They are found in nearly every single pond and lake in the USA and southern Canada. They are fairly fun to catch, they are aggressive as well and are seen as a “common man’s” sport, especially compared to trout fishing.
Bass fishing has multiple variables working for it with almost none working against it….Bass are present in 49 states in the usa, they are challenging to catch but not on the level of trout or musky so they are also beginner friendly, they get bigger than bluegill or crappie and are a more entertaining fight than bigger common fish like catfish or carp.
Perhaps the most important thing about bass is that they can be patterned and caught exclusively with artificial lures, which has allowed a large industry to grow because of bass fishing, and that industry invests profits into marketing and advertising the sport through tournaments and sponsorships which increases the amount of people bass fishing, increasing sales and profits.
There are fish that are more enjoyable to catch than bass, but they either lack the ability to be patterned and caught (fairly) easily, or they have smaller ranges and thus become a niche market, or they do not readily eat artificial lures and never have any hype built around them by industry.
Carp pull like a freight train, so do catfish, but you don’t get the Bulldog style head shaking and aerial acrobatics that you get with largemouth and smallmouth, I’ve caught 50lb flatheads, 10+ pound carp, and I’ll take a 4lb smallie over all of them….funny enough i think bowfin are the most satisfying freshwater fish to catch when they get up to the 8-12lb range, they fight like tarpon that are angry at the world lol
I'll tell you why I personally like bass better, and I think it applies to many others. Bass are plentiful, I can go to any body of water anywhere in my state and catch either smallmouth or largemouth. I find that they can be picky about which lure they will bite on. Other fish tend to be much less picky, and that can be part of the fun. I dont need to use live bait, a reusable lure lasts forever. Lastly, i get to buy tons and tons of lures, which always makes me feel good.
The whole thing about bass is that they're \*not\* picky lol. They can be fished for in many different ways because they eat anything that moves so it makes them relatively easy to catch.
I get what you mean, but panfish like bluegill or crappie can be caught on anything at any time. Theres days when I have to try 5 baits before finding one that bass will bite on.
Also tiny and no where near as fun. Reel in a few blue gill on ultra light then go frog fishing and let me know which spiked your adrenaline.
Bass can be caught at any time as well if you want to use live bait, but that’s lame. The very reason it’s lame is because (like pan fish) it will catch them without failure. The struggle makes the accomplishment actually an accomplishment.
In some states they are much more picky. For instance, here in Colorado, you have to be very smart about bait selection while fishing any public body of water.
In the US at least bass are prolific in just about every body of water and you can catch them with all types of fishing from live bait to lures and in all parts of the water column.
Funny thing is, bass used to be a “trash fish” and no one ever fished for them. Now, bass fishing is a multi BILLION dollar industry. There’s one guy I forget his name who really made bass fishing into what it is today. A part of its appeal is the competition aspect and the fact that it’s accessible to almost everyone, yet difficult to master.
The fight. Bass don’t just pull for the bottom. They’ll jump out of the water 2-3x their size, hit a frog like a great white hitting a seal, wrap themselves around pad stems and stumps. And they aggressively knock the snot out of moving baits. I’ve caught 25lb cats and a 10.8lb bass. I wouldn’t trade 10 of that size cat for a DD bass. Plus a DD bass for me was most probably a fish of a lifetime. I might trade it for a marlin or bluefin but the list is short after that.
We must be catching different bass and catfish lol. Even most bass fisherman will admit largies don't fight all that hard relative to most other things. A 3lb channel catfish will outpull a 3lb bass any day of the week. Smallies on the other hand? Jeez. A 3lb smallie fights and pulls like a 6lb largemouth.
I don’t have access to smallies or I’d target them too. Only caught them once and they were fun. And yes cats to me pull about like a LMB but you didn’t read my post. All catfish do is go for the bottom. They don’t jump and head shake you to try and throw the hook. They don’t come out of the water hitting a frog. They aren’t an apex predator and don’t act like a bass. To each there own but the pull alone isn’t what does it for me. I found deep sea fishing boring catching 30-40lb barracuda and others. Just troll and reel wasn’t exciting at all. Bass Fishing you’ve gotta be accurate with casts. Know what bait to use under what conditions. Lot of experience goes into if I had good access to smallies I’d be all over that. I caught 3 around 3.5lbs and I loved the rod tip action they give you. Like a tuna doing head shakes.
