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