What Are Largemouth Bass Fishing Patterns?
Think about the word “Pattern” and what does it mean to you? While in bass fishing the word “pattern” still has the same meaning. This is the fastest way to locate fish!
First you have the seasonal “Patterns” which is the dictates the behavior of a bass during the each one of the four season’s spring, summer, fall, and winter. Based on where you are geographically these season patterns can change due to a wide variety of circumstances like water temp, daylight hours, and weather. For example, the month of May in Minnesota the bass may be behaving differently than bass that live in Florida. Generally the seasonal behavior pattern is the same no matter where you are but the circumstances may change depending on location.
Once you have figured out the seasonal pattern, it’s now time to find the fishing “pattern.” You here the pro’s talk about the pattern they used to win the big tournament. While it’s not rocket science! For example, let’s say that you catch a few fish on a crankbait targeting steep drop-off, find similar locations and fish the crankbait the exact same way and when you catch a few more you are on your way to finding you fishing “pattern.” Now there are a lot of factors that help indicate that you have patterned out your fish but that’s is the jest of it. Now have you ever heard someone say they found a pattern within a pattern? Essentially, using the same breakdown and adding subtle changes to presentation and location. Can be as simple is adding/subtracting weight, color change, retrieval speed, positioning or any little change that would trigger more strikes. Next time you’re on the water try it and you will see more fish in your boat!
Broadly speaking bass fishing patterns are, and this is my definition so others may vary: “repetitious bass behaviors during a specific period of time, be it hours, a day or several days, throughout a specific body of water”. “Seasonal patterns”, wherein bass tend to engage in certain instinctive behaviors at certain times of the year, triggered by changes in water temperature and number of daylight hours, are the broadest bass fishing patterns. These are the “major” movements bass make during a year. • Spring finds largemouth bass moving into shallow coves, onto flats and around points. • Summer heat drive bass to deeper water. They move to offshore structure and deeper into the main channel. • Fall days shorten, water cools and bass move shallow again into the creeks where they were found in the spring. • Winter’s short days and cold temperatures call bass back to the depths. The seasonal patterns of change, though not exact and varying from region to region, are good starting points
