If you put the time in, you will soon learn how to master the fall and winter bass fishery in British Columbia. Your efforts will be rewarded with exceptional smallmouth bass of trophy sizes. Remember though it takes roughly 8 to 10 years for a smallmouth bass to attain a weight in excess of 5 lbs., so conserve your catch by practicing responsible catch and release methods.
Well the cold weather has put the bass into their winter patterns. Forget about rip baits, spinner baits and crank baits. Now is the time to break out the finesse gear. One of the most common techniques for getting bass to bite during this season is splitshotting. It is a fairly straightforward technique and requires little investment in terminal tackle.
The hardest thing there is to teach a bass angler learning to splitshot is detecting the bite. The bite will vary according to the activity level of the fish. There will be times when they pop the bait hard and you will know immediately that they are eating the bait. Other times there will be a soft, almost imperceptible tick and then nothing. And finally there is the dreaded pressure bite. The pressure bite will take two forms.
The first way to describe a pressure bite is you will feel a slight resistance to pulling your line forward. This is somewhat like hooking a soft, spongy rubber band. The second pressure bite is when you lose contact with the bottom.
A bass has picked up your lure and is just following along with your forward movement. This is why it is so important to maintain bottom contact. Once you realize that you've lost the feel of the weight against the bottom, and your depth hasn't changed significantly, you have to put two and two together and get ready to set the hook.
The preferred hook set for this technique is called a sweep set. Once you have detected a fish holding your bait drop the rod tip towards the fish, reel down to the point of feeling resistance (or just shy of that point) and 'sweep' the rod horizontally away from the fish.
If the rod loads up good and you're sure that you've got the hook in the fish just fight him to the boat. If you set the hook and it didn't feel solid you may want to set the hook a second time. The drag on your reel should be set tight enough that it doesn't give on the initial hook set. But it shouldn't be set so tight that a larger fish can't take the line if needed.
British Columbia, Canada's foremost sport fishing web site containing BC saltwater fishing, BC freshwater fishing, maps, fishing tackle news, sport fishing destinations, fishing tips and techniques, editorials, articles and much, much more. Inside you'll find everything you need to tackle trophy fish of all varieties including salmon, halibut, steelhead, trout, bass, and sturgeon to name a few. They also had their own approach and techniques regarding bass fishing.
Since the best spot to catch bass is never on weeds and cover, use weedless lures when possible. This will cut down on the expense of losing lures.
Bass exist in a wide variety of temperatures, but tend to get inactive during a cold front. Fish swim deeper during the sunniest part of the day. Sun seems to adversely affect bass fishing. Seek out shady spots or deeper water with cover. On cloudy or overcast days try shallower waters. In cold water, retrieve your bait slower. Fish tend to react slower in colder temperatures.
Freshwater Fish Identification is another technique used by anglers. So whether you're watching a consummate professional angler check-in fish during a tournament, or listening to an on-air running commentary on a television fishing program, you know that he'll be speaking the truth of the matter.
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