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  One of the best bass fishing tips is to play the fish. After all, once you have coaxed them into striking your lure you are halfway there but certainly not done yet. You still need to get the fish into the boat, and to do this you want to set the hook properly.
The jaws of a bass are tough so you need to make sure that your hook is not flimsy and ready to fall off. You should not tighten down on the fish and then sweep back with the rod tip as you would with lighter fish because this will only turn the head of a big bass.
A good tip here is to set the hook using the slack line technique. This will pound home the hook point hard and sharp, and if you are rigged right, the bass will practically hook itself.
  Another of the best bass fishing tips is to consider the temperature of the water. If the water is warm then there usually will not be that many bass in the water. Instead you want to head to cooler waters, where the bass will be thriving. Bass particularly love to hang out over sheltered areas where old trees that have fallen into the water have become a home for smaller fish.
One of the bass fishing tips that must be included here involves becoming more educated and informed on bass fishing in general. If you have an interest in this sport and would have to have as much success with it as possible, you really need to take advantage of what is out there and make yourself more knowledgeable.

  There are various bass fishing groups online and offline and memberships that provide training. It will definitely not hurt you to sign up with one of these organizations, and they are usually free of charge anyway which is just another benefit for you.
With these helpful bass fishing tips in mind, you should feel comfortable getting out on the water, even if it is just your first time.
As the summer wears on, the bass tend to move deeper and won’t come up shallow, even at night, in many lakes. Night fishing is productive when the bass are within the 20-foot zone. Deeper than that, many fishermen find it hard to maintain contact with the lure and to hook fish when they strike. Other places to try include:
When to Go
When the bass quit hitting during the daytime and when it becomes uncomfortably hot on the lake are good signals that it’s time to start night fishing. Night fishing is usually practiced when the water is in the mid-60s and warmer.

  Places to Fish
Where to fish at night is a question commonly asked by bass fishermen. In general, fish at night close to, but not on, the same places you caught fish earlier in the year. Bass don’t move great distances in most situations. Smallmouth bass, especially, are proven stay-at-homes. If you found good fishing in a big creek arm during the spring, move to the first available deep water and look for structure such as a rock pile, channel drop-off, weed bed,
- Points with a deep-water access.
- Shallow shorelines in natural lakes, especially close to weedbeds.
- Underwater roadbeds or other man-made structure in reservoirs.
- Gravel or rock banks where crawfish are abundant.
- Lighted boat docks.

  Lures and Tackle
In general, many fishermen use heavier tackle at night than would be effective during the daytime in clear-water lakes. It’s easier to “feel” a heavier lure at night than a light one, and it’s easier to hook and land a big fish at night using stouter equipment. Here are some lures to try:
- Hair jigs and pork rind - 3/8 ounce (smallmouths)
- Rubber jigs and pork rind - 3/8 ounce or heavier (largemouths)
- Spinnerbaits - use pork rind if desired.
- Plastic worms.
- Topwater lures, especially poppers and wobblers.
For subsurface lures, contrasting dark colors (purple spinnerbait/red pork frog, etc.) prove effective after dark. For topwaters, black is the best choice in most situations as it provides the most contrast to a fish looking upward. A constant retrieve is best for a topwater fished at night as it results in fewer missed strikes.

  Other Equipment
Many bass anglers use “black lights” and fluorescent line when night fishing. Under the illumination of the black light, fluorescent line glows like neon and makes subtle strikes easy to detect. However, other anglers avoid black lights; they’re convinced that they may spook some bass. Lures with more “feel” such as spinnerbaits can be fished easily at night with or without a black light.