One of the things I hear a lot (or find myself saying) is that in order to catch a fish, you need to think like a fish. What does that mean, though? Fish generally have two motivations in life, and sometimes a third depending on species. Those things are: feeding, procreation, and possibly caring for their young (some fish just kind of put it out there and are done). If you keep these things in mind, and then layer on the specific behaviors of your target fish, then you start to think like fish.
This article from Wired2Fish breaks it down on bass. What they do, when, and how it changes based on environment.
Knowing where to bass fish takes time and experience. It takes understanding what a bass is going to do based on seasonal factors. But it also takes knowing the types of places bass like to get and why they get there.
To know where to bass fish, you need to understand there are essentially six pivotal things to the locations bass frequent on a given body of water that include the following:
- types of fisheries – lakes, rivers, ponds, streams and tidal waters.
- seasons – the time of year and water temp. can help you predict where bass will be
- structure – the terrain of the fishery’s bottom is often more important than what’s on it
- cover – Can a bass ambush his prey and does his prey have a reason to be there
- forage – no bait often means no bass
- environmental influences – wind, rising water, receding water, tidal influences, etc.
Types of fisheries
Bass relate to their environment and adapt. If their environment is constantly got current, they become very efficient at feeding in current and will use objects in their environment to ambush food. If they are living in a large ecosystem, they will become very adept at intersecting their food supply in optimal feeding locations.
Photos: Wired2Fish
