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Bass can be found in relatively shallow water, two to eight feet deep, during the cooler spring and fall months. During the summer, bass often move into the shallows at night to feed. However, when the sun’s rays are intense, and during the cold winter months, anglers should concentrate their searches for bass in deep water.

Bass almost always relate to some type of cover, including stumps, logs, brush, weeds, boat docks, drop-offs and creek channels. When fish are active, lures such as spinnerbaits, topwater plugs and crankbaits are good choices. If bass are pressured or if weather changes have "turned them off," jig and pork-rind combinations, plastic worms and grubs usually generate the most strikes.

Other tips to keep in mind when bass fishing include:

• Use dark lures in dark (muddy) water and light lures in light (clear) water.
• Use larger, dark-colored lures at night.
• Try to fish spots other anglers might overlook, like a cluster of rocks along a tree-lined bank or a small log along a stretch of rip-rap.
• Topwater plugs can be lethal early and late in the day, but they also will catch bass during the middle of the day -- in fact, anytime the fish are active. Don’t let a little chop on the water stop you from trying a topwater, either.
• When using plastic worms in warm water, fish slow. You can fish too fast, but never too slow.
• Many bass anglers recommend using pork-rind trailers for jigs whenever water temperatures are below 65-70 degrees. When water temperatures are above 70 degrees, they switch to plastic trailers.
• when bass fishing’s "second spring" just begins. When the water temperature dips into the 60s in October, most lakes become less crowded with visitors, but bass are actively feeding in shallow water. Concentrate your efforts on windy points in the fall, where black bass are feeding on schools of three-inch shad.