rods tend to be made from fiberglass more than anything else; though not as strong as graphite, it can take more extreme bending.
Trout fishing rod – Trout fishing rods do not generally need to be as flexible as bass fishing rods. Yes, there are some big trout out there – some as big as salmon – but generally they tend to be lighter than bass, with a little less fight in them. This doesn’t mean that trout aren’t fun to catch…the number of fishermen each year that go trout fishing in lake, rivers, and streams will attest to the fact that trout fishing is a wonderful way to spend the day. Trout poles usually run anywhere from seven feet to ten feet, with a nine foot pole being a good size for going from stream fishing on the shore to lake fishing in a boat. Trout fishing rods can be made from graphite; although graphite is not as flexible as fiberglass, with trout it is flexible enough. Of course, there are also fly fishing rods for trout, but these are in a whole different category than “regular” fishing rods.
Crappie fishing rods – The lengths of crappie fishing rods vary according to individual preference, but one thing about crappie fishing rods that needs to remain constant is that they must be light. Crappie fishing usually involves “jigging”, or snapping the rod up and down continually to lure the fish toward the bait, and if your fishing rod isn’t light, it’s going to tire your arm and wrist out rather quickly. Crappies are fairly small fish, so a light fishing rod and light line are fine to use. Due to the type of fishing it is, comfort should be the main concern when it comes to a crappie fishing rod.
By: John Gibb
Bass Fishing Basics – Best Baits For Bass Fishing
March 13th, 2010
Bass fishing is a really popular sport that can be enjoyed by anyone with the knowledge of a few Bass fishing basics. All species of Bass are some of the most sought after fish, as they are great fun to catch, and offer some of the best sport, both from the shore and from a boat.
One of the first Bass fishing basics to learn will obviously be the bait. This can be live bait such as peeler or soft back crabs, these are really fine baits for Bass. A crab is a peeler when it is in the process of losing its old shell, (to test if a crab is a peeler, try lifting the rear end of its shell; it should come away easily). A crab is a soft back when it has already discarded its old shell but before its new shell has hardened.
Other good Bass fishing baits include sand-eels, lugworm, and rag worm. Sand-eels can be collected from wet sand where they lie buried on a receding tide. They can be used as a dead bait but are more effective as live bait. Both lugworm and rag worm can be dug at low tide and will keep for a couple of days wrapped in damp newspaper. You could also try what is called a bait cocktail, which consists of both crab and worm on the same hook.
Other popular baits are artificial lures, and these should be part of any Bass fishing basics kit. There are so many of these artificial baits available that you could spend a fortune on them. My best advice would be to take a trip to your local tackle store, and ask for the most popular types for your local area. Start off simple with just a handful, which should include a couple of (top water baits) a couple of (spinner baits) and a couple of (plastic or rubber lures). As with the live baits these should all be retrieved slowly when fishing for Bass.
The next of the Bass fishing basics is the cast. If fishing from the shore you should try to cover as big an area as possible. To do this you should cast in a fan shape, start with a cast to the left of where you are standing and retrieve your bait, slowly pausing every ten to fifteen feet. On your next cast aim slightly to the right of the last cast and repeat this process until you have covered a fan shaped area. Try this a couple of times and if you have no luck simply walk twenty or thirty yards down the shore and start again.
Night fishing for Bass can be very productive, some of my best Bass fishing has been at night. For this you will need a lure that makes a lot of noise in the water when being retrieved. There are some excellent lures available for this (again ask at your local tackle store) and the Bass will find them irresistible. These are just a few of the Bass fishing basics, you will pick up more as you go along, but the best advice I can give is to get out there and have a go, I guarantee you will soon be hooked.
By: Mike Legg
