10 Bass Fishing Tips from a Pro Angler

Spectators positioned themselves around a 4,000 gallon mobile aquarium Saturday at the West Texas Hunting and Outdoorsman Expo, as pro angler and fishing instructor Keith Johnson demonstrated fishing skills at the Foster Coliseum.

Johnson, a renowned professional with 7 wins and 48 top 10 rankings in professional bass tournaments nationwide, has been fishing professionally for most of his life.

Nowadays, he spends his time touring the country with his aquarium teaching and giving presentations. Saturday, he locked in local audiences as he demonstrated different methods of casting and reeling various lures in the aquarium filled with bass Texas Parks and Wildlife caught in Lake Nasworthy.

“You have bass in almost every water system in the world,” Johnson said Saturday. Asked for 10 tips for local bass fisherman, Johnson provided the following list for any fisherman or woman.[[{"fid":"6102","view_mode":"default","fields":{"format":"default"},"type":"media","attributes":{}}]]

Agression

When the fish are aggressive, throw aggressive baits. When the fish aren’t aggressive, don’t try to force feed them something.

Understand the Fish, not the Lake

Too many locals like to understand their lake, but if they understand the fish, they’d catch more. It’s like between 5-7 p.m. tonight, you’re going to eat dinner. It’s human nature. And you’re going to sleep at night. Well, if we understood the fish the way we understand human nature, it will help you catch more fish. The only thing you need to know about the lakes is like, the depth, where the flags are, the channels, the structures.

Plastic Baits

Eighty percent of the bass that are going to get caught are going to get caught on plastic bates. So if you don’t use them, learn how to use them because that’s going to catch you more fish. This is just for bass, but you’ve got to understand the species you’re after.

Weekdays

If you’re able to, fish on Mondays through Thursdays. Everybody’s off on the weekends and you’ve got 500 boats out there trying to catch the same fish. It’s called fishing pressure. If I come across [a structure] out there in the water, there’s going to be a fish there. If you go to a certain lake on the weekend and there’s 500 fishermen there, everybody that comes by there is throwing a worm in there to them. Whoever got there first is probably going to catch them.

The Boat

If you’re not going to fish professionally, you don’t need an $80,000 bass boat. These $80,000 bass boats are for the guys that have expensive toys and the professional anglers. These $15,000 15-foot aluminum boats will catch just as many bass. They just won’t get there as fast.

Patience

You have to be patient. What you see on the TV—us catching five fish, boom, boom, boom—it’s edited. They’re not showing you the two hours in between bites that you’re just sitting there and you didn’t catch. Every now and then you can go and catch them [like that], but for the most part, be patient.

Downsize in Summer

In the hot summer months, downsize. Use smaller lures, smaller everything. [In summer] they’re not feeding up. They feed up in the wintertime. Early spring, late fall, you can throw big bates because they’re feeding up after a long winter and they’re feeding up before a winter. Once it gets hot like this, they’ll get under a [structure] like that and sit there for three months and never move. Worms and crawfish are good for summer months.

Equipment

You get what you pay for. If you buy a $50-60 rod and reel, you’re going to buy it every year. If jump on up to $100-150 and take care of it, it’ll last you a lifetime. Don’t buy junk and take care of what you buy.

Experience

Experience is only gotten by time on the water. You can only get better by time on the water. That’s how you’re going to learn. You can take the books, the magazines, and you can watch me do these shows, but the only way to learn it is time on the water.

Never Buy One

Never buy just one of anything. I see them do it all the time: ‘I’m going to buy this bait’. One. Your first cast you’re liable to lose it. Then you’ve got to leave the fishing to go back to the store and get another one. Bass fishing…is one of the most expensive sports or hobbies you can ever get involved in if you do it right. You can lose $200 in lures a day.

For more information on Keith Johnson or his demonstrations, visit his website here.