The Green Advantage: Oxygen Attracts Bass
Fishhound 09.27.12
This blog installment was penned by Fishhound pro and Lake Guntersville guide Capt. Mike Gerry. For more stories like this, visit Fishhound.com.
Over my many years of being on the water throughout the heat of the summer and into fall, there’s a constant that occurs whenever the weather’s hot, there’s no wind and the TVA isn’t pulling any current. It’s a constant that can make a huge difference – especially for the tournament fisherman.
The constant is this: Whenever the three elements combine – hot air, no wind and no current – the greener vegetation creates oxygen and offers better fishing because it pulls the bigger fish into the area.
Bass are very predictable. If they’re active, it’s because the elements exist to make them active, and one of those elements is sufficient oxygen. The other element is the presence of baitfish. And of course baitfish will also be attracted to the greener vegetation because they need oxygen too, and because the greener vegetation will hold tiny prey items the baitfish prefer.
Most people believe that in the fall, bass will move to deeper, cooler water in the heat. While this is true – some bass will move deeper – it’s not necessarily to find cooler water. It’s because they’re searching for oxygen. Green grass creates oxygen too, so the bass will move shallow just as easily as they’ll move deep. And I’ve found that in fall they’re more apt to move shallow than deep.
Another observation: As we move more into fall, the grass will continue to die around a lake, but it’ll die from the top down. The point here is, just because the grass is turning brown on top doesn’t necessarily mean the bottom of the grass isn’t green. And if it’s green, it’s producing oxygen. Fish it and you may very well find fish other pass right by.
Capt. Mike Gerry has lived in north Alabama since the 1970s and has been fishing Lake Guntersville for over 35 years. He owns and operates Fish Lake Guntersville Guide Service and books individual, group and corporate trips. He also offers pre-tournament trips for competitive anglers. Visit FishLakeGuntersvilleGuideService.com, send him an email at bassguide@comcast.net or call (256) 759-2270. He’d love to hear from you!