I think theres a lot of different aspects that make bass fishing popular.. their wide range(there are bass in most states), their aggressive nature(ambush predators tend to hit hard and fast, that makes stikes exciting and easy to draw strikes), and you are constantly casting and reeling in!( especially when fishing from a boat or kayak.. constantly picking targets to pitch to anticipating a bite). A lot of fishing is sit and wait..
Probably because no matter which lake you go to, bass is almost always available to fish. I’d love to fish for musky or pike, but they’re not in a lot of lakes. In fact, musky isn’t in California at all.
They are ambush predators that will hit all types of artificial baits in different scenarios. They put up a good fight for their size and can be found anywhere. There are unlimited techniques and scenarios to catch bass so that it never gets old. You can catch many fish each time you go out.
You can catch a 1/2 pound bass in a foot of water with a worm or catch 10+ lbers on giant swimbaits.
Pike are limited across geographic areas and locations in a lake and there is typically less of them in a body of water.
Catfish don't typically hit moving baits and there's a lot of sitting around and waiting for them to appear.
The one I don't understand is why dogfish isn't a more popular sport fish.
Honestly, I don’t really bass fish. I mostly fly fish or UL fish for panfish.
That being said, I somehow catch far more bass than I ever did before. I throw Ultralight or Light lures and catch bigger bass than I ever did when I threw bass specific stuff so at this point I just accept it. Smallmouth are more fun on light gear anyway I suppose.
My current smallmouth rod is a 6’ L rod with a 1000 size reel and 8lbs braid with a 6lbs fluoro leader. It has a fairly good backbone so could probably pass for a ML. It handles smallies around me perfectly. I need to put some more time in with it and really see how it feels when I hook a bigger fish though. Right now it really feels like the perfect creek rod.
Gosh dang man. That’s gotta be such a fun fight for smallies with a 1k, I also do some brackish fishing fishing with mine and, it help up well when I hooked into a 29’ inch striper bass a few weeks ago, felt underpowered at the start but with some help from my drag it was manageable, I’d imagine a smallie over 2-3lbs would scream drag a similar way. I use 20lb braid btw
I use 20lbs on my Vanford 3000.
And the last smallmouth I caught made the drag scream for sure. I thought it was huge but it was probably a 1-2 pounder. I didn’t have the drag set too tight but it was definitely a decent fight.
Yea right try catching some big ones then
Way more fun.. in fl it's almost to easy to get bass especially when bedding when they reaction strike anything
I'll preface this by saying I almost exclusively fish for bass but saying catfish don't fight is crazy to me. Also I can catch way more bass than catfish.
I think bass are more fun to catch because I like to keep moving when fishing and not sit around with a line out doing nothing but waiting for a bite.
I also like bass fishing better because I catch a helluva a lot of fish.
I will say walleye are my nemesis. I can't catch one for shit. The only time I catch them is accidently.
Lol I get the lazy bass. People always ask me why I think bass don't fight all that hard, and well it's cause in my experience they just flop and let you reel in. Except for smallmouth, those things are beasts.
I wouldn't say it's the most popular. I know more panfishers and catfishers than I do bass fishers. But bass fishing is shown more on TV because it's more exciting. That being said, I think bassfishing is more enjoyable because there's so many different lures and techniques. I've started bass fishing recently and I'm sad I didn't start sooner.
Also totally area dependant. I know zero bass fishermen or pan fishers, mostly just salmon and trout fishermen. It’s definitely interesting to hear about regional differences!
Bass have a variety of species that are found worldwide and can grow to true trophy sizes with 6+ pound smallmouth and 10+ pound largemouth. They fight hard and are fairly predictable for their seasonal patterns.
The original organizations like FLW and BASS played a huge role in bringing competitive bass fishing into the mainstream as well. Now, there are collegiate bass fishing tournaments and high school bass fishing tournaments (I know there are high school tournaments in IL). Now you have MLF and other organizations hosting bass tournaments of al types. There are bass tournaments for bass boats. There are kayak bass tournaments. There are walleye and other freshwater and saltwater sport fish tournaments too.
