Arizona Lake Fishing

After a long summer and hundreds of anglers throwing in spinners, the bass get wise and a jig could be just enough to land that big one. Swimming a jig takes a little fineness and technique to get the presentation just right for a strike but after reading this post you’ll be casting it in like a pro.

The key to swimming a jig for a big bite is all about presentation and how to attract a bite. You want to pay attention to color, the bite (if you’re getting any), your retrieval speed and most importantly setting the hook.

Jig Swimming Tips: Pay attention to the bite.

1. If the bass is inhaling the jig, make no adjustments and keep hauling them in.
2. If they seem to be just nipping at the end of the jig, make a change with your trailer. It’s possible you could be getting the wrong action from your jig.
3. If they are following your jig but not striking, make a complete change in color. If you’re using a dark jig, switch to a bright color with a flash.

Jig Swimming Tips: Pay attention to presentation.

1. Hold your rod tip at about 10 o’clock.
2. Vary your speeds by dropping and ripping through cover.
3. Be sure to set the hook properly. Once you feel that bass on your line give it a good rip back and set the hook before he even knows what hit him. Make it one smooth motion.

Using a drop shot can be tricky at times especially when you don’t know when or where to use it. But a drop shot can be one of the most effective rigs in your tackle box when used properly. Here in Arizona, our fishing lakes can be pure rock bed, making using a drop shot rig a little difficult but we have some tips for this as well.

Once you learn the ways of rigging a drop shot, you’ve won half the battle.

Where to Use a Drop Shot Rig Fishing Arizona Lakes

• Drop shot works best in deep water where the fish are suspended just off the bottom. Look for deep points, beds, and humps with a smooth surface work best.
• You can also work a drop shot in shallow rockpiles, around docks and artificial habitats, so popular in our Arizona lakes.
• Also try weedy areas. Just be sure to rig your line with a weedless hook.
• The key is to focus on where you think fish will be holding.

When to Use a Drop Shot Rig Fishing Arizona Lakes

• The drop shot works best when bass are suspended because you can vary the length of the leader and put your bait right in front of them.
• The best times of year for suspended bass is during the fall and spring spawn.
• If the bass seem spooky from a lot of fishing action, give them a drop shot. This may cause interest with a different approach.

How to Use a Drop Shot Rig Fishing Arizona Lakes

• Use a slow presentation. The longer you can keep that bait in front of them the more likely they are to strike.
• Use the drop shot in deeper water. This allows you to drop the bait right in front of them.
• Give the bait a little wiggle action. Just give your rod tip a little shake. This is more effective than any other rig.
• When using in shallow water, keep your rod tip high to bring the bait further off the bottom. The higher the angle, the more distance between the bait and the bottom.

Spinners can be used to catch bass in just about any weather or water temp or time of year. Tournaments can be won fishing a spinner. They’re a great lure for spring and fall when the bass are feeding heavily as well as in winter when the water is cold. You can also fish them in the warmer waters of summer and just buzz them by the fish to entice them to bite.

It’s a good idea to keep several spinners in your box and keep spare blades and skirts on hand so you can test the waters and see what’s biting. But the go-to spinner in my box is always a 3/8th ounce spinnerbait with a #5 willowleaf and #3 Colorado blade. Have one of each in gold and silver. A chartreuse and white skirt and a 3″ white curly tail trailer.

Spinners in Warm Water

Warm water, at and above 60 degrees, means fast retrievals. When the water is warm, run the bait just under the surface fairly quickly until the blade just brakes the water. Then slow down and let the skirt flare.

When the water is warmer, and the feeding is slower, speed up your retrieval and try for reaction strikes by buzzing it right by the bass and letting it brake the water’s surface.

Spinners in Cool Waters

Cool waters, bellow 60 degrees, you want to slow it down. Use a heavier spinner, around 1/2 once. Get heavier and slower as the water gets colder. The added weight will allow you to fish deeper and slower.

Tips for Using Spinners

1. The clearness of the water will tell how quickly to run your lure. In clearer waters you can run it fairly fast but slow it down in murky waters.
2. Try bigger blades. Up to a #7 blade has caught fish and was a popular method a few years ago and still catches fish.
3. Try different colors of skirts and trailers if the fish aren’t biting.
4. Attach the lure with a clip and swivel to allow for quick and easy changing.

