Part 3: How to Find and Catch Bass on a New Lake

The final video in the "New Lake" series is here. If you've ever wondered how we go about finding bass quickly in a new lake, this is the series to watch. Matt goes on the water and shows you step by step what he's doing, as well as thinking, to quickly find bass in a body of water he knows nothing about. 

In Part 3 you'll see the same trends showing up that you saw in parts 1 and 2. Quickly identifying prey species and likely fish locations will allow you to load the boat and develop quickly. In the previous videos Matt found his best success with a 3 pronged approach to active fish. When the fish were most active he was able to get bit on a River2Sea Rover topwater. Once the fish began moving out he was able to catch them on a crankbait. He used both a Norman Deep Lil N and a Strike King 5XD. Lastly, he downsized to a small Keitech Fat Swing Impact to catch the remaining aggressive fish as the day warmed up. This bait selection let him continue to catch reaction fish long after the reaction bite had slowed. 

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Now as the sun is warming the air and surface of the water the fish finally go deep. Matt is forced to follow them down and change his approach. He targets them with a Casting Jig and a small dropshot rig. The dropshot rig featured a small Strike King worm on 8 lb fluorocarbon leader to finesse the last of the fish that were still willing to bite. Finesse fishing isn't glamourous but it works when everything else has stopped and can allow you to catch a few extra fish before heading home. 

We hope you're able to take these tips and tricks to a lake near you and quickly develop patterns to catch fish as you break down the lake. Don't let new lakes intimidate you! Make a plan, put it to action, and follow through until you begin catching bass. Good luck out there!

Part 2: How to Find and Catch Bass On a New Lake

Fishing new lakes can be very intimidating. The key is to quickly identify prey species and structure that should hold fish. Of course you also have to balance time of year, water temp, clarity, depth, weather, boat pressure, fishing pressure, etc... No big deal, right? 

With preparation, its really not a big deal. In this week's video Matt continues breaking down a brand new lake and takes you along for the ride.  From catching fish on multiple spots to eliminating water quickly, you'll see the steps and the mindsight behind developing patterns and dialing in the best spots on a new body of water. 

As you'll see in the video the key is to keep your methods simple while still keeping an open mind. Start with reaction and cover water. Stick to your game plan until the lake leads you in a different direction. If you find active fish, repeat the pattern around the lake for the remainder of the day. remember you aren't try to catch every bass in the lake, you can begin fine tuning patterns and locations on subsequent trips. 

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On this Lake Matt found his best success with a 3 pronged approach to active fish. When the fish were most active he was able to get bit on a River2Sea Rover topwater. Once the fish began moving out he was able to catch them on a crankbait. He used both a Norman Deep Lil N and a Strike King 5XD. Lastly, he downsized to a small Keitech Fat Swing Impact to catch the remaining aggressive fish as the day warmed up. This bait selection let him continue to catch reaction fish long after the reaction bite had slowed. 

We hope you're able to take these tips and tricks to a lake near you and quickly develop patterns to catch fish as you break down the lake. Don't let new lakes intimidate you! Make a plan, put it to action, and follow through until you begin catching bass. 

Keep an eye out for Part 3 later this week! 

How to Find and Catch Bass on a New Lake

Fishing new lakes can be very intimidating. The key is to quickly identify prey species and structure that should hold fish. Of course you also have to balance time of year, water temp, clarity, depth, weather, boat pressure, fishing pressure, etc... No big deal, right? 

With preparation, its really not a big deal. In this week's video Matt takes you out on the water as he breaks down a brand new lake. From first impressions, to finally locating and sticking a bunch of bass, you'll see the steps and the mindsight behind developing patterns and catching fish on a new body of water. 

As you'll see in the video the key is to keep your methods simple while still keeping an open mind. Start with reaction and cover water. Stick to your game plan until the lake leads you in a different direction. If you find active fish, repeat the pattern around the lake for the remainder of the day. remember you aren't try to catch every bass in the lake, you can begin fine tuning patterns and locations on subsequent trips. 

On this Lake Matt found his best success with a 3 pronged approach to active fish. When the fish were most active he was able to get bit on a River2Sea Rover topwater. Once the fish began moving out he was able to catch them on a crankbait. He used both a Norman Deep Lil N and a Strike King 5XD. Lastly, he downsized to a small Keitech Fat Swing Impact to catch the remaining aggressive fish as the day warmed up. This bait selection let him continue to catch reaction fish long after the reaction bite had slowed. 

We hope you're able to take these tips and tricks to a lake near you and quickly develop patterns to catch fish as you break down the lake. Don't let new lakes intimidate you! Make a plan, put it to action, and follow through until you begin catching bass. 

Thank you for your support of Tacticalbassin, we appreciate it!

Do You Want to Catch a Giant Bass?

Matt was invited to do a seminar at this year's International Sportsman's Exposition. His topic was the same as last year, but it came with a twist. Instead of giving a demonstration people had already seen Matt broke it into two seminars in one. The first focused on FOOLING a trophy bass, the second focused on TRIGGERING a trophy bass.

For those that weren't able to see it in person, Tim was able to video the entire seminar. This Tacticalbassin exclusive video gives you a front row seat to the entire 46 minute seminar covering both topics. Enjoy!

In this video you'll discover that targeting trophy bass is easiest when you separate them based on what they eat and target them accordingly. In other words, you don't throw the same baits for a bass that primarily eats trout that you would for a bass that primarily eats bluegill. Additionally, you throw different baits if you want to fool them than you throw if you want to trigger them.

The baits that are going to be broken down in this video can be found below...

Natural Baits to FOOL a trophy bass:

-The Huddleston is a great swimbait that is widely available and has fooled countless trophy bass.

-The Jig with Beaver Trailer is another deadly option for targeting trophy class fish

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-The JSJ Hitch 6 Softbait is a new swimbait that perfectly mimics a baitfish, great for getting those monster bites!

-The California SwimJig has been catching giants for years, if you haven't added it to your arsenal yet the time has come.

REACTIVE Baits for Trophy Bass:

-S-Waver 168 and 200 are both GREAT options for triggering a trophy!

-The Flash Pointer 115 or Vision 110 both put trophy bass in the boat when used properly.

-The Magnum Fluke is an overlooked bait that puts monster bass in the boat!

The LV-500 Lipless crankbait is a western secret to target monster bass. This isn't a regular lipless and we don't fish it like you'd expect.

We hope you enjoy the seminar! If you have questions for Tim or Matt feel free to leave us a comment and we'll get back to you. Thank you for your continued support! Though it isn't yet on the website, we have hats and hoodies available for purchase. Please email Tim at tacticalbassin2@gmail.com and he will get you the details. Until next time, good luck out there!