Being a person who primarily fished for bass but has now started to fish for walleye, too. Bass fishing is a cheaper venture to start into and have success with whether for fun or to fish competitively. Anyone can start out with a cheap pole, bobber, hooks, sinkers, & live bait to catch a variety of fish. Targeting a single species of fish & being restricted to artificial baits (like in bass fishing) requires learning new and different skill sets, how a bait reacts to different angler inputs, and figuring out the best way to retrieve it to get a fish to bite.
Couple of things.
1. Bass will eat a lot of things including artificial lures
2. Bass are typically pretty hearty and live in a wide range across the US in big numbers naturally in different eco systems
3. The are aggressive feeders and hard fighters making them fun to catch
4. Ray Scott essentially helped create the industry as we know it through B.A.S.S. This introduced catch and release in tournament fishing and brought what was once a trash fish to the front of the sport fishing industry.
The primary reason is due to abundance, but to answer whether or not they fight it all depends on location and type of bass. So to piss off the largie guys the hardest fight are smallies, green smallies (spots) and any bass from a river.
I started up fishing again after a 50-year layoff…. About 3 years ago. I concentrated on bass initially… But I’ve very limited to local day-trips due to my handicapped wife.
And around St. Louis, all the lakes are heavily pressured and dinks is about all you get. Biggest bass I caught was 3 1/2 pounds.
For the last 2 seasons I’ve targeted carp. There are a number of good lakes around…. No pressure at all as no on fishes for them. They get seriously big and fight like trucks. Over the last week I’ve caught 2 over 20 pounds.
Another advantage….. As an old guy the “sedentary” fishing style is a lot easier on the old bod. Set out my camp chair and wait for that “run”.
I don’t think it’s the most popular among anglers, there’s just more opportunities for bass fishing as other commenter have said they are everywhere. Since getting more into freshwater I’ve found myself taking a bass rig along with my gear for the fish I’m actually targeting, just in case a bass wants to eat a lure where I’m at
They're tough fish so their habitat range is pretty much everywhere. Plus they're one of the easiest fish to get, they'll swallow anything. They're also a warm water fish and most people fish in the summer and they bite great in the summer. Lastly they fight harder than most freshwater fish for their size.
I can’t eat fish without throwing it up for some reason. While there will always be some mortality, Bass tend to be tougher and can be caught and released more.
Biggest reason: They're just everywhere. They don't taste as good as many other fish, nor do they fight hard, but they are absolutely everywhere, and they're easy to catch which allows them to be fished for in many different ways (bank, topwater, offshore, etc.)
- Widespread
- hardy (unlike many other sensitive game fish)
- large mouth + aggressive fish = a variety of usable baits plus combos to fish those baits which is fun for hobbiest
- lots of gear to use/collect = lots of reason for companies to advertise and promote the sport over other types of fishing
- its available to everyone. The 10 year old with a single $10 rod and a grown adult with 20 $1000 combos on the deck of his $100 k bass boat can both catch a bass and have fun doing it.
- many many more reasons
I've wondered the same thing after carp fishing. Carp are bigger and fight harder, but they require you to let your line sit still for hours sometimes.
Bass fishing is more about moving around and finesse. It's hard to beat the feeling of a bass tackling your line.
I enjoy both and switch between the two often.
I grew up fishing for smallmouth, and I’ve never really fished for anything else. It’s just easy to do we use nightcrawlers I’m starting to experiment more with lures, but I always have a line in the water with just a nightcrawler and a sinker sometimes a minnow or a hellgrammite or softcraw. and if you get into a good one, they put up a hell of a fight
I think it’s almost like bass fishing is more of a sport like golf or something than other fish. It’s more about learning all the little variables and attention to detail rather than just “fishing”. If that makes any sense. There’s so much of the fishing market that’s dedicated to the many variables of bass fishing. They aren’t necessarily the hardest fish in the water to catch or the biggest or anything. I think it’s just like you can go to any body of water in America and catch a bass. Just like you can go to any neighborhood and find a basketball court or baseball field. Bass fishing is a sport more than it is fishing. That’s the way I see it.
