When filming bass underwater, I see this behavior all the time. It is common enough that we need to be prepared for this as bass anglers. When bass are around vegetation we can increase our odds of success by keeping this behavior in mind when fishing.
BASS BEHAVIOR BUNDLE MEMBERSHIP
✅ Join us for bass behavior videos, livestreams, and newsletters. This is a terrific way to support the channel:
https://www.steverogersoutdoors.com/bass-behavior-bundle-info
BASS FISHING LIFE COFFEE COMPANY (MY WIFE AND I OWN THIS COFFEE BUSINESS)
Premium coffee, direct trade, and each purchase helps me to keep creating free content. Thank you!
☕https://www.bassfishinglifecoffeeco.com/
MY FAVORITE FINESSE LURES
🪝Baby Z Too: https://omnia.direct/6Jd92A
🪝Filler Worm: https://omnia.direct/KBn8a9
🪝Super Finesse Worm (Elaztech): https://bassproshops.vzck.net/9g5eB0
MY FAVORITE SEARCH BAITS
🪝KVD Jerkbait: https://omnia.direct/ylV7Q3
🪝Swim Jig: https://omnia.direct/J9528z
🪝Rage Menace Grub for Swim Jig Trailer: https://omnia.direct/VXQbdk
🪝KVD Squarebills: https://omnia.direct/dPkWOP
MY FAVORITE POWER FISHING BAITS
🪝Tour Grade Spinnerbait: https://omnia.direct/K8y4q7
🪝Magnum Game Hawg: https://omnia.direct/V0myz0
🪝Thunder Cricket: https://omnia.direct/GE8O8r
LINKS:
💻Website: https://www.steverogersoutdoors.com
📱Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/steverogersoutdoors
📱Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/thebassfishinglife
This video description contains affiliate links to Bass Pro Shops and Omnia Fishing. This allows me to continue creating free content like this. I appreciate your time watching. Thank you for your support.
#bassfishing #bassfishingtipsandtechniques #largemouthbass #smallmouthbass #bassfishingtips
I use bitsy bug jigs with plastic crayfish in vegetation a catch a lot of fish that way. Wacky worms twitched in weeds works well too. They’re looking for their favourite food.
Can you correlate moon phase with this behavior ? I am thinking this may be due to molting of crawfish .
Guess is they are looking for crawfish hiding in the weed bottoms. Probably in many weed beds there are few rocks nearby to hide under, so immersing in weeds is a good alternative for hiding. Crawfish at night in a rocky area come out all over the place, probably because they feel(?) safer in the dark. They can move in daylight around a bit in weeds looking for food, whereas moving in daylight in the non-weedy sandy bottom surrounding many weed beds is asking to be eaten. IMHO
Fish clear lakes in weeds& you'll get why. They're looking for bugs and craws; things that eat the weeds not fish.
Crayfish would be right in the vegetation crawling on it maybe?
Looking up, towards the light source maybe harder to see, for the bait fish and the bass. Baitfish may not see the predator coming from above and it’s an easier ambush position?? Middle of the column prey can run any direction….at least on the bottom the predator eliminates the option of the prey going DOWN? 🤷♂️ just thinking out loud
I’d say it’s just like bass in a bluff wall, they want to have a hard surface to corner the prey against.
I believe they do this for a number of reasons one being it's easier to pin something on the bottom or suck it up off the bottom rather than Chase it and two it's like you said easier to single out one that's down there by itself like a cross instead of chasing around a pod of bait
Steve, Thank you for your curiosity! Understanding bass behavior is the best way to improve one’s catch success. Bass behavior is affected by many conditions, but always driven by prey. I heard Rick Clunn say once a mentor told him (paraphrasing), If one wants to hunt the owl, one should study the mouse. That made an impact on my fishing. In my opinion, you’re putting out the most useful bass fishing content on YouTube. Sincerely, old-time angler. 🎣👍🏼
I guess they are looking for something in the vegetation to eat.
Does this behavior continue for bass under mats
🤠👍🏻
Is it just me or is Steve Rogers awesome?
I think you are onto something in what you said. The baitfish in the weeds are easier to target as they are somewhat isolated. I think along with that is the fact that the baitfish are themselves feeding on whats in the weeds and with that distraction, the bass find them easier to target. Much easier to sneak up on if they are paying more attention to the dinner in front of them instead of the bass feeding on them.
Dang, that’s really interesting. I’ve found a Texas Rig with a bug or craw to be some of the most consistent bites I’ve gotten on this water with heavy vegetation, and this makes sense.
I wonder why they don’t feast on the huge selection above them. Weird haha.
Part of it may be the way their swim bladder balances them. The deeper the water, the more offset their body is. More likely though, anything that is an easy meal usually falls or resides on the bottom.
As someone who has bass fished for over 40yrs AND also eats bass I will tell you well over 90% of the bass I have kept to eat have crayfish in their stomachs. Only about 10% have minnows or panfish in their stomachs. Crayfish are much easier to catch and the bass have to expend far less energy to catch them. This is why if you do catch bass on minnow presentations it's typically on injured minnow/panfish presentations.
I think the bass use the bottom to assist it pinning the bait
That was great footage Steve. I don't fish around grass too often, but like some other people have posted it may be the injured or weak bait fish that are in the weeds trying to hide. It could be crawdads they are after. I have caught bass around weeds before and they had crawdads in their mouth. Who knows, could be a combination of both.
As a Florida perspective, bass will typically hang around areas that have multiple types of vegetation present. The reason being it gives the bass a buffet of opportunities to eat varied species. As an ambush predator, bass will pin a meal in the grass as opposed to chasing a school in open water. Additionally, grass offers oxygen and shade in summer and warmth in winter. The most basic rule for fishing grass is fish it when it’s green and growing. Fish it when it’s green and not growing. Fish it when it’s dead. Never fish it when it’s dying. The dying process consumes oxygen. Bass will not hold in low oxygen water, at least not in my experience.
do you think it may be easier to pin prey against the bottom? the same way they use the surface to “pin” baitfish.