One of the most popular game fish species in the entire world, the largemouth bass is a powerful and cunning predator. The largemouth bass will literally eat any living thing small enough to fit into it's gaping maw. So you would think such a food-crazed maniac of a fish would be easy to catch right? Wrong. Bass are not stupid. They are the apex predator of their underwater domain for a good reason. So how do you catch them? Fortunately, catching these kings of the black bass is not too difficult with some basic know how under your belt. Allow me to share some of my largemouth bass fishing tips, and you too can show these brutes who the real apex predator is!

Fishing Gear Tips

Like any kind of fishing, success is highly dependant on gear choice. You must have the proper gear for the current fishing conditions. Say it's cold out and the bass are hiding near a drop off in deep water, and all you have is top-water and stick baits! Or maybe your medium-action pole needs new line and you decide to take your ultralight rig instead, only to have a 12 pound trophy snap your rod in half! Proper gear selection is a non-negotiable part of any successful day on the water. Here are a few of my favorite largemouth bass fishing gear tips:

• If you can afford it, make sure to have a few different size rods for different situations. Flipping a jig into a weed mat and horsing bass out is a whole different game compared to twitching a stick bait in open water. You need to match your rod to the fishing situation!
• Buy yourself a pair of polarized sunglasses. The reduced glare on the water will allow you to sight fish much more effectively, especially if you happen to fish clear water.
• Check your knots and line frequently while fishing! Frayed line or a lose knot can be the difference between a trophy on your wall or tears on your vest. Also, always be sure to store your line out of heat and sun as both will damage and weaken fishing line.
• Make sure your drag isn't too lose or too tight every so often. A loose drag robs you of hook setting power, but too tight will put your line in danger of breaking.
• If you find yourself wading or bank fishing a lot, get yourself a fishing vest. Not having to carry things around and always having your gear at your fingertips is an immeasurable luxury on the water. Also the use of a fishing vest is almost mandatory when wading or wet wading.
  
• When fishing from a boat, you may want a little more tackle storage. Consider buying a tray or system style tackle box. These boxes can hold an incredible array of bass fishing gear!
  

Fishing Lure Tips

Just as important as your gear is what's on the other end of your line, the bait! There literally tens of thousands, maybe millions, of different baits, both live and artificial, all aimed at catching the largemouth bass. So how do you decide which one to use? Unfortunately there's no real clear cut answer. Every day on every body of water is a different situation, and as anglers, it's up to us to solve this riddle every time we go fishing. Luckily there are a few largemouth bass fishing bait tips I can share to help make the decision a bit easier:

• Have a favorite fishing hole? Ever bother to learn about it? This is probably the best single tip I have to offer. Learn what the primary forage items are in your area! I cannot stress this enough. One day instead of fishing, take the time to walk the bank, turn over a few underwater rocks, see what's in there, ask around. You may be surprised what the bass are eating!
• Match the size of the bait to the size of the fish. If you rarely catch bass over a pound or two (common in northern waters) why are you tossing that giant swim bait? we all know bass are crazy and will eat things bigger than they are, but it's still very important to scale your bait size down if the fish are generally not so big.
• In fisheries with heavy cover weedless lures are definitely your friend.
• Has your local lake, river, or reservoir become stained after a hard rain? This is why it's always a good idea to have your favorite lure in a brighter colored version, especially if it doesn't produce much sound or scent, like a stick bait.
• Use lures such as crank-baits and spinner-baits to scan open water for schooling fish, then switch over to a slower presentation bait to zero in on them.
• Want to use live bait? Nothing beats a live shiner and a bobber! It may sound simplistic, almost childish, but the bobber will help keep the shiner from running your line into cover and as always is the worlds best strike indicator. Also you may want to consider a weedless shiner hook for heavily vegetated fisheries.