The best way to find fish is to cover lots of water. Right or wrong? With the shallow nature largemouth bass has, the answer is half right and half wrong. Largemouth bass live in depths of 2 to 20 feet of water most of their lives. Finding the fish means looking for two distinct fish. Some of the bass in lakes and ponds are schoolers. These fish stay together in roaming packs of anywhere from 10 to as many as 30 fish.

All these fish are the same size and can be mixed males and females. These fish forage all together all for shad or other fish. These fish are on one bank in the morning and move before the afternoon. Moving means burning energy and they are almost always hungry. The other bass is a loner. One bass next to something as small as a stick off the bottom. This single fish lives in one spot and rarely ever ventures very far.

This fish can be a lot harder to find and catch especially if the fish is in deeper cover or structure to 10 feet deep. Finding the schools means several using the single bait best suited for this technique. It's a spinner bait. Early in the spring and as late as fall turnover is a great time to find and catch fish on this lure. Rig up a double blade spinner bait. One blade is a willow leaf and the other blade is a Colorado. Blades can be the same color but the best set up is two different colors. The next bait is a shallow running crank bait.

This bait needs to be a shad or sunfish imitation. Water colors that are clear mean a shad pattern. If the water is off colored or dirty, use a bait with chartreuse and green colors. The fish can see this bait better. Now get in the warmest water in the lake and start making long casts. Change baits every thirty minutes and never be afraid to cast into the center of the creeks and channels.