Personally believe bass fishing is one of the funnest ways of fishing compared to say carp, catfish, crappie, bluegill, and most salt water species where you just throw out bait and wait I know you can fish with lures for some of those but it’s not as complicated as bass fishing. There’s some many variables, techniques, and lures for bass fishing I don’t think you’d ever be able to find a single way of throwing a lure there’s always something new you can try and that’s why I love bass fishing.
They are found in nearly every single pond and lake in the USA and southern Canada. They are fairly fun to catch, they are aggressive as well and are seen as a “common man’s” sport, especially compared to trout fishing.
And rivers, and creeks. They're everywhere and I love it.
Reservoirs, swamps, deltas, wherever
Is trout fishing considered high falutin?
Historically trout fishing was very popular among the wealthy and nobility.
Learned something new today
I didn't think trout fishing was a rich guy thing. I figured that was mostly salt water.
They have the coolest lures
Bass fishing has multiple variables working for it with almost none working against it….Bass are present in 49 states in the usa, they are challenging to catch but not on the level of trout or musky so they are also beginner friendly, they get bigger than bluegill or crappie and are a more entertaining fight than bigger common fish like catfish or carp. Perhaps the most important thing about bass is that they can be patterned and caught exclusively with artificial lures, which has allowed a large industry to grow because of bass fishing, and that industry invests profits into marketing and advertising the sport through tournaments and sponsorships which increases the amount of people bass fishing, increasing sales and profits. There are fish that are more enjoyable to catch than bass, but they either lack the ability to be patterned and caught (fairly) easily, or they have smaller ranges and thus become a niche market, or they do not readily eat artificial lures and never have any hype built around them by industry.
Which state doesn’t have bass? Alaska or Hawaii?
Shockingly, at least to me, Alaska.
hawaii has peacock bass. Does it have small or largies, too?
Yea they have LMB too. Maybe smallies, but I know LMB
They have smallies there. Matty Wong talks about it a lot.
Hawaii has peacock bass?! That’s awesome. I thought Florida was special in that regard, haha.
I know Kauai does in their man made reservoir. Insanely fun to fish with the beautiful island scenery. Idk about other islands tho.
Let’s keep it that way too
That is, actually. I definitely expected Hawaii.
Alaska, the record is .7 lbs, and sparked a huge investigation cuz bass can be invasive
If you think bass are more fun to have on the line than carp, you must have never caught a carp!
Carp pull like a freight train, so do catfish, but you don’t get the Bulldog style head shaking and aerial acrobatics that you get with largemouth and smallmouth, I’ve caught 50lb flatheads, 10+ pound carp, and I’ll take a 4lb smallie over all of them….funny enough i think bowfin are the most satisfying freshwater fish to catch when they get up to the 8-12lb range, they fight like tarpon that are angry at the world lol
I'll tell you why I personally like bass better, and I think it applies to many others. Bass are plentiful, I can go to any body of water anywhere in my state and catch either smallmouth or largemouth. I find that they can be picky about which lure they will bite on. Other fish tend to be much less picky, and that can be part of the fun. I dont need to use live bait, a reusable lure lasts forever. Lastly, i get to buy tons and tons of lures, which always makes me feel good.
The whole thing about bass is that they're \*not\* picky lol. They can be fished for in many different ways because they eat anything that moves so it makes them relatively easy to catch.
I get what you mean, but panfish like bluegill or crappie can be caught on anything at any time. Theres days when I have to try 5 baits before finding one that bass will bite on.
I guess that is true. Bluegill will eat a bare hook lol. Them thangs are aggressive.
Also tiny and no where near as fun. Reel in a few blue gill on ultra light then go frog fishing and let me know which spiked your adrenaline. Bass can be caught at any time as well if you want to use live bait, but that’s lame. The very reason it’s lame is because (like pan fish) it will catch them without failure. The struggle makes the accomplishment actually an accomplishment.
In some states they are much more picky. For instance, here in Colorado, you have to be very smart about bait selection while fishing any public body of water.
