| What kind of bassing condition gives you the | | | | shiners; this type of forage typically inhibit the |
| most trouble? Is it cold, muddy water? Deep | | | | shallow, weedy areas. |
| water? Weedy areas? Most bass anglers I've | | | | Because clear water lakes contain little plankton, |
| talked to says clear, shallow water. When bass | | | | this limits the plankton eating baitfish such as shad. |
| are in clear shallow water, they are as visible as a | | | | There isn't any real reason for bass to be |
| neon sign. Yet seeing the bass and catching it is | | | | anywhere but the shallows. They are most likely |
| two different matters. | | | | to be in shallow, clear water in spring when they |
| You are just as visible to the bass as it is to you, | | | | are spawning. Large Mouths will move into the |
| and approaching to within casting distance requires | | | | shallows in coves, flats as the water approaches |
| you to be stealthy, and you have to try and get | | | | the upper 60 degree range, looking for the best |
| it to bite at the same time. Shallow bass are as | | | | place to build their nest. |
| spooky as a deer in a room full of deer hunters, | | | | I look for bass in the northwest corner of the |
| and they will develop lockjaw the moment they | | | | lake, which is mostly protected from the cold |
| detect your presence. | | | | north winds and can be around 7-8 degrees |
| Catching them under these conditions demands a | | | | warmer than any other place on the lake. Clear |
| lot of patience as well as an accurate | | | | water warms more slowly than murky, stained |
| presentation. The majority I catch here in Illinois is | | | | water. I've seen spawning bass as early as |
| in stained water and thick cover. Finding them and | | | | February in stained, murky water and as late as |
| catching them in less than two feet of clear | | | | June in a clear body of water. Anytime the lake |
| water sounds impossible, but bass can adapt to | | | | suddenly rises, always check newly flooded |
| super clear water. | | | | shallows because bass will move into these areas |
| It would seem logical that they would inhabit the | | | | to gorge themselves on insects and other forage |
| darkest, deepest areas, but the 12 years I spent | | | | trapped there. Any stumps, or weedy areas will |
| in California I found that the clearer the water the | | | | hold bass when they're in shallows. I've seen bass |
| more they gravitated to shallower areas, | | | | in 6-8 inches of shallow clear water with weed |
| especially in rivers and natural lakes. The reason | | | | beds. |
| for this is weed growth, it is usually thickest in the | | | | So go get them bass in shallow, clear water just |
| shallows, and that's where the majority of the | | | | be as quite as possible and you should have a |
| bass tend to live. Plus the forage in most clear | | | | good day on the water. |
| water is often composed of crawfish, bluegill and | | | | |