John's Journal...

Bass - How to Catch 'Em in August and Early September with Mark Davis

Where the Salt Water Meets the Fresh

Click to enlargeEditor’s Note: Mark Davis of Mount Ida, Arkansas, has made over $200,000 in 2007 in tournament fishing. He’s won one FLW $100,000 tournament and currently, he’s in third place on the B.A.S.S. Southern Open circuit.Davis is a veteran. He won the Bassmaster’s Classic in 1995, and he’s one of the nation’s top pros. This week, he’ll tell us how to catch bass in a wide variety of lakes, when the weather’s hot, and when most fishermen are drinking iced tea and sitting by the Click to enlargeair conditioner indoors.

Question: Mark, if you had to fish a tidal area where salt water comes into fresh water, and the water level and the current are affected by tides, how would you fish in this type of region?
Davis: August and late September are one of the best times of the year to fish tidal areas. Some of the best fishing you can have at this time ofyear, if it’s available to you, is tidal rivers. This fishery is very dependable, and you can catch a lot of fish in these areas. A lot depends on the type of cover that’s available in these tidal areas. You may find lily pads, grass and/or wood. Any cover you can find in a tidal area can and will produce bass. The real key to catching bass in a tidal region is to know when to fish in relationship to the tide. I believe the optimum tides are the last two hours of the outgoing tide and the first two hours of the incoming tide. Basically, I’m suggesting that you fish on low tides. Low tides pull the baitfish out of the cover and position the bait and the bClick to enlargeass on wood or grass at the edge of the bank. On a full tide, the bass and the bait have more places to hide, and they’re harder to catch.

Click to enlargeQuestion: How will you catch these tidal bass?
Davis: I’ll be fishing a Strike King Series 4S, which is a 2-inch lure with a square bill, and I’ll be fishing it on 17-pound-test monofilament line, casting it around any kind of cover I can find – rocks, woods, lily pads or grass are all places where bass will hold.

Question: What colors will you be fishing?
Davis: I like bright-colored crankbaits in tidal waters, like chartreuse with a blue back, chartreuse with a black back and fire tiger. I’ll be fishing these crankbaits on 17-pound-test line. Remember that generally, you’ll have to downsize your lures when you’re fishing for tidal-water bass. I’ll be fishing a 3-1/2-inch tube as opposed to a flipping tube, if I’m fishing a tube bait. Another lure that I’ll be fishing in tidal waters is that Bitsy Flip with a small 3X trailer, and I’ll be fishing it slowly. You can fish big lures in tidal waters, but you’ll catch more bass by fishing down-sized lures.


Check back each day this week for more about "Bass - How to Catch 'Em in August and Early September with Mark Davis"

Day 1: Power-Plant Lake
Day 2: Grass Lakes
Day 3: How to Fish a Highland Reservoir Now
Day 4: Down at the River
Day 5: Where the Salt Water Meets the Fresh

 

Entry 419, Day 5