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.
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!