Dave Wraxall (left), Black
Mamba's President with a 7lb Largemouth caught on a white Wild Willy® with the
nose bent down to make it dive, in murky water. Pictured here with Rocky
Crawford (right). |
Up your Catch with this easy-to-follow look at the behaviour of North
America's favourite gamefish, the Largemouth Bass. Understanding his behaviour
and where he is most likely to be throughout the year, will catch you more fish.
The Nature of the Largemouth Bass
Think of the Largemouth Bass like a
mugger. He usually works on his own and will skulk around in the shadows waiting
for a hapless victim to pass by. He will dart out, swallow his prey whole with
that huge bucketmouth, and then retire back into his cover to digest his meal.
Largemouth are superbly camouflaged to hide in shadows, with their dark green
colouration and the bars on their sides to break up their outline. It's somewhat
like you sitting in a darkened room looking out of the window, into the
daylight. You can see people passing by but they can't see you.
Largemouth will eat almost anything that will fit in their mouths; baitfish,
crayfish, leeches, mice, frogs, ducklings etc. A 3lb Largemouth will eat a 6 to
8 inch baitfish without breaking stride. Most of the baits fishermen have
traditionally thrown for Largemouth, are far too small and would only represent
a mere morsel to a hungry Bass, of a decent size.
General Observations
You will rarely find Largemouth
on a mid-lake hump or out in the middle of a natural lake. This is, unless the
lake has very little cover and the Bass school to feed on roaming baitfish such
as Shad. Largemouth, otherwise, have a fairly tight home range. They will tend
to be in areas which are in some way, connected to the shoreline. Reservoir Bass
can seem to break this rule of thumb, but will still relate to the old creek
channels and use them as we would a highway.
How Weather Affects Bass Behaviour
If the weather conditions have been stable for a couple of days, Bass are
likely to be actively looking for food and will station themselves at suitable
ambush points such as the edge of the weedbeds. Target irregularities in the
weedbed such as points, turns, recesses etc.
Largemouth will be most aggressive in lowlight conditions; overcast skies, early
in the morning, late in the day. They will generally be roaming out in the open,
actively looking for food.
They are also super aggressive just before a rainstorm. I have heard several
theories as to why this is but the one that makes the most sense to me is that
Largemouth evolved to live in rivers. When it rains heavily, run-off causes the
water to become very dirty. The visibility is greatly reduced, making it
difficult for the Bass to hunt their food. Therefore, they put on the feedbag
before the storm in preparation for the lean times ahead.
The hour or two just before a storm can provide some of the hottest action you
have ever seen. However, if there is any chance of lightning, even if it is a
distance away, stop fishing and get off the water immediately.
Lightning can still strike you, even if it is miles away, and the graphite rods
most of us use nowadays make great lightning conductors! No fish is worth dying
for. ( More about this in
Fishing can be Hazardous to your Health)
If the conditions over the last few days have been unstable or there is a cold
front passing through, the Bass are more likely to be tucked in very tight to
cover, such as under logs, undercut banks, tree stumps, etc. and buried right
inside weedbeds.
Fish will sit and sulk and will not be too interested in eating. However, they
can still be caught with a slow falling, natural looking bait carefully placed
very close to them, so they don't have to work for it. We like to use either
unweighted or very lightly weighted Black Mamba® bait. Choose which bait to use,
based on the water clarity and the size and colour of baitfish the Bass are
most likely to be eating.
Be patient and just let the bait flutter down, looking for all the world like a
dying baitfish and even the most hook shy fish will move out of his cover to
just suck it in. If you have the patience to fish the baits slowly and
methodically like this, you can have spectacular days when the other guys can't
buy a fish!
When it is sunny, Bass will tuck into the shadows. They will be under
overhanging trees and bushes, lily pads, under logs and tucked into weeds. In
these conditions, most anglers use baits that will fall vertically and cast them
close to the cover. Baits such as tubes, jig and pig, jig and craws, craws,
worms and lizards are often used.
The problem with these baits is that everyone uses them. The Bass
have often seen them dozens of times before and because they know the UPC codes
off by heart, are often reluctant to bite them. Also, these baits are usually
weighted to the point where they drop like a stone to get through the cover.
This is a very unnatural presentation as nothing in nature
plummets!
A Black Mamba® bait is very hard to beat when fish are finnicky or tucked in
tight to cover. Its slow seductive, gliding action draws reaction strikes when
nothing else will work. If you are fishing in relatively open cover and/or in
water up to six feet deep, use no weight at all. If you are fishing deeper, use
the lightest weight you can get away with, for the conditions. It is vitally
important to remember, that it is the slow, gliding fall which triggers the fish
to bite, so do not weigh the bait down too much.
