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3 tips to help catch more largemouth bass

I can remember when I was a kid wading Mulberry Creek in Lynchburg Tennessee looking for smallmouth bass. There is no better fighter at the end of his line than acrobatic smallmouth bass. I have often referred to smallmouth bass as poor man’s trout and the beauty of the bronze back is unmatched by a Tennessee farmer. There are many ways to catch smallmouth bass and here are just three of my favorites listed.

LIVE BAIT: Live bait is one of my favorite ways to catch smallmouth bass. You may not be in tune with purists who only use artificial baits. I would say that many anglers avoid live bait in large part due to the inconvenience as well as the work involved in obtaining live bait, especially the live bait that I am about to list. My favorite live bait in streams, crews and rivers has to be the hellgramite with the Crawdad right behind. These baits abound in streams and can be caught and kept alive quite easily.

To collect these baits for fishing, you will need a seine net. Three to four feet wide is fine with a pole at each end to keep the fence in the stream. The seine net should have a heavy lead weight on the bottom and float on the top. The permanent current of the fence extends the fence between the two poles and allows the fence to flow downstream forming a belly where the floats are above the weights and the net creates a pocket for the bait to go away.

Now start kicking loose gravel in front of the net. You won’t be able to see any of the mud you kick up, but the bait will wash into the fence by the current. After you have lifted the gravel, lift the net making sure to lift the weights first and prevent the bait from escaping. There will be some gravel, but that’s okay, just scoop it up and scoop out the hellgramites and Crawdads and put them in a bucket. Now you are ready to start fishing.

Wading streams is a lot of fun and you can use waders or not depending on the time of year. All you need is a simple swivel outfit. I like to use a long rod to catch largemouth bass in streams. It allows you to get under the overhanging tree branches, as well as deep, dark rooted dowels where smallmouth wolves love to hide. My favorite way to wade the creek is with a nine foot fishing rod without a reel. I tie about four feet of braid to the end with a hook, weightless, and start to dip, as we called it.

This method is not only the most fun, but possibly the most effective way to reach the hard-to-reach areas along the creek bank that are home to the mighty smallmouth bass. Never miss a riffle. When wading upstream, always go upstream so you don’t mess up your next fishing hole, sneak past the riffles, and bait the strong current over the dip hole below it. It may not look like there are any fish there, but you might be surprised. Let your bait drift naturally into deeper water and hold on.

Of all the fishing I’ve done so far, this method of catching largemouth bass has to be my favorite. Not many people now take advantage of all the hype on big boats and luxury fishing gear, but this technique is not only fun but very effective. One thing to keep in mind in these small bodies of water is that with little fishing pressure and an abundance of food, these streams, creeks, and rivers can possibly produce the largest largemouth of your life.

FLOAT-N-FLY: Many bass anglers target largemouth bass. There are more of them and they tend to be a bit easier to catch as they stick to the more visible cover in shallower water. It is when one of these fishermen hooks on a largemouth that they promise to try to catch more of them one day. Very few largemouth bass fishermen can be strictly labeled as a smallmouth bass fisherman. However, there are some who have taken the practice of catching these ghosts from the deep to a whole new level.

One technique created to catch large bass is the float and fly technique. The fly used in this technique is actually a lead head jig tied like a fly. The long-established traditional materials for the smallmouth fly or hair template is deer or squirrel hair. Today there are many synthetic materials that are excellent flies for floating and flying gear. Colors vary from natural to bright depending on the clarity of the water and whether it is sunny or cloudy. Natural colors in clear water and brilliant colors in dirty or muddy water.

The fly is attached to the line under a float. The slip-bobber has become more popular in recent years and makes it easier to throw. The float-n-fly rig is generally used when the water is cold and smallmouth bass is a bit slow and deep. The float should be between 9 and 12 feet above the fly and run very slow. Hair on the go will vibrate with very little current and pauses of 30 seconds or more are not uncommon. A quick movement with the tip of the reed after the pause is all that is needed before another long pause. The strike often occurs right after the contraction, but the pause is important for the largemouth to engage with their presentation.

FLOATING RAPALA: The original floating rapala has been bringing largemouth to the boat for many years. Probably the most overlooked presentation, and possibly the most fun, has to be moving an original floating Rapala over deep, crystal clear waters. Largemouths can hardly resist this introduction and when they refuse to hit anything else you can usually persuade some in this way. I have caught smallmouth bass with the Rapala floating on top when the water temperature is in the 40s.

The trick is to convince the smallmouth that there is a dying tarpon that is struggling to swim. Shad cannot tolerate cold water and the weaker shad will start to die when the water temperature reaches 40 degrees. Smallmouth Bass is cold-blooded and will not expend the energy chasing the baitfish, but when it just sits there moving around for a long period of time, it will make the bass move up and take the easy meal. Sometimes a smallmouth will come from 40 feet or lower to hit your bait.

The way to fool these largemouths is to launch their floating Rapala close to shore along deep cliffs. Allow the Rapala to settle initially for several seconds before the first contraction. When you move the Rapala, just a couple of quick clicks with a slightly slack line will be enough to attract a bite. Let the Rapala rest for several more seconds and repeat. This technique allows the Rapala to stay on the fish longer and convinces them that the dying shad is going nowhere quickly and triggers an attack. It is often an explosive blow and it will surprise you. Be prepared and don’t set the hook too fast and pull the Rapala out of the smallmouth. Give the fish a second to put the bait in its mouth and your connection success will increase.

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