Mark N:

In the morning around 6-7am it is good to use a buzz top water bait. The fog is still comming off the water and the fish will rely on sound instead of sight of the bait…

stickypyros2:

that’s the best time,check the spots you’re fishing at.

snapper G:

feeding times:

Feeding times depend on water color and light conditions

Ideal times are early in the morning or late in the evening the bass are on the feed.
In major slow periods the bass will feed for a short period of time. Another condition that causes bass to feed quite often is the weather change, such as a barometric drop or an approaching storm or possibly some cloud cover which moved in- all of which affect atmospheric pressure and temperature.
Another thing that could influence bass to feed would be a warming trend after a cold front.
There are several reasons bass feed. Feeding bass are the easiest to catch. You can catch them on almost any lure in your tackle box, because basically all lures at one time or other will catch feeding fish.
With clear water conditions bass normally feed most intensely during early morning, late afternoon and at night, but they will feed all day when there is heavy cloud cover.

On clear days and in stained-to-muddy water bass tend to feed in the middle of the day (from mid-morning until mid-afternoon). When the water is muddy very little feeding takes place in early morning, late afternoon, or at night. With cloudy days and muddy water, almost all feeding occurs at mid-afternoon.
(Please note: these periods are when bass actively feed.)

A bass is a predator and it will eat anytime a tasty morsel is put before it.
When and under what conditions bass feed, and when and under what conditions you might catch a bass, are two entirely different propositions!

the right lure:

Choosing the right bass fishing lure at the right time to catch the right bass can be one of the most difficult things to do. Let’s face it there are hundreds of different lures in hundreds of different colors and sizes. What lure are you using to catch bass may be the most ask question when you are out fishing. At the very least we tend to keep one eye on what bass lure the competition has tied to the end of their rod.

If you are serious about catching bass you most likely have three or more rods already set up with your favorite lures ready to cast into that weed bed or drop off. One with your favorite spinnerbait, one with your favorite top water lure and your favorite crankbait and probably a fourth one with that favorite plastic worm rigged up in your favorite style. We choose these bass fishing lures because they are the basic year round successful bass fishing lures around.

Using spinnerbaits is easy and fast, covering a lot of water at many different depths to find and attract the bass. Keep in mind that bass are schooling fish and once you get a strike you can fish out the area using the other baits of your choice. Fish it fast with the spinnerbait and crankbait then drop in your plastic worm with a little finesse and wiggle.

Crankbaits is another easy and fast fishing lure to catch bass with and if I had to choose just one fishing lure for my tackle box it would be a lip-less crankbait. I would choose the rattle noise making kind of crankbait. I would also choose one of the basic food chain colors, chartreuse, chrome, crawfish brown, or shad lures. Know what kind of bait is common in the lake or river you are fishing in and go with those colors. I was just at the sporting goods store and cannot believe the myriad of different colors available. I have a hard time fishing with a hot pink or lime green fishing lure for bass. Give me a bait fish or crawdad color and let’s catch bass. Make sure you have more than one color and a tackle box full of your favorite. Nothing irks me more than losing the one lure that is catching bass and not having a back-up.

You get overly confident with baits and even though I catch a lot of bass with it you many times over fish it and miss bass you would have caught had I chosen a different lure. Of course having confidence in your selection of lure for the conditions you are fishing is an important aspect in catching bass. However, when they are not hitting on the lure you have chosen then by all means choose another bass lure until you find the sweet spot.

On a final note, choose the right bass lure for the conditions you are fishing. If the waters are muddy then the bass will be feeding by sound then use a rattle crankbait or Colorado blades on your spinner bait in a copper or painted blade. In clear waters a good bright silver is best. Don’t just throw on any old lure out there but choose the best bass lure for the clarity of the water and the type of food available in other words, give some thought to where and what to fish with.

