How To Catch Bass With "Finesse" In All Seasons

Want to catch lots of big bass? Target deep water. That's where most of the big lunkers are caught.

There are a bunch of fishing techinques that work well for targetting bass in deep waters...my favorite is the "drop shot" rig.

It is a "finesse" worm technique. You basically rig it with a small shad type bait or plastic worm, on a #1 widge gap hook tied about 18" to 24" above a 3 / 16th ounce weight which you tie to the end of hte main line. One of the critical things you must remember is to tie the worm above the hook.

The "finesse" part of this is all about your technique. (Note: you can use "finesse" with live bait as well...)

Start by using smaller baits...for example: a 5" worm instead of an 8". You'll fish it straight up and down...tight line style. Just drop it right down the the very bottom and work it from there.

That's the general gist of it, now here is a method that works well for this:

Texas Rigged

This is where the point of your hook is buried into the worm...this makes it a "weedless" rig.

I recommend a weedless setup like the above when you're in deep cover, timber, logs...

You can also hook directly through the tip of the "nose" of the bait and leave it exposed. Then there is also "wacky style" where the hook goes through the middle of the worm... and you leave it exposed.

For the texas rigging, I recommend a medium action graphite rod...ultra sensitive. Also a bait casting reel, but you can use a spinning reel if it suits you better.

Use 6-8 pount test fishing line... you need as much sensitivity as you can on this rig because some of the strikes will be very, very light.

Now, to work this rig, just drop it down to the bottom...it works best in 30-50 feet of water in a proven fishing spot. Then, simply "twitch" your bait up and down periodically...move it a few inches each time. It's kind of like jigigng but you want to be much "softer" about it.

A Few More Tips

1. Drop shotting works extremely well on inactive fish as well...but you must get the bait in front of his nose. That being said, do not use heavy equipment, because it's harder to get the bait to go where you want it to go.

2. Always watch for birds feeding on the surface. This is a sure fire sign that there is food on the top of the water...and the bass won't be far behind.

3. A hug ekey to your success when drop shotting in deep water is to utilize structure as much as possible. Remember the big difference between "stucture" and "cover". Cover is an object that is not part of the bottom. (Bass use cover, but on a temporary basis.)

"Structure" refers to features of the bottom like holes, channels, river-beds, ledges, shoals, etc...

Bass travel along bottom structure as most fish do. And they will use the same "structure trails" every time, all the time. Once you learn where these structures are, you can catch fish all year long.

I recommend studying a "contour map" of the body of water you plan to fish. Highlight bottom structure and hit those areas next time you go bass fishing.

When you think about it, we can base the entire life of a bass on 2 things: (1) where they spawn (the flats), and the places where they hang out during winter (deep break areas).

The structure connecting these places make up the structure trails discussed above.

Finally, your seasonal guide to bass fishing.

Catching Bass In Every Season

Winter bass can be found in the deepst veritcal break areas in the water.

During pre-spawm (early spring), the bass move towards the flats and shallow creeks to be used as spawning grounds. Typically, they follow the main creek channels or the main drop in the lake to travel to these areas.

During the post-spawn the migrate out of the spawning grounds using the same route they took to get into the spawning grounds. This time, though, they stop off at secondary points along the way...

Summertime has bass scattering throughout the "system" between spawning and wintering. Most of the bass will be along deep channels though.

When fall comes, they typically go shallow again, using bottom structure (points and humps) to feed around before winter. Wherever you run into schools of baitfish in these areas, you'll find bass ready to feed.

Final tip: wherever you find bass, mark it on the map...odds are they will be there at the same exact time each and every year.