HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF YOUR BASS-FISHING GUIDE

To Learn How To Catch Bass

Editor’s Note: In my opinion, the best way to find and catch the most bass any day you fish is to hire a guide who’s on the water everyday and should know where the bass are holding.

Charlie Ingram, a guide for Lake Eufaula Guide Service in Eufaula, Alabama, has some clients who’ve never bass fished before who want to learn how to use a rod and reel to catch bass. Other customers may want to know how to fish different types of structure with various lures. Some anglers want Ingram to teach them how to find and take bass. Before you hire a guide, decide what you’ll expect from him. Always employ a professional to each you how to locate and catch fish on any lake. Don’t just hire a man who can take you to a place where you can catch fish.

Once Ingram knows what an angler wants to do, he then can tailor-make the day of fishing to provide the information and teach the lessons the angler has come to learn. A quality bass guide will teach you new and better ways to catch bass. “If a beginner doesn’t know how to fish, I’ll teach him how to cast a spinning reel,” Ingram mentioned. “I’ve found the spinning reel is the easiest reel for most beginners to use to learn how to throw baits. If my client wants to cast a bait-casting reel, I’ll take him to the middle of the lake and show him how. I usually can have an angler casting well enough to take a bass in 30 minutes.”

To ensure the fisherman will cast accurately, cover plenty of water and catch bass, Ingram usually will tie on a Carolina-rigged plastic worm for the sportsman’s first fishing adventure. “With the Carolina-rigged worm, the bass will hook itself,” Ingram explained. “A newcomer to the sport only will need to cast the worm, slowly reel it in and let the bass take the bait.” Ingram, who uses 14- to 17-pound-test line spooled-up on his reel, adds a slip sinker to the main line and a glass bead below the sinker when fishing the Carolina-rigged worm. He ties the main line to a barrel swivel. On the other end of the barrel swivel, he puts 18 inches of 14- to 17-pound-test line and then ties on a 4-inch finesse worm with the hooks already embedded in the body of the worm. “I tie a short, 12- to 18-inch leader between the barrel swivel and the worm,” Ingram said with a smile. “I’ve learned if you tie a 3- to 4-foot leader like many anglers do when Carolina-rigging a worm, you’re much more likely to have the novice fisherman inadvertently hook you as he or she casts. With short leader, my client is more likely to catch a bass and less likely to catch a Charlie.” Ingram goes to the shallow ledges and points to ensure his fishing partner will catch bass. Although a beginner has only a small chance of taking a very big bass on his first couple of fishing trips, by employing this technique and fishing points and ledges, Ingram almost can guarantee an individual with no experience will catch bass all day.

To learn more about Lake Eufaula Guide Service, contact Jackie Thompson at 334-687-9595

TOMORROW: TO CATCH LARGE NUMBERS OF BASS