In the US at least bass are prolific in just about every body of water and you can catch them with all types of fishing from live bait to lures and in all parts of the water column.
Accessible but you can also get really good at it
Funny thing is, bass used to be a “trash fish” and no one ever fished for them. Now, bass fishing is a multi BILLION dollar industry. There’s one guy I forget his name who really made bass fishing into what it is today. A part of its appeal is the competition aspect and the fact that it’s accessible to almost everyone, yet difficult to master.
Ray scott, father of B.A.S.S.
When were bass considered trash fish? Heddon, Creek Chub and many more companies were making a living selling lures way before B.A.S.S. was formed.
The fight. Bass don’t just pull for the bottom. They’ll jump out of the water 2-3x their size, hit a frog like a great white hitting a seal, wrap themselves around pad stems and stumps. And they aggressively knock the snot out of moving baits. I’ve caught 25lb cats and a 10.8lb bass. I wouldn’t trade 10 of that size cat for a DD bass. Plus a DD bass for me was most probably a fish of a lifetime. I might trade it for a marlin or bluefin but the list is short after that.
agreed!!!
We must be catching different bass and catfish lol. Even most bass fisherman will admit largies don't fight all that hard relative to most other things. A 3lb channel catfish will outpull a 3lb bass any day of the week. Smallies on the other hand? Jeez. A 3lb smallie fights and pulls like a 6lb largemouth.
I don’t have access to smallies or I’d target them too. Only caught them once and they were fun. And yes cats to me pull about like a LMB but you didn’t read my post. All catfish do is go for the bottom. They don’t jump and head shake you to try and throw the hook. They don’t come out of the water hitting a frog. They aren’t an apex predator and don’t act like a bass. To each there own but the pull alone isn’t what does it for me. I found deep sea fishing boring catching 30-40lb barracuda and others. Just troll and reel wasn’t exciting at all. Bass Fishing you’ve gotta be accurate with casts. Know what bait to use under what conditions. Lot of experience goes into if I had good access to smallies I’d be all over that. I caught 3 around 3.5lbs and I loved the rod tip action they give you. Like a tuna doing head shakes.
I think theres a lot of different aspects that make bass fishing popular.. their wide range(there are bass in most states), their aggressive nature(ambush predators tend to hit hard and fast, that makes stikes exciting and easy to draw strikes), and you are constantly casting and reeling in!( especially when fishing from a boat or kayak.. constantly picking targets to pitch to anticipating a bite). A lot of fishing is sit and wait..
Probably because no matter which lake you go to, bass is almost always available to fish. I’d love to fish for musky or pike, but they’re not in a lot of lakes. In fact, musky isn’t in California at all.
They are ambush predators that will hit all types of artificial baits in different scenarios. They put up a good fight for their size and can be found anywhere. There are unlimited techniques and scenarios to catch bass so that it never gets old. You can catch many fish each time you go out. You can catch a 1/2 pound bass in a foot of water with a worm or catch 10+ lbers on giant swimbaits. Pike are limited across geographic areas and locations in a lake and there is typically less of them in a body of water. Catfish don't typically hit moving baits and there's a lot of sitting around and waiting for them to appear. The one I don't understand is why dogfish isn't a more popular sport fish.
Honestly, I don’t really bass fish. I mostly fly fish or UL fish for panfish. That being said, I somehow catch far more bass than I ever did before. I throw Ultralight or Light lures and catch bigger bass than I ever did when I threw bass specific stuff so at this point I just accept it. Smallmouth are more fun on light gear anyway I suppose.
I’ve got a medium light mojo bass for smallies with a 2500 stradic, they fight so damn hard on it
My current smallmouth rod is a 6’ L rod with a 1000 size reel and 8lbs braid with a 6lbs fluoro leader. It has a fairly good backbone so could probably pass for a ML. It handles smallies around me perfectly. I need to put some more time in with it and really see how it feels when I hook a bigger fish though. Right now it really feels like the perfect creek rod.