Spinners are one of my favorite lures. They are easy to use, easy to fish and you almost never lose a fish on one. The big hook seems to keep them on the hook effectively.

Tricking a zoom worm will work well right now as the spawn dies down. The bass will begin to come off their beds and will be more aggressive and hit this rig even better. This rig will work in both ponds and lakes.

What is a Zoom Worm?

A zoom worm is a straight worm about 7 inches long and they come in several colors like chartreuse, yellow, white and in natural colors as well.

Rigging your zoom worm

You rig your zoom worm with no weight and you fish it almost like a topwater lure. You can tie the hook directly to the line or put it on a swivel about 6 inches above the hook. The swivel will help keep your line from twisting as you retrieve.

Tricking your zoom worm

As you retrieve your zoom worm, you want to twitch them. This will cause the worm to jump back and forth.

One technique that I’ve found most effective is to twitch them just under the surface. Then pause and let the worm sink.

Best Bass Lakes in Arizona for 2009

1. Alamo Lake – This is the HOME of largemouth bass in Arizona and recent surveys show a large population of largemouth bass for the 2009 season.
2. Bartlett Lake – A great lake for bass fishing, Bartlett Lake is a 2,800 acre lake just north of Phoenix.
3. Lake Mead – An excellent bass fishing lake located near the border for Arizona and Nevada. Lake Mead boasts a whopping 160,000 acres of fishing waters.
4. Martinez Lake – more for the shore angler, Martinez Lake is only 600 acres but is worth the trip near Yuma, Arizona.
5. Lake Pleasant- a 10,000 acre lake also close to metropolitan Phoenix, great bass lake.

Bass are predator fish and they follow schools of baitfish to prey on. So, if you can find the schools of baitfish, chances are pretty good that the bass are close by. But how do you locate the baitfish?

How to locate the baitfish and intern the big bass

1. Easiest to spot are the small minnows jumping out of the water and if your lucky swirls of bigger fish swimming close behind. If you see these tiny jumping fish, there is a school of baitfish swimming around just under them.
2. Loons also love baitfish. They feed on them regularly. The benefit of seeing loons feeding on fish is that they are easier to spot from a distance than jumping minnows. Follow the loons to the baitfish and the baitfish to the bass.
3. Gulls also prey on fish. You’ll often see them circling in one spot. This is a good place to head out and fish.
4. Herons are another bird species that prey on fish and are easy to spot in the air or on the shore.
5. If you see small dimples on the surface of the water chances are there is a school of shad near the surface. These dimples might look like little raindrops falling over a small are of water.
6. Use a depthfinder. On a depthfinder, a school of fish will look like a ball of solid mass.
7. And finally, when you see a group of boats fishing in one area, it’s probably a good spot to fish. Man also likes to prey on fish and they are very easy to spot in their boats with fishing poles.

So now you found the baitfish, what do you do?

Tips to use the baitfish to your advantage

• For your lure or bait selection, try to match the size and shape of the baitfish swimming around.
• Vary your depth to find the feeding fish (largemouth bass but also crappie, walleye, muskie, hybrids, white bass, striped bass)
• Get as close to the food source as possible to increase your odds of catching the fish you set out to catch.

What is Pitching?

Pitching is a bass fishing technique anglers use to guide their bait to a desired location. It works best when you need to get your bait into a small opening near heavy cover, under low-hanging limbs, and/or around boat docks. The best anglers, the ones who always catch the big ones, are all proficient pitchers.

Pitching is ideal for:

1. Off-color or muddy water
2. Targets between 10 and 30 feet away
3. Target provides a quiet lure entry into the water

Pitching for Bass You’ll need:

• 25 pound test 100% fluorocarbon line
• 7′ 6″ heavy rod with plenty of backbone to wrestle the biggies

What to Pitch

A jig. But nearly any single-hook bait can be pitched. Rig it into a Texas rig.

How to Pitch for bass

1. With your rig on the line, face the target.
2. Depress the line release and let out enough line so the bait is even with the first guide.
3. Put the bait in your off-hand at about waist level.
4. Lower the rod tip toward the target and put a little tension on the line.
5. In one smooth, quick motion, swing the rod tip toward the target and upward. Letting go of the bait.
6. As the bait moves under the rod tip, release the line and continue raising the rod tip and control the spool with your thumb.
7. Stop the line just before it enters the water.

