Largemouth Bass Fishing for Beginners (The Ultimate Guide) 


The best way to catch largemouth bass it to target them early in the morning or late in the afternoon. A great bait to master is a Texas rigged soft plastic worm, lizard, crayfish or creature bait. Beginners can master those lures easily and catch bass in just about anywhere in the United States.

Largemouth bass are probably the most sought after game fish in the United States of America. They are excellent fish to target if you are a beginner Why you might ask?

The reason that they are so popular with beginners is because they are extremely abundant, relatively easy to catch and can live just about anywhere in the United States of America.

​This means that anyone in the just about every state but Alaska and Hawaii can find fresh water and catch themselves a largemouth bass.

They are also very good to eat and extremely fun to catch. Bass can be found in just about any freshwater body of water in America. They live in ponds, lakes, dams, rivers and canals. AND the bottom line is that they are pretty easy to catch.

In fact if a new pond is dug within a couple of years the bass will be living there. I don't really know how they get there but they manage to every time.

I am a fishing guide on the Treasure Coast of Florida. I have been largemouth bass fishing for over 40 years all over Florida. In the article below I will tell you just about everything that I know about largemouth bass fishing. I hope that it helps any beginners reading this do a better job of large mouth bass fishing.

Okay. Let's get started with some simple tips to help beginners catch more bass.

Watch the video below and catch more large mouth bass.

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​Largemouth bass fishing for beginners--Gear

If you are beginner fishing for bass all day you will need to protect yourself from the sun. A good pair of polarized glasses are a must to protect your eyes and to help you see the bass under the water.

​Those big bass like to hang out in the shady spots around some sort of structure. You won't be able to see them if you don't have a way to look past the surface of the water.

Polarized glasses not only protect your eyes from the sun's harmful rays but they also get rid of the glare on the water's surface allowing you to see what's under the water.

The best lens colors for murky and dirty water fishing spots are rose, amber, and copper. If the water is very clear then blue and gray will work the best.

A top of the line pair of polarized glasses will cost $250. A lower quality pair will run you $25 if they have glass lenses. The plastic lenses can be as cheap as $5. It all depends upon how much you want to spend. Glass lenses are definitely better than the plastic ones.

You will also want to stock up on UV performance fishing shirts. These shirts have built in sun protection technology to help stop the sun's harmful UV rays. They also are moisture wicking. This means that they help evaporate your sweat more efficiently which will help to keep you cool on those hot days on the water.

We have a high quality apparel line that you and your friends will love. You can see our many different apparel choices by clicking the store link below.
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​Largemouth bass fishing for beginners--Tackle

You will definitely need to get yourself a decent rod and reel. If you ask 10 different bass fishermen what the best rod and reel combo are you will probably get 10 different answers.

The answer to the best rod and reel depends upon where you are fishing for the bass. If you are fishing in little ponds for 5 lb. bass or smaller and they are not in heavy cover or around structure, then a lighter set up will work just fine.

You can find a decent rod and reel combo for $150 or less. If you want top of the line tackle you can spend $300 and then some.

You can use a 2500 spinning reel with 8 lb. braided line and a 7 or 8 ft. medium action rod for bass under 5 lbs. This set up is what I have caught bass with for ages and it will work just fine for you too.

If you are fishing for bass in thick aquatic grass mats or lily pads you will need to beef up your rod and reel. If you still want to use a spinning reel a 4000 series full of 50 lb. braided line and a heavy action 7 or 8 ft. rod will probably be fine.

Head over to our article about choosing the best tackle for bass fishing here.

If you like to use a bait casting reel you will probably need one with at least 10 or 11 lbs of drag and a fast gear ratio like 7:1 to haul a big swamp donkey out of the thick weeds. The 7 to 8 ft. bait casting rod will be a medium/heavy action one to go along with the reel.

Watch the video below and get the perfect tackle to catch more largemouth bass.
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Largemouth bass fishing for beginners--Ponds and Canals

Most of my bass have been caught in the ponds and canals around South and Central Florida. Just about every pond and canal in Florida has bass and the older ones have big bass in them.

Beginner bass fishermen should focus on some of the basics like being quiet. The key to fishing a small pond or canal is stealth. I will stand maybe 30 feet from the water and cast as parallel to the shore as possible. Most of the bass that I catch are eyeing minnows and small blue gills in the shallows. They are usually no more than 3 feet from shore.

If large mouth bass fishing beginners just walk up to the water's edge quite often they will spook the fish and give them a serious case of lock jaw for a while. Bass have excellent eye sight. You have to be stealthy to catch those big bass. Those big bass have seen it all if it is a heavily fished pond or canal. You have to be smart to catch those lunkers.

I like to cast from a distance and test the pond or canal with a spinner bait. A spinner bait is an excellent lure to cover a lot of water with. I will fan cast like the numbers on a clock. Cast to 3 then 2 then 1 then 12 then 11...... Once I cover that entire part of the pond I will walk 50 feet and repeat the process.

If the pond has a nice sandy bottom, a Texas or Carolina rigged worm is another good way to find the fish. I will usually start with the spinner bait and if the bass are not in the mood once I walk around the entire pond I'll switch to the worm.

I might walk the whole pond again fishing the worm. It takes a lot longer to fish a pond with a worm because the retrieve is so slow.

Any type of underwater structure will attract bass. It can just be a bottom contour that is a foot different from the surrounding bottom. It can be a log or a clump of aquatic plants. It might be a drainage pipe. You are looking for any place that a bass can hide and ambush its prey.

Visit our how to catch bass in ponds and canals article here to get into more detail.

You have to think like a predatory fish that is kind of lazy. Bass don't want to chase fish all day. They just want to hang out and eat any dumb ones that get to close to them. Many beginner bass fishermen think that bass are extremely smart but that just isn't the case unless they are very heavily pressured by fishermen.


