Bass Fishing Archives - Page 56 of 86

June 20, 2026

Taking the time to properly rig a worm will produce a lot of big bass and smiles, as Pete Ponds can attest.

Pete Ponds: The perfect Texas rig

April 3, 2014 Bobby Cleveland

The Texas-rigged worm — or lizard, crawworm, critter bait or any other soft plastic lure — is one of the most basic bass baits, used by millions of fishermen of all skill levels. […]

Bass pro Pete Ponds, who is sponsored by Duckett Rods on the B.A.S.S. Elite Series, knows every lure has a matching rod. For a frog, he goes to battle with a 7-foot-2 heavy action rod because feel is not as important.

Bass 101: Finding the right stick

April 3, 2014 Bobby Cleveland

Like most tournament bass fishermen, B.A.S.S. Elite Series pro Pete Ponds will have as many as 10 or 12 different rods in his boat, rigged and ready to throw. […]

Pete Ponds enjoys the one-on-one challenge of catching big female bass on their beds.

Bedtime — How to catch spawning bass

April 1, 2014 Bobby Cleveland

Pete Ponds slid his big bass boat into position, with the bow pointed right into a little nook of a cove on the upper end of Okhissa Lake. He was kneeling on the front deck working the trolling motor with his hands. […]

The Yamamoto Chikara is designed to run true right out of the box, and the attention to details — right down to the eyes — is stunning.

Chikara crankbaits

March 28, 2014 Don Shoopman

Bass fishermen are tying on a hot product from Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits. Surprisingly, it isn’t a soft plastic like the ever-popular Senko. In fact, it’s a hard bait with an attitude. […]

Pete Ponds lands a big male bass in a shallow spawning area on one of his favorite pre-spawn weapons, a swimming jig.

Late pre-spawn tip: Start shallow and fish out

March 27, 2014 Bobby Cleveland

Bass pro angler Pete Ponds of Madison explains how he approaches the final stages of the bass prespawn this month in Mississippi. […]

The swift waters near the Pickwick dam provide plenty of action this month.

Big bass and lots of them

March 14, 2014 Paul Elias

In late winter and early spring, I believe Pickwick Lake is the best bass fishing lake in the state. In March, water levels and the amount of rain received are the keys to where you’ll find bass. […]

Bass pro Pete Ponds knows the swimming lizard is deadly on pre-spawn buck bass when they move extremely shallow on vegetation.

Pre-spawn debate: Swimming jig vs. swimming lizard

March 5, 2014 Bobby Cleveland

Let’s get ready to caaaaassssssttttttttt!

In this corner, weighing in at roughly 3/16s of an ounce and wearing mostly natural colors, the long-time champion of pre-spawn bass baits, the soft-plastic swimming lizard. […]

Bassmaster pro Dennis Tietje said a soft-plastic crawfish is a universal bass catcher.

You can’t beat crawfish

February 28, 2014 Don Shoopman

A Louisiana bass fishing pro getting ready for his fifth season on the Bassmaster Elite Series tournament trail said there’s no question about one of the artificial lures he’ll nearly always be throwing when the bass and the money are on the line in 2014. […]

David Berry, the State Lakes program coordinator for the MDWFP, shows exactly the type of bass fishermen are encouraged to keep at many of the agency's lakes. This one was caught at Calling Panther Lake.

Keeping small bass urged on some State Lakes

February 25, 2014 Bobby Cleveland

Biologists are urging fishermen to catch and cook more of the bass that are being caught in some waters in the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks’ State Lake system. […]

Bobby Cleveland likes to hit the flats in the afternoon during a late winter warmup and cover as much water as possible with a lipless crankbait. The tactic was successful last spring on this bass at Lake Lincoln.

Ponds: Big fishing week ahead

February 15, 2014 Bobby Cleveland

With the long-term weather forecast calling for 70-degree, mostly sunny days all next week, Mississippi fishermen are ready to get on the water and start chasing bass. […]

Most Bogue Homa bass will be in the 1 1/2- to 2-pound range, but larger fish can be caught.

February is a great month to fish Bogue Homa

February 14, 2014 Paul Elias

Bogue Homa is a relatively-shallow lake that grasses up quickly, making getting a lure through to bass difficult later in the year. But that’s not a problem this month. […]

Fisheries manager Todd Driscoll knows from first-hand experience the benefits of progressive bass management.

Advances in bass management

February 1, 2014 Hal Schramm

As I write this column, it’s late December. It’s been the coldest early winter I can remember, and the forecast doesn’t look any better. As much as I like winter fishing for the solitude and the chance for a big fish, it’s going to take a few more degrees and some sunshine to get me fired up about hitching the boat and heading out. Time to reflect. […]