If you want to know how to catch bass, and big bass in particular, there are a million different blogs and websites ready to give you advice. Read through the all, and then try this method.

  1. Tie a size two to size four hook on your fishing line.
  2. Put a small split-shot weight about three feet up the line.
  3. Take a large shiner, and put the hook through its back just behind the dorsal fin.
  4. Cast it out, leave your bail open or the reel in freespool, and sit it down.
  5. When line starts zipping out you know a big bass has eaten the shiner, and is swimming away. Pick up the rod, engage the reel, and set the hook.

Is this a bit simplistic? You bet. But, it’s also an amazingly effective way to hook into largemouth bass. It works in virtually every lake, river, and pond on the face of the planet. And anyone can master the technique in about 30 seconds flat. That’s why our FishTalk Editor, Lenny Rudow, calls it the “KISS bass fishing” method. You want to hear about it for yourself? Click, and watch.

Here are a few more KISS-style bass fishing tips:

  • When bass are on their beds in the spring, cast a sinking lure directly over the depression. Quite often they’ll attack it simply out of defensive instinct. If they watch the lure but don’t attack, reel it in and re-cast several times. On the third or fourth attempt they sometimes become aggravated, and start snapping.
  • In rivers with good crayfish populations, substitute crayfish for the shiner. Put the hook in through the bottom of the tail and out through the top, and give a gentle yank on the line every minute or so to dislodge the crayfish, as it tries to crawl under rocks for protection.
  • Whenever you’re targeting largemouth bass, be exceedingly careful about creating vibrations. Just walking down a shoreline or closing the hatch on a boat is enough to alert them to your presence.

If fly fishing is more your style, check out How to Go Fly Fishing for Bass.