Where to Fish

• Largemouth bass are found in all types of freshwater, from small ponds to rivers to large lakes. They can be caught year round, so it's important to ask about the best bass-fishing spots in a particular area. When you find a good spot, your best bet is to fish near the shore, in still inlets off the river, where lily pads or refuse in the water may have fallen or been washed. Watch for occasional gentle rises in the water, or splashes from actual strikes. Largemouth bass like to stay very still in the shadows, so that other smaller fish or insects -- both of which they feed on -- can't see them coming. So any of these areas that provide cover are good places to hook a largemouth bass.
  
  

How to Fish

• How you fish all depends on your lure. With a spinner and a lure, you'll want to cast beyond where you think the fish may be and then reel your lure in at a steady speed so that it looks like the natural movement of a fish swimming past the bass underwater. Lures are designed to swim like certain fish, frogs or insects, which draws the bass to them. If you're fishing with a worm, which can still work just as well, there is a bit more technique. Weight and cast your line out to where you think the bass are feeding and then let your line sink to the bottom. By holding the line itself, you can feel it hit. Then reel up the line a foot or so and then let it sink again against the bottom. This will mimic a worm that has fallen into the water gently drifting along the bottom, right in the feeding area of a largemouth bass.
  
  

What Lures to Use

• Picking the lure or worm is the toughest part of fishing for anything, as you rarely know what the fish will be feeding on. Largemouth bass feed on everything, and don't always feed on the same thing. So trying different lures or baiting with different worms is necessary.