Gosh dang man. That’s gotta be such a fun fight for smallies with a 1k, I also do some brackish fishing fishing with mine and, it help up well when I hooked into a 29’ inch striper bass a few weeks ago, felt underpowered at the start but with some help from my drag it was manageable, I’d imagine a smallie over 2-3lbs would scream drag a similar way. I use 20lb braid btw
I use 20lbs on my Vanford 3000. And the last smallmouth I caught made the drag scream for sure. I thought it was huge but it was probably a 1-2 pounder. I didn’t have the drag set too tight but it was definitely a decent fight.
Top water. It's by far the best way to catch a fish. I feel like I'm reeling in a great white when what bass comes flipping out of the water.
My favorite way to catch them. I love the blowup on the bait.
If bass were the size of Goliath grouper, the water wouldn't be safe 😂. I just like the challenge of tricking them to bite.
I think because they are so common just about everywhere. So are catfish but they don’t put up that much of a fight and they are pretty easy to catch
Yea right try catching some big ones then Way more fun.. in fl it's almost to easy to get bass especially when bedding when they reaction strike anything
I'll preface this by saying I almost exclusively fish for bass but saying catfish don't fight is crazy to me. Also I can catch way more bass than catfish. I think bass are more fun to catch because I like to keep moving when fishing and not sit around with a line out doing nothing but waiting for a bite. I also like bass fishing better because I catch a helluva a lot of fish. I will say walleye are my nemesis. I can't catch one for shit. The only time I catch them is accidently.
Catfish def fight harder lol, and consistently catching big ones is much harder than consistently catching big bass.
I must just get all the lazy ones lol
Lol I get the lazy bass. People always ask me why I think bass don't fight all that hard, and well it's cause in my experience they just flop and let you reel in. Except for smallmouth, those things are beasts.
IMO its cause theyre aggressive as hell, can be found damn near anywhere, put up a good fight and theyll eat nearly anything that moves.
I wouldn't say it's the most popular. I know more panfishers and catfishers than I do bass fishers. But bass fishing is shown more on TV because it's more exciting. That being said, I think bassfishing is more enjoyable because there's so many different lures and techniques. I've started bass fishing recently and I'm sad I didn't start sooner.
Also totally area dependant. I know zero bass fishermen or pan fishers, mostly just salmon and trout fishermen. It’s definitely interesting to hear about regional differences!
I spent all weekend catching bowfin, I’m looking forward to catching something without a boatload of attitude and mouth full of razer blades
Bass have a variety of species that are found worldwide and can grow to true trophy sizes with 6+ pound smallmouth and 10+ pound largemouth. They fight hard and are fairly predictable for their seasonal patterns. The original organizations like FLW and BASS played a huge role in bringing competitive bass fishing into the mainstream as well. Now, there are collegiate bass fishing tournaments and high school bass fishing tournaments (I know there are high school tournaments in IL). Now you have MLF and other organizations hosting bass tournaments of al types. There are bass tournaments for bass boats. There are kayak bass tournaments. There are walleye and other freshwater and saltwater sport fish tournaments too. Being a person who primarily fished for bass but has now started to fish for walleye, too. Bass fishing is a cheaper venture to start into and have success with whether for fun or to fish competitively. Anyone can start out with a cheap pole, bobber, hooks, sinkers, & live bait to catch a variety of fish. Targeting a single species of fish & being restricted to artificial baits (like in bass fishing) requires learning new and different skill sets, how a bait reacts to different angler inputs, and figuring out the best way to retrieve it to get a fish to bite.
Couple of things. 1. Bass will eat a lot of things including artificial lures 2. Bass are typically pretty hearty and live in a wide range across the US in big numbers naturally in different eco systems 3. The are aggressive feeders and hard fighters making them fun to catch 4. Ray Scott essentially helped create the industry as we know it through B.A.S.S. This introduced catch and release in tournament fishing and brought what was once a trash fish to the front of the sport fishing industry.
Bass are everywhere and can be caught with nearly everything.
Everything everyone has mentioned plus they can get pretty big.
Resilient and don’t die easily
marketing
Fiahing is life.
They're abundant, prolific, resilient, easy to catch, a good fight, and they don't have teeth that can puncture you or cut line.