The right color:

How many of you anglers who walk into Tackle Shops, Discount Stores, K-Marts, Wal-Marts, etc., go straight to the sporting goods department, look for the fishing rods sticking up in the air to zero in on the Fishing Lures and Plastic Baits section? Then, when you get there you start looking over all of the enormous selections of all the different baits and different colors that are offered by the many bait companies that are on the market today, and you’re not really sure of exactly what is really needed, so “The Big Question” comes to mind; “What colors do I really need?” especially when looking over all the plastic baits.

Well, let me tell you a little secret that most anglers don’t know!, and that is; “You don’t need a multitude of colors in your arsenal.” That’s right! and let me say it again….. “You don’t need every color that you see!.” Now, some anglers may suggest the comment; “well my partner and I use this certain color on this certain body of water, and it catches a lot of bass” or others may say; “I saw this magazine article from one of the top Pros, and he said to use this; yellow, spotted, half stripped, 7″, curly tail, floating, thing-a-ma-jig plastic made by so & so, and I saw a picture in the magazine of the 14 lb. bass he caught off of this certain plastic bait, and now I’ve really got to have some of these.” Now before we get started, let me explain something to you. The Bassin’ Industry is a “Multi-Billion Dollar Industry” in today’s world and growing more and more every day. Most of the Pros that lecture these “Bass Seminars” have an obligation to their sponsors to demonstrate, promote, and to advertise their sponsored product.

For example, attend one of their fishing seminars and just see if they don’t try to sell you on a “certain product”, or the technique that they may use with this “certain bait.” There are more Outdoor TV Fishing Shows, Outdoor Magazines (related to freshwater fishing), Bass Tournament Organizations, Bass Fishing Sites, Bass Fishing Clubs, Bait and Tackle Manufacturers, Bass Boat Manufacturers, Rod Companies, Reel Companies, and it goes on and on and on, as there ever was before. And ALL! of these companies are in the market to make money.

Now, let’s go even a step further, okay? What sells all of these products? Hmm, let’s see now, advertisement (Marketing) and promotion are about the two best ways of selling a product that I’m aware of and I’m sure that there are more, but first let’s concentrate on these two for just one moment. Let’s talk about fishing shows to give you an example! I’ve co-hosted several TV Fishing shows in the past and let me tell you that “Most,”of the time, not all but “Most” of the fish that you see being caught on the show are caught prior to the actual filming of a show. Yep! now you might ask yourself; “well I saw the guy set his hook and then reel in the bass.” All I can say to you is this; “Don’t believe everything that you see!” with today’s editing equipment, professional camera personnel, and the right camera shots anything is possible. So let me explain how it works; #1, you cast out the sponsored bait product (whatever bait or baits the show is sponsored by, keeping in mind that the fish were actually caught prior to the show, and in most cases on totally different bait). #2, while you start your retrieve, you rare back with your rod like you just got a strike and pretend to set the hook! (on actually nothing at all). Then the camera will stop filming. #3, then, you simply reel your sponsored bait back in to the boat, grab a fish (in the case of a bass show, a bass) out of the livewell and place the hook of the “sponsored product” in the fish’s mouth. #4, Next you place the fish back into the water (with ease, and always keeping the slack out of your line), then you let the fish swim away from the boat. #5, then at this time, the camera starts rolling again and starts filming you fighting the fish back to the boat!…(Really quite simple!) That’s how Most! of the filming is done.

It’s not so much the bait, or color, or technique used to catch the bass during the filming, they just want to show you how much bass all of these “certain baits” can actually catch! (but do they really?), that’s called Marketing, OR!, take a look at the packages of most of the baits today. They have to look appealing on the shelves to the consumer (this is called Packaging). Just keep this in mind!, most baits on the market today are made and packaged to catch anglers and not so much the fish.

Now, I’m telling you this because of all the different products and especially all the multitude of COLORS that you must decide on which ones to buy. Okay, let’s get back to the colors…… First of all I want you to understand that I am NOT saying that a certain color of a plastic bait will or will not work under any different circumstances, but I will say that you don’t really need no more than approximately 2 dozen colors of plastics to catch bass on any body of water throughout the United States. Now stop and think a minute! There are, without exaggeration, on today’s market thou