We're here to help you with information about Berkley products. Just give us a call or send us an email.
angler education
As the voice of the American angler, KeepAmericaFishing works to keep oceans, lakes, rivers and streams open, clean and abundant with fish.
Fish like a Pro
Review our quick tips to find the information you need. Apply the filters on the right to narrow your search.
Within a specific range of sizes and actions, plastic worms are the most versatile and most effective tools to use for smallmouths in lakes. The right worm is 4 to 5 inches long and relatively thin.
Reservoir smallmouths often congregate close to shore along riprap and rocky breaks into deeper water during early spring. The rocky shallows warm early, drawing bait.
Smallmouths often suspend over relatively deep water in reservoirs and natural lakes in summer, when baitfish populations peak. In reservoirs, they tend to follow shad or shiners. A 4- to 5-inch grub worked horizontally on a jig head can work wonders.
Nighttime can be one of the best times to target big browns in tailrace fisheries of the South. Big browns are less spooky at night, moving out of heavy cover into areas easily approached and fished.
Spring means high water in most areas, due to snowmelt and high annual rainfall. And spring means movement for river bass. A plunge-pool below a dam is a classic wintering site. As water temperatures broach 50oF, smallmouths begin to wander downstream from a dam or upstream from a reservoir, toward spawning areas.
Tracking studies have verified that river largemouths make major spring migrations from wintering areas to shallow backwaters. Though miles may separate these habitat zones, fish unerringly arrive once ice has departed.
Staging bass move toward the bank as spawn-time approaches. When reservoir flats have warmed into the upper 50oF range, look for bass among flooded stumps, brushpiles, and along the inside corners of points within feeder creeks.
As lakes warm in the spring, largemouth bass move into shallow cover in coves, canals, and harbors. They seek warming water offered by these spots that also provide plentiful baitfish. Bass are eager to feed, but not yet aggressive in the cool water.
River currents prevent these waters from freezing when flatwater impoundments are ice-covered. With careful presentations, river largemouth can be caught. First, look for areas with minimal current where bass move for the winter. The upper ends of backwaters or dug-out ponds and harbors off the main river are prime locations.
Winter is a fantastic time to catch big lake trout through the ice. This type of fishing often requires mobility as it can take quite a bit of searching to find active lakers. They can roam main-lake basins where they suspend in the water column to feed on open-water baitfish.
Technique
- Bottom Fishing
- (-) Cast and Retrieve
- Crankin'
- Drop shot
- Finesse Fishing
- Flippin' / Pitchin'
- Fly Fishing
- Jiggin'
- Wormin'
Water Type
© 2013 Copyright Pure Fishing, Inc.
Berkley® is a registered trademark of Pure Fishing, Inc.
