Bass questions

[Zanzibar]

Ive seen a few posts on here about bass fishing, so I thought I'd pick a few brains. I'm headed down to Arizona in a few weeks, and want to try some fishing while I'm there. I know there are Bluegills, Bass and Catfish down there, my main question is about tackle, will some of the stuff we use around here like jigs and spinners work down there, or do I need to buy some bass specific stuff? Also need to know about depth. Would my best bet be to work the shoreline, or do they hang out in deeper water this time of year?

[Hellraiser]

It is winter for them down there too, so they're not going to be super aggressive. I would focus more on deeper water, with structure, such as drop off's, weed beds, brush piles, humps, etc. Structure is key.
Pick up some heavier (1/2, 3/4, or 1oz.) spinnerbaits with big Colorado blades. Slow retrieve them on or near the bottom, just fast enough to make the blades turn. Deep diving crankbaits, fished moderately slow. I prefer suspending crankbaits & using the stop & go retrieve. Also, heavy bass jigs tipped with plastic trailers (i.e. crawfish) and worked on bottom, especially in or around heavy cover. When all else fails, can switch to the trusty 'ole plastic worm. Rigged "weedless" with a worm hook. If shallow enough, I prefer a weightless set-up, or if fishing deeper, use a "texas rig" set-up. If you get on fish & have trouble getting them to commit, you could also slow it down even more & use the "drop-shot" technique, provided your fishing from a boat! All methods will produce fish year round. But I emphasize, STRUCTURE IS KEY!

[crawad]

You can find structure with no bass but u won't find bass without structure so that is key. I've done a ton of bass fishing(smallies) and my go to has been a 4" Gary yamamoto senko cut in half and put on various size and color jigheads and bounced slowly over structure or just rigged wachy or Texas. Pumpkin seed and black-blue flake have been my fav but with smallies atleast, you spend some time figuring them out then get ready and hang on if you get things figured ! Good luck, makes me home sick!

[J D]

You can catch bass on many common lures but you will get better results using bass lures.

Spinnerbaits, floating minnow baits, soft plastic lizards, and worms are my go to bass lures. First 2 I use to cover water for locating or targeting active fish. Last 2 I use for tight cover lazy fish.

Bass can be fun on the fly as well and with the right patterns it can be great for numbers

[Big Red 250]

Not being a bass fisherman altho I've caught a few smallmouth jigging for walleye. I'm wondering if it's smallmouth or largemouth bass you will be fishing for. Might not the tackle be different for each specie's? Also structure verses weedbeds?

[N8orDie]

The winter presentations I have had most success with are wacky rigged Senkos, usually in darker green colors, or drop-shotted plastic minnow imitators or salted Roboworms. One technique that works well in the Winter is to cast inline spinners or crank baits for a while and then, if you don't get bites on the spinners or crank baits, toss out a wacky rigged Senko and deadstick it to catch the bass you may have attracted while casting but weren't aggressive enough to bite the faster lures.

Here's a largemouth and a smallmouth I caught casting then deadsticking:

[N8orDie]

Oh, I almost forgot, go to your local tackle shop and buy a Worm Blower. It's a little device you use to inflate worms with air so they float. Slowly dragging Carolina rigged floating worms can be DEADLY, especially in the winter.

[Moefoe]

Myself and a local caught 50+ Largemouth in one day using a Drop-shot rig in pretty deep water, 18'-20' at Pleasant Lake north of Phoenix 3rd week of January last year! Scented worms, purple and pumpkinseed was all we used...nuthin big but goodtimes all the same! If it doesn't work out go shallow and look for Carp, really goodtimes...

[EZM]

Don't forget to get a medium heavy action rod and spool your bait caster with 80lb braid so you will fit in with the locals. No hook less than 6/0 will do either.

Set the hook like you are driving an anchor into a tuna's jaw.

Skip the bass along the surface and yell "thars a nice un" and wear sponsorship clothing.

Them 3lb bass are monsters.

They laughed at me using a medium/light with 14lb braid ..... I got a kick out of the good ol' boys and their gear.

Bass are alot more fun on lighter gear.

[Zanzibar]

Thanks for all the replies, looks like there are Large mouth bass where I'm going, north of Yuma.

[BassDude]

Don't forget to bring some crankbaits as well, if you are looking to cover a lot of water when searching for bass, cranks can help you locate the aggressive fish.