Where Do Largemouth Bass Hang Out?

Some many small ponds and lakes can be fished with some level of success by many persistent anglers. This is regardless if they have enough research or scouting even before the trip happens.

But when you want to fish that big lake known to be home to different kinds of fish, you might want to do more research about it.

Where does largemouth bass hang out? Normally, you can find largemouth bass hiding between rocks, among different water vegetation, or under some roots and limbs of sunken trees. Bass prefers quiet, calm, and warm water, but they are adaptive to other circumstances.

In here, you will find more information on where largemouth bass normally hang out on their day to day basis. It is also important to know the climate and season you are planning to fish them.

Top Largemouth Bass Hangouts

To catch these big creatures, you need to know where they hang out. The solution is to learn their lairs and invade them with proper lures. Knowing their location helps catch them, and finding the right tactic to do so is essential.

Make sure to commit each lair to memory and keep them in mind during your next fishing trip.

Once you’re able to learn the combination of lures and tactics for capturing them, you can catch more big bass in one season than most anglers catch in their lifetime.

If you have a GPS display that gives you information to return to the same spot, that will be a great advantage. But if not, do not fret as you can get a topographical map from your county engineer to show the lake depts and features.

Here are some of the top hangouts where you can find your trophy largemouth bass:

Shore Brush And Bushes

These dense covers are the ideal seclusions for many small aquatic critters, which shad and minnows feed on. Most big basses know this, and they usually stalk these locations whenever they are hungry and looking for food.

Here is one place where accurate casting can really be pulled off. This is because bigger bass does not need to chase lures too far for a quick strike. Make sure to choose lures that are rigged weedless so you can easily drop them in the middle of a snaggy cover.

Stumps And Standing Timber

If you are searching for some big bass, they normally hide in these covers’ shadows and normally wait to ambush their prey. In much calm water, work minnow-like surface lures slowly and with intermittent fast twitches.

This is the kind of behavior they exhibit that somehow looks like they are scared and trying to escape. You should try to use buzz baits and some chugger types, and be sure to tempt them with some 12-inch monster worms.

Old Creek Channels And Road Beds

Another place to look at is some old creek channels and roadbeds. You will see where old roads disappear and then it turns into a lake and when you check the topo map, it will show you some creek channels.

You can find some fish bottom-nudging lures, deep-running crankbaits, or some weedless works. These are some of the favorites that most bass hanging out here will catch on.


Stickups are native terms for weed tips, top of a submerged brush, or some remains of dead trees. Stickups are anything that stands out above the water’s surface, and if you find it, you will most likely see some bass lurking down there.

To capture them, you can cast a plastic worm beyond any stickup and let it settle to the bottom. You can then easily retrieve it at lesser counts to cover all the levels and the perimeter around the stickup.

Windy Shores

It might not be fun when you’re an angler trying to fight the wind, but breezes like this can blow insects and algae into the body of water. As a result, small fish will come to feed, and big bass will feed on them.

So find some windy shores, and you will expect to get your largemouth bass. Try to use lures that resemble a small heavy spoon, weighted tail spinners, and some blade lures.

Just try to keep moving and offer a wide variety of lures and make sure to work on them slowly but speedily and in spurts.

Outside Creek Bends

As you probably know, once the current flows, the food will follow, which is common knowledge for bass. The current breaks off point and heads for a bank; you should check out the outside bend.

This is because the current is so strong, and it will undercut the bank, and these undercuts can offer some shade and rest from the outer pressure.

These spots are ambush spots to nab different passing morsels. If you want to catch in this area, make sure to use big-lipped crankbaits that the current will drive deep and close to the undercuts. 

Below Dams

If you really are out of options, you can look for some payoff spot commonly known as the slot. A detectable line is formed between a fast-moving downstream current, and the eddy water is actually slowly back towards some dam.

You use some deep-running lures like a slab spoon, big-lipped crankbaits, and some heavy spinner lures outside this so-called slot.

Lily Pad Concentrations

Most big bass usually loves to ln the shade provided by some leaf masses. Try to look for them in some lily pad concentrations, and don’t forget to give them some smorgasbord of lures.

This includes some chuggers and spinners on top, then crankbaits retrieved on the outer perimeters, and some Texas rigged worms crawled over the weedy roof.

Largemouth Bass By The Calendar

When it comes to fishing some largemouth bass, it can be quite challenging because they are constantly moving, and you don’t know where they will go next.

This depends on the season you are currently on, so different water temperatures dictate largemouth bass movement.

The first step to becoming a better bass fisherman is understanding how these factors drive all bass migrations. Having this kind of knowledge, you will be able to search for them and target them.


During early spring, bass will start to move from deeper areas where they spend the whole winter toward rapidly warming shallow waters.

Although, the early spring weather can be quite unpredictable, and the water temperature in shallow waters can fluctuate depending on the day. As a result, bass will move back and forth between shallow and deep waters.


Summer is typically not the right time to fish largemouth bass. This is because this is when longer days, hotter temperatures, and direct sunlight can send bass from the shoreline to the deep end.

If you are still planning to fish during this time, it is recommended to fish early in the morning, the last 2 hours of daylight, nighttime, or during cloudy days.

While the productive depths during this time of the year is mainly dependent on the late, some experts recommended it to be at least 6 to 12 feet.

The reason is that during the height of the summer, many basses move down as deep as 15 to 20 feet, especially if it is clear water.


As the water starts to cool during fall, bass move shallower to feed and pack on winter preparation weight. If the water temperature drops to 55 degrees, the bite can actually turn on, and another bonus is that some anglers are still fishing at this time of the year.

If you are planning to fish, make sure to dress properly, and you will enjoy your time while you catch many basses during this time. Many fish are caught, and even larger quantities as many bass quill pieces are up in the prime areas.

Early in the fall, before the lake starts to turn over, bass will move back to the same shallow areas where they were feeding before the spawn session.

A small or medium-size spinnerbait and a square-0billed crankbait will do the job for it. Plus points once again wi


Winter is probably not the time to fish largemouth bass as most of them will be hiding or hibernating in their lair. When the water temperature falls into the low of 40 up to 30, you will get a hard time capturing some bass.

Their metabolism slows down, and they do not need to feed as much as they used to. Many basses will go straight to the bottom in cover or suspend over points and humps.

Bass and bass fishing remains unpredictable, but many fisherman and anglers who know the most about them can still fish them with success.

They also have the proper knowledge about where to find them and which season is best to capture them through experience.


It can be hard to catch bass until you have the proper experience, and therefore the procedure for locating where they live, feed, relax can be considered for successful catching.

This will go all the way back to the old saying that you should always think like the fish, and you will be able to understand their common behavior and be more successful in catching them.