Bass Fishing Season

[AADIL]

Hi me again sorry i am green to the bass fishing thing, is it seasonal like other types of fishing (pap goeing :blue-badgrin: ) can you tell me more about it and to Bass bite in the winter months as well as i am trying to study behavioural patterns

[Mitch]

As far as i know Bass is caught all year round but in winter it is more difficult to catch and one would have to slow your action down on your rig as the bass are more lazy, i am also a newbie and i am learning the hard way. I had a blank day yesterday at a private dam in Magaliesburg and we could see the fish but htey just were not biting, i tried everything i had in my tackle box from dead ringer soft bait to spinners and drop shots in the reeds. not even a nibble but they are swimming and jumping right in front of us. :blue-neutral: i have heard that in winter or on cold days that if you think your action is slow then slow it down some more. Hope this helps a little, lets hope one of the other guys can add something to this. :blue-smile:

[Roy]

Hi AADIL

This is a very big topic, but you can catch bass all year round they do not feed as much in the colder months as they do during the warmer months but they still do feed.

From my experience they still do move around and do come into the warm shallows and I have caught very nice fish during the winter months.

The tackle you will use will pretty much stay the same, I have not found patterns to change much more retrieve speeds and depths, the water is colder and they may be more sluggish. I like to throw big baits as and this is just my opinion that a bass would much rather eat a big bait presented to him, so that he does not have to burn too much energy chasing down smaller baits.

Winter for me is big slow presentations and off course jigs, jigs, jigs you can just have them sit there and they are deadly, big profile with a trailer and the perfect meal for a sluggish bass.

[Navrik]

I am definatetly no expert but have come to the following conclusions based on what I have been told, what I learnt myself and also found in numerous articles on the topic:

We definately find that fishing dies off in the winter months but the fish you do hook are normally on the bigger side. I would also say a more finesse and much slower presentation would be better. I landed my PB smallie on a lipless crank at Groenvlein in a winter competition.

The time we are all excited about is spring when the spawn happens. Bass on the nests are generally a lot more aggressive and will remove an intruding bait out of their nest area with a lot more vigour. It is also the time of the year when we as bass fishermen and ladies have a serious conservation burden to make sure we don't damage the spawning process. I have a PB female largie that I had to release very gently as as she was full of eggs.

Summer bassing generally produce more fish than winter. It depends heavily in which part of the country you live - towards the end of summer we start to suffer from lower dam levels as we have more of a winter rainfall pattern. Dam levels are a big factor as to what kind of stucture is available to the bass. My second largest smallie has come out on lipless crank on a very hot summers day. Water temperatures close to 30 degrees Celcius can make fishing extremely difficult. I have experience this at Goedertrouw and Kwaggaskloof and both were very difficult days on the water. I believe the bass head off to cooler deeper water when this happens.

Autumn bassing can also be interesting as the bass are trying to fatten up before the winter season sets in. This I have yet to experience at a practical level. Hopefully my time from tomorrow at Groevlei will assst. In the Western Cape this is generally the start of the cold fronts which has an adverse affect on the fishing as well.

If I look at the size of the bags that won competions in the Western Cape there is definately a trend of bag size reducing towards the end of summer.

[Jeremy]

You guys must search through the past forum. You will get lots of advise.

Here is one on winter fishing to get started

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[August]

In general I like winter fishing. I feel you catch a better average. Once you figure out where they are holding you can boat loads of them. Like Roy said, I have caught many many bass in shallows feeding like grazy. The coldest I have hooked a bass was in June on Klipkoppie dam near white river. The outside temp was -1 and the water temp 9 degrees C and the fish was taken on a reaction surface bite. My PB is also caught in June

[Ninja]

Winter = less but bigger bass.

What the guys have mentioned in this post is spot on.

[IanBass]

During the winter months, because the water is colder, so their metabolisms slow down and they eat less, a bass wont eat on food that will cost him more energy trying to get hold of it than what it would provide. But he has to eat!
So a tip would be to cast CLOSE to cover and also to spend a lot more time on a spot to cover every inch of the area.

I also find they do like to lie in deeper water (the water temp is more stable).

Some people say cast a smaller bait, I like to differ, I throw a bigger bait most of the time as it fools the bass that it will provide him lots of energy and more worth while eating it.
Also fish with more natural colour baits and thinner line no more than 0.30mm diameter, also no funny colour line eg, yellow.

Try to find out what natural bait/food is in the body of water you fishing and try to match that to your lure. eg if you see lots of crabs in the water, try use a lure matching that bait/food.

This is also the time to have your scale ready and make sure the batteries are ok, because its when you catch LUNKERS! Fat lazy bass

<!-- w --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.bassresource.com">www.bassresource.com</a><!-- w --> will also provide some valuable information.

Be patient and tight lines!