Man made swamps, every county has a few. Rivers and streams that have been dammed in one spot or another; creating a pool of water for industry, drinking or even recreation. These areas area usually shallow with a deeper spot by the dam, when I say deeper, I mean only around 5 to 6 feet. Fish such as Largemouth Bass love these areas, and some of the swamps can produce pretty sizeable fish. The trick is finding which one to fish and what lures to throw to entice them to bite.

With the first couple of warm weather days drawing near here in Illinois that means it’s time for one thing, Pre Spawn bass fishing. The bass’s biological trigger hits and lets them know it’s time to move up from their deep wintering holes and onto points and flats adjacent to spawning pockets and coves.  One little problem though with the water still cool (53-60 degrees) those bass aren’t willing to chase that favorite crankbait or spinnerbait that you like to throw. What bait is the most effective bait to throw when you have fish that are in a negative feeding mood, the answer is a Suspending Jerkbait. Without a doubt one of the best cold water baits on the market.

The New Technique Hump

So you spent the weekend reading about an interesting new fishing technique that’s all the rave on the bass fishing tournament trail. You go to your local tackle shop, pick up all the components necessary, call your buddy and head out on the lake. Your friend decides to stick with the technique that he’s used to, while you rig up the new one and begin to try to fish it.

With so many lures available on the market today, it is often a daunting task to decide what is good for a particular situation, time of day, water clarity and temperature. The jerkbait is a lure that can produce quality fish for almost all situations, in both still and moving water. What is more, the adaptability of this bait makes it a "go to" when crankbaits or spinnerbaits are not producing.

Want to learn how to quickly pin point the most productive feeding zone while fishing for bass?   If you can master this one tactic, you will consistently catch more bass.

One of the most important factors you can determine is if bass are looking for a “vertical” or “horizontal” presentation?  When you can identify this one piece of the puzzle quickly, the rest will fall into place easier.

At the very least if you only get the “vertical/horizontal” preference determined, you’ll be 50% more productive while you are out fishing.

Worm fishing is a technique that every bass angler should know.  Like most methods of fishing, some require additional skills like " reading the line". Others require us to use our "sixth sense" to detect those soft or delicate bites from bass. Well welcome to the world of worm fishing, because this is a combination of everything I just mentioned and more!

NOTE: -When I use the word worm, I am also referring to other soft plastic shapes and creatures, which can be fished by these methods.

Summertime on the Mississippi river means one thing, weedless frogs.  Lily pads, eel grass and any  other submerged vegetation that line the ox bows , chutes and channels on the Mississippi river are stocked full of bass. 

Over the years I have read a lot about where to fish and what to use, there are many talented Bass anglers that can give advice about a multitude of subjects.

So what is a ditch and how do I find them?  Ditches to put it simply are depressions in the bottom.  Some people also call them a "hole".  Ditches can be natural, or created by water entering a body of water.  For example, if you have a creek that pours into a lake, there will be a ditch near the mouth of the creek.  These ditches are created from erosion due to current.  You can find ditches in other areas as well.  They can be found on flats, humps and even points.

One of the biggest lures of bass fishing is the competitive nature of the sport. At any level, its competing against the fish on an afternoon out, your buddy on a Saturday morning or in the structured setting of a professional tournament, its competition in a pure form. This fact causes us to occasionally encounter the malady that every competitor, in every sport has to face "The Slump." Like the slumping baseball player who is a half a blink slow on a fastball, guessing wrong on the curve and when he does make solid contact hits it directly at the waiting fielder, we can fall into the same rut.