If you’ve watched any amount of fishing shows you have probably learned that largemouth bass are among the most popular game fish.
It doesn’t matter your skill level, catching largemouth bass on freshwater lakes, rivers, and farm ponds can be incredibly fun. And making it even more fun is the fact that the largemouth are accessible in many place year round, spring, summer, fall and winter.
To learn more about them checkout Largemouth Bass on Wikipedia. I just found out they are the largest of the black bass family and can grow to more than 20 lbs.
Daddy Largemouth Is The Happy Home Maker
In early spring, when water temperatures hits the 45 degree mark the male largemouth starts moving from the deeper water to shallow water to prepare a nest for that special female who only arrives once the water temperature is greater than 50 degrees.
You will find them preparing nests in shallow water that gets lots of direct sunlight and which are somewhat protected from rough water that might destroy their nest, likely on the northwest ends of a lake or pond.
Largemouth Bass Nests courtesy of Flickr
Note: If you fish pre-spawn largemouth bass be sure to release them quickly and close to the spot you caught him so he can return to his nest.
How to Catch Largemouth Bass
First let me say that as cool as it might be owning a hi-tech bass boat it isn’t actually a requirement for one to catch big largemouth. You don’t need fancy and expensive fishing gear either although a heavier action rod might just come in handy.
In fact, you could use an old-fashioned cane pole and pretty much any largemouth bass lures and do fine.
I should point out that there are fewer places that allow using live bait so be sure you know the rules where you plan to fish. This has been put in place in many locations to avoid having invasive species to their waters. So use artificial baits that represent what they like to eat.
- bee moth
- crayfish
- leaf worms
- leeches
- minnows
- worms
- frogs
- snakes
- birds
I live for top water action and really enjoy using poppers, stick baits and even worms, well anything that will stay on the surface. It’s those explosive strikes where the largemouth flies from the water to annihilate the bait and get out for this every chance I get.
I’m really looking forward to our trip across Canada for some largemouth bass fishing and because we are retiring this year I’m also looking forward to doing some largemouth bass fishing south of the border. You can be sure I’ll be stocking up on my favourite largemouth bass lures.