It’s that time of year again and you should know what I’m talking about. It’s time for spinner baits and the big bass. It’s time to roll those big 1oz. spinners off the edges and over the humps. And we have some tips to get you started and on your way to catching the big one.

Tips for Using Spinner Baits

1. Rigging is most important. The best, is to rig a spinner on a medium-to-medium light tip rod.
2. Use braided line to help control the action and the line to hook the fish.
3. Look for shad chasing your spinner. If you do, you know you’re in the right place. If not, move on.
4. Use angles when fishing a spinner.
5. If you have shad but no bites, try changing your angle of presentation.

You’re on the lake, just staring your day and wondering where to start fishing. Here are some tips to keep in mind on how to read where those lunker bass might be hanging out.

1. Look for subtle changes in the lake bottom. Even a change of depth of just a few feet could be a productive fishing spot. The bass use these small highways for feeding on bait fish.
2. Watch for bait fish. Wherever they are, the bass aren’t too far behind.
3. Keep an eye on the changes in weather. Just a few degrees warmer and the bait fish will move a foot or two deeper in to the water.
4. Works well in both shallow and deep water. Use this info all year round when fishing for bass.

Drop shot fishing is a great way to catch largemouth bass especially in the cooler months when they are a little slower than during the spawn. With a drop shot you can catch bass consistently in deep water, say 25 feet to 35 feet or even at 45 feet deep.

How to rig a drop shot?

Photo: Roboworm: Red Crawler RoboTail

The drop shot rig is a finesse worm technique. I prefer to use Roboworms (pictured above) and have found them to be very effective at Bartlett Lake

1. Tie your hook (#1 wide gap hook preferred) about 18 inches above the loose end of your line. Use a Palomar Knot.
2. Take the loose end of your line and bring it back through the eye of your hook. This will help the hook stay straight.
3. With the loose end, attach a 3/16th once drop shot weight with another Palomar knot.
4. Choose your bait. Work with 3 to 4 inch soft plastic worms or soft plastic shad type imitations. Color is dependent on the water color. Use watermelon or green shades in clear waters and reds to June bug in murky water.
5. There are 3 ways to rig your bait for a drop shot:
   1. Texas rigged where you hook the bait into the worm and bury the hook into the back to make a weed less hook. Texas rig works best in deeper waters.
   2. Wacky style where you hook the bait through the center and leave the hook exposed. Wacky style works great in deep water when fish are suspended away from structure
   3. Standard style hook your bait directly through the nose and leave the hook exposed.

Using a Drop Shot Rig

• A drop shot is best used on a spinning rod and reel. You want a rod that is flexible and sensitive to any taps.
• Your choice of line depends on water clarity. In deep clear water use 6 and 8 lb test line.
• Cast out into the lake. Drop shot has a tendency to twist. Try tying a swivel onto your weight.
• Allow the bait to sink to the bottom. Pay attention and you’ll feel when the sinker hits the bottom through your rod.
• Slowly work the bait back and keep the line taunt. Try walking, skipping, swimming the bait and wait several seconds in between each motion. The timing is important. Cool water bass, like in the early spring and fall, will have a slow reaction time where warmer water bass might move in quicker.
• You’re waiting for the “TAP-TAP”, the trademark of the largemouth bass strike on your bait. Sometimes it’s very soft and you might miss it, others it’s so sharp you can’t possibly miss it.
• When you feel the “tap-tap”, set that hook as quickly as you can. You got a fish.

When you come across the occasional rock or stump while fishing it would be worth your time to give it a shot and see if the big one is hanging around. These rocks and stumps are perfect shelter for the fish in between a feeding area and major cover.

Tip #1: Sneak Up To It

The last thing you want to do is scare all the fish away from this tiny amount of cover by bursting into the scene with your loud boat. So cut your engine and just drift into the area.

Tip #2: Cast Just Beyond the Target

A plop into the water from your lure can actually make these skittish fish take off. Remember they are a little vulnerable in these locations and will be easier to scare off. Plus you want to give your lure sometime to get to the right depth. So launch your lure, I prefer a crankbait, just past your target and run it back as close as you can to the rock/stump.

Tip #3: Try a Jig

Throw a plastic worm, lizard or grub up real close and drift it deep. Then twitch it back to you real slow. If a bass is there they can’t resist.