

They can be caught with a wide range of artificial lures, and can be taken on virtually any live bait. Perhaps America's top game fish, bass are known for their spirited fight making them one of the most enjoyable catches for any angler. After spawning, bass typically move out to deeper water, though there are almost always some bass, especially largemouths, in shallow water, usually associated with cover such as weed beds, fallen timber or boat docks. Fishing:īoth species move shallow in the spring to spawn and are easily located and enticed into biting before they go on the beds. Both, however, can be caught from the same bodies of water and often from the same general areas. Largemouths are more often associated with shallow, weedier bodies of water or reservoirs with standing timber, while smallmouths are more closely linked to rocky habitat and rivers.

Michigan boasts good populations of both largemouth and smallmouth bass statewide, though as you travel northward, smallmouths are the dominant species.