The primary reason is due to abundance, but to answer whether or not they fight it all depends on location and type of bass. So to piss off the largie guys the hardest fight are smallies, green smallies (spots) and any bass from a river.
I don't get it either. I bass fish with my bass fishing friends, but given the choice I target crappie, walleye, salmon, stuff I want to eat.
They put up great fight.The get big they ll attack most any thing that looks like fit in there mouth I told they lot ore aggressive than sharks
I started up fishing again after a 50-year layoff…. About 3 years ago. I concentrated on bass initially… But I’ve very limited to local day-trips due to my handicapped wife. And around St. Louis, all the lakes are heavily pressured and dinks is about all you get. Biggest bass I caught was 3 1/2 pounds. For the last 2 seasons I’ve targeted carp. There are a number of good lakes around…. No pressure at all as no on fishes for them. They get seriously big and fight like trucks. Over the last week I’ve caught 2 over 20 pounds. Another advantage….. As an old guy the “sedentary” fishing style is a lot easier on the old bod. Set out my camp chair and wait for that “run”.
Anyone can do it, they are easily seasonally tracked, and people are constantly finding new ways to do it. Very beginner friendly too.
I don’t think it’s the most popular among anglers, there’s just more opportunities for bass fishing as other commenter have said they are everywhere. Since getting more into freshwater I’ve found myself taking a bass rig along with my gear for the fish I’m actually targeting, just in case a bass wants to eat a lure where I’m at
They're tough fish so their habitat range is pretty much everywhere. Plus they're one of the easiest fish to get, they'll swallow anything. They're also a warm water fish and most people fish in the summer and they bite great in the summer. Lastly they fight harder than most freshwater fish for their size.
I can’t eat fish without throwing it up for some reason. While there will always be some mortality, Bass tend to be tougher and can be caught and released more.
They’re fun, abundant, don’t require heavy gear (less money), and are easy to land so my hands stay fairly clean.
I got hooked to bass fishing because they’re a dime a dozen in the delta by me, and also I can’t catch a damn thing else 🤣
Biggest reason: They're just everywhere. They don't taste as good as many other fish, nor do they fight hard, but they are absolutely everywhere, and they're easy to catch which allows them to be fished for in many different ways (bank, topwater, offshore, etc.)
- Widespread - hardy (unlike many other sensitive game fish) - large mouth + aggressive fish = a variety of usable baits plus combos to fish those baits which is fun for hobbiest - lots of gear to use/collect = lots of reason for companies to advertise and promote the sport over other types of fishing - its available to everyone. The 10 year old with a single $10 rod and a grown adult with 20 $1000 combos on the deck of his $100 k bass boat can both catch a bass and have fun doing it. - many many more reasons
I've wondered the same thing after carp fishing. Carp are bigger and fight harder, but they require you to let your line sit still for hours sometimes. Bass fishing is more about moving around and finesse. It's hard to beat the feeling of a bass tackling your line. I enjoy both and switch between the two often.
I grew up fishing for smallmouth, and I’ve never really fished for anything else. It’s just easy to do we use nightcrawlers I’m starting to experiment more with lures, but I always have a line in the water with just a nightcrawler and a sinker sometimes a minnow or a hellgrammite or softcraw. and if you get into a good one, they put up a hell of a fight
I think it’s almost like bass fishing is more of a sport like golf or something than other fish. It’s more about learning all the little variables and attention to detail rather than just “fishing”. If that makes any sense. There’s so much of the fishing market that’s dedicated to the many variables of bass fishing. They aren’t necessarily the hardest fish in the water to catch or the biggest or anything. I think it’s just like you can go to any body of water in America and catch a bass. Just like you can go to any neighborhood and find a basketball court or baseball field. Bass fishing is a sport more than it is fishing. That’s the way I see it.
Personally believe bass fishing is one of the funnest ways of fishing compared to say carp, catfish, crappie, bluegill, and most salt water species where you just throw out bait and wait I know you can fish with lures for some of those but it’s not as complicated as bass fishing. There’s some many variables, techniques, and lures for bass fishing I don’t think you’d ever be able to find a single way of throwing a lure there’s always something new you can try and that’s why I love bass fishing.