By letting the bait sink slowly, you present an unbelievably natural looking
target for the fish. These baits sink exactly like a real baitfish
would, and the fish cannot resist it. After waiting up to a minute, you will
often see your line swimming off. SET THE HOOK because a fish has the bait in
its mouth.
When you are faced with low light conditions such as when it is overcast or
early in the morning or in the evening, when the sun is low in the sky, Bass
will be roaming around in the open, actively looking for food.
In these conditions, you want to use a fast, horizontal 'search' bait such as a
spinnerbait, crankbait or better yet, a Black Mamba® soft-plastic jerkbait. In
most conditions, we use a natural coloured Slick Willy® or Wild Willy® in clear
water or a Ribbed Willy® if the water is murky.
Especially when you are fishing shallow in clear water, you'd better believe
that the fish get a good look at a bait before they strike. Most other lures
have negative cues; something which tells the fish that they are not real food.
Fish can quickly become conditioned to these negative cues and refuse to bite
the bait.
The Black Mamba® baits have nothing about them that tells the fish they are not
real food, so fish are much more willing to bite them. The natural, baitfish
profile and random gliding motion of the Black Mamba® baits, draw
all-caution-to-the-wind, heartstopping, explosive surface strikes when the Bass
will completely ignore spinnerbaits and crankbaits. These baits are not for the
faint of heart!
Strategy for Locating Bass
Spring-
Largemouth spawn in shallow bays
with a hard bottom. They only spawn once a year, in the Spring, so you can bet
it's a very important time of the year to them. If you only got lucky once a
year, it would be important to you too!
They will hang around for a short while after spawning, as there is an abundant
food supply of baitfish species which spawn in the same areas. As the water
warms, the Bass and their forage will move out into the weedflats adjacent to
the spawning areas. The bigger, female fish are always the first to leave.
We recommend that you start shallow, in a spawning bay, then move out towards
deeper water. The bigger the spawning bay, the larger the population of fish it
should hold. It is not unusual for Bass to change locations throughout the day,
the season or because of changing weather conditions. Many inexperienced
fishermen will always pound the bank for Bass, regardless of conditions,
and are often dissappointed. You can't catch fish if they are not there. Also,
the shallow dwelling fish have seen every fishing lure imaginable, because of
the popularity of fishing the banks, and are very reluctant to bite.
Summer-
As the Largemouth leave their spawning areas, they will tend to move along the
shoreline and structure attached to it. They usually will move out into the
weedflats adjacent to the spawning areas. They will not just swim off into the
main lake.
Therefore, if the Bass aren't in the shallows, you move out to the first drop in
depth and search until you locate fish. Pay attention to the points and any
available cover at both sides of the mouth of the bay, as fish will often
congregate there. Bass are really drawn to edges and so your search should be
concentrated on the edges of the weeds where they drop off or die out.
Fish will also be buried in the weeds. However, they are usually spread out all
over the place and are therefore, harder to find. Dunk your bait in holes in the
weeds and jig it up and down a couple of times. If nothing bites, move on.
Target the holes because there is usually a reason why there is a hole; change
of bottom, a rock, a stump etc. These changes are often where fish will
congregate and are therefore, high percentage spots, that is, spots where you
are much more likely to get bitten.
Fall-
As the water starts to cool in the Fall, the Bass are going to begin a slow
migration towards deeper water in preparation for Winter. They are usually found
at the deeper edge of the weedflats they lived in throughout the Summer. As the
Fall progresses and the water temperature drops, they will will move closer to
their deep-water wintering holes and start to bunch up. Bass feed aggressively
throughout the Fall period so that they can build up fat reserves which will see
them through the Winter. We catch most of our biggest fish in mid to late fall
and we often have the lake to ourselves.
On Indian Summer days, the Bass and their prey, will often move shallow to take
advantage of the brief warming trend. Even a rise of a few degrees, can make a
huge difference, at this time of year.
As Winter approaches, Largemouth will move into the nearest, suitable, deep
water in the area, usually seeking a depth of 15 to 30 feet, where the
conditions are more stable, to spend the Winter. They will often school in large
numbers and remain in a state of near hibernation until the water starts to warm
again in Spring. If you can find any green weedclumps, they are often stuffed
with fish. Fish very slowly and methodically with a lightly weighted Atomic
Wedgie®.
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