Largemouth bass fishing for beginners--Big Lakes

When you are beginner bass fishing a bigger lake you will have lots of different water depths and structures that you will need to fish. This probably means that you will want to have your lighter rod and reel outfit and your heavier rod and reel outfit for fishing any thick cover.

If you are fishing a bunch of lily pads, then you will want to fish a frog on the heavy outfit. If you don't, you will never get a big bass untangled and out of the pads. This is also true if you are using a Texas rigged crawdad to punch through thick grass mats. You will need the extra backbone of the rod and the extra drag and line strength to get those fish out of the thick underwater vegetation.

If you are fishing a rocky or sandy shoreline with a worm, crank bait, spinner bait, buzz bait....... you can get away with the lighter rod and reel combo. The bass won't have any structure to wrap your line around.

If the bass are all down deep you will obviously need a lure or a bait that can get down to them. A crank bait with a large lip will get down to just about any water depth that you want it to. The faster that you reel it the deeper it will dive. You can even troll them.

If you know that you are going to be fishing a lake with some really deep spots you might want to have an assortment of long and short lipped crank baits. This will allow you to fine tune what depths you want to fish.

I like to use a spinner bait to find fish in deeper waters. Get yourself an assortment of spinner baits with different weights. Maybe you want 1/4 ounce for shallow fishing all the way up to 1/2 or 3/4 of an ounce for deeper water. 

Largemouth bass fishing for beginners--Rivers

Fishing for bass in rivers adds a dimension that you will have to keep in mind. That extra factor is current. Rivers flow into larger bodies of water. They might flow into a large lake or the ocean. As a beginner fishing for largemouth bass you will have to learn how to use the current to your advantage.

Let's talk about current. When you are fishing a river with a decent current you will want to present your bait or lure from up current.

The bass will be hiding somewhere facing into the current waiting for some unsuspecting fish or crawdad to make the mistake of not seeing them. Your job is to think like a bass and figure out where you would set up an ambush point.

I created an online bass fishing course just for beginners like you. You can find this Free Online Bass Fishing Course by clicking right here.

It can be a submerged log or a weed mat. It can just be a big rock or even a change in the contour of the river bottom. Whatever it is you will probably find bass there.

Okay. Let's talk about live bait and river bass. I like to let the current take my offering to the potential fish hiding spots. So I would be anchored up current from the underwater log, weed mat...... and let my bait be taken down current by the current.

A shiner or a bluegill will work great for this. You can free line them back to the spot that you think a bass is lurking. If you are having problems getting you bait to cooperate with you just put a cork on your line with enough leader to get the fish to the bass' strike zone.

If the bass are way down deep, then add a split shot or two to your line to get the bait down to the proper depths.

When you fish will lures it is best to be anchored down current and cast up current. Remember the bass will be facing into the current. You will need a lure that can get into the bass' strike zone.

If the bass are near the top of the water column a top water lure or a floating worm, salamander or frog will probably work great.

If the bass are in the middle part of the water column a spinner bait is probably the way to go. Just move it fast enough to keep the blades moving. The low frequency vibrations of the blades is very attractive to hungry bass.

If the bass are on the bottom a Carolina rig or a Texas rig worm, crawdad or salamander might be the perfect bait to get a lunker bass on the end of your line.

The video below will show you tips and techniques for Carolina and Texas rigged plastic worms.
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Best bass fishing lakes in Florida:

There are a lot of beautiful and amazing bass fishing lakes all over Florida. If you are a beginner who wants to find the best bass fishing spots in Florida, then below is a list of some of the best ones in the state.

​One of the main reasons that bass are such a popular freshwater game fish in Florida is because they have the ability live in just almost any lake, canal, pond, river, ditch or any place else where there is relatively clean freshwater and plenty of food for them to prey upon.

The list below is for those bass fishermen that want to catch a trophy bass in lakes that are consistently able to produce trophy catches year in and year out. The list starts in the southern part of the state with Lake Okeechobee and ends near Tallahassee with Lake Talquin.

This list may cause some bass fishermen to roll their eyes but it is my opinion on the best bass lakes that you can easily fish for bass.

• Lake Okeechobee
• Lake Kissimmee
• Lake Monroe
• Lake Harris
• Stick Marsh
• Lake Istokpoga
• Lake Toho
• Lake Tarpon
• Lake George
• Crescent Lake
• Rodman Reservior
• ​Lake Talquin

Conclusion:

Bass are one of those fish that are very easy to target. They are a great fish to target if you are a largemouth bass fishing beginner. That is one of the things that I like so much about them. They are everywhere that you can find fresh water and relatively easy to catch. 

They are in the little ditches and the large lakes. They are in the canals and ponds. They are in the rivers and drainage areas. They are everywhere.

Bass fishermen can't wait until the water temperatures start to change to get the bass thinking about the spawn. During the pre-spawn and spawn the bass will be feeding voraciously to fatten up. That is your best shot at a personal best bass.

Learn more about catching bass during the pre-spawn and spawn here.

So if you are somewhere in Florida and are bored, then I guarantee you that there is a bass to catch within a few miles of where you are sitting. All beginner bass fishermen needs is a rod and reel and a few different lures and you are good to go.

I usually bring a bag of purple worms or salamanders, a couple of spinner baits and a weed less frog. Those lures will catch bass just about anywhere that you go. The ease of access to bass is probably why they are the most popular game fish in the United States.

I hope that this article helps you catch more bass and have more fun doing it. Let's get some lines wet!!!

About the author: The author of this article insists that everyone refer to him as Big Daddy Bass Master BUT we all ignore him and call him Mike, the co-owner of FYAO Saltwater Media Group, Inc.
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