Big Bass Zone [Paperback]

Bill Simental (Author), Larry Jones (Author), Michael Jones (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: February 2005

The Big Bass Zone provides the fresh ideas you need to you shift your focus from just catching fish to catching the big ones. The authors draw on years of practical experience to break the mold of traditional bass fishing. Instead of relying on the conventional wisdom of fishermen, the authors discard the baggage of traditional bass fishing and look for answers from the fish themselves.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Big Bass Zone is nothing less than a trophy bass fishing manifesto--a sweeping away of the old way of doing things and the establishment of new rules of conduct. Skillfully reported by former "Bassmaster" senior editor Michael Jones, the book distills the wisdom of prodigiously successful California big-bass chaser Bill Siemantel. It asks the reader to jettison just about everything they know about catching regulation-size bass and get in a new zone of thinking. Here you'll start to see big bass as almost a separate species, big enough to stake out prime territory no matter the season or weather condition; big enough to range without fear up and down the water column; big enough that it takes the nutritional promise of a really substantial meal (and, by implication, a really substantial lure) to stir them into action. The book begins with chapters meant to strip away standard bass fishing practice, the tone of which is nicely encapsulated by the summary chapter: Ten Reasons You Probably Won't Catch a Really Big Bass. Incrementally, the book then arms you with the tools to refute that statement: new ideas about location; confidence in big baits and big bait tackle; the discipline to make single casts to promising water then move on to the next spot in a "milkround." The presentation of the book matches the high standard of the thought and reporting. Chris Armstrong provides clear and evocative illustrations, there are actual-size photos of the key lures and a generous look into Siemantel's trophy fishing album. -- Author: Craig Buddo, May 2007

The Big Bass Zone book by Michael Jones and Bill Siemantel forces readers to completely rethink their approach to catching trophy-class bass. Think catching big fish is luck? Think big fish are loners? Think you can't pattern them and catch them with regularity? Think again. Some novice anglers surely won't get it, but Siemantel and Jones have taken much of the luck out of it and devised a methodical, tactical approach that anyone can adopt. The uncharacteristic formula - which goes against the grain of what we think and believe - seems unorthodox at first. That's what makes this book special - it's the best solid, proven information on catching big bass that we've seen in decades. -- Terry Brown, BassFan.com

The authors draw on years of practical experience to break the mold of traditional bass fishing, showcasing new lures and exploring new techniques to catch the big one. -- Bill Takacs, Indiana Outdoor News, February 2008

This 264-page book provides innovative, fresh ideas to shift your focus from just catching bass to catching really big "hawgs." Big bass gurus, Michael Jones and Bill Siemantel, draw on years of practical experience to break the mold of traditional bass fishing, showcase new lures and explore new techniques to catch the big one wherever bass giants lurk. -- Al Rostello, News Tribune, August 19, 2005

About the Author

Bill Siemantel has spent the last 25 years trying to unlock the secrets of how to catch the biggest bass that swim. With over 300 bass exceeding 10 pounds, 41 over 13 pounds and 12 over 15 pounds - many caught on his own lure designs - he is a perennial tournament winner.

Michael Jones, a professional journalist with nearly 20 years devoted exclusively to bass fishing - many years as a senior writer for Bassmaster and contributor to Outdoor Life - has been at the evolutionary forefront of the sport. Jones pioneered finesse bass fishing techniques and chronicled these tactics in his book, The Complete Guide to Finesse Bass Fishing.

Product Details

• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Stoeger Publishing Company (February 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0883173131
• ISBN-13: 978-0883173138
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #836,084 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars One Man's Lifetime of Learning By Doing, December 26, 2006

By 

C. Metcalf - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Big Bass Zone (Paperback)

This book is an attempt to communicate the accumulated knowledge of a fisherman, who apparently has been extremely successful at catching very big largemouth bass in California. The guidelines for specifically targeting these fish probably will help others trying to capture just a fraction of Bill Siemantel's success.

Probably the most enjoyable feature of the book is the pictures of the author with numerous enormous fish. These pictures really get the imagination going, which is certainly something a book like this should do. The book outlines the techniques and tactics he uses. The technique that comes most easily to mind is the use of big baits (of which there are 3 categories). The most prominent tactic is his one-cast presentation. I did find some of his discussion of thinking in terms of ambush opportunities instead of highways to deep water to be helpful.

Unfortunately, the book has many troubling issues. This is really a book that would benefit from a heavy-handed editing. The most prominent issue is in essence a lack of structure which leads to a lack of substance. This comes to fruition in having 2 pages that admonish you to think outside of the box for every 1 page that tells you how to catch big fish. The book does not seem to me to follow a logical development, it seemed more like randomly changing from one topic to another, which I really did not like. Even worse, the book's advice is semi-contradictory telling you not to "backslide" into old fishing patterns then at other times telling you to do exactly that.

For example the following is on page 43, "The purpose of this book is to expand your knowledge, open your mind to new ideas, and progressively turn this learning curve into bigger bass." This introductory sentence should be on page 1, but forty three pages into the book, one is still having to deal with vague generalities.

A second issue is that despite his reassurances otherwise, he offers no proof (not even anecdotal) that these techniques will work in locations other than California. To make this issue more concrete, one only need notice that most of the big baits (other than the tube) look like rainbow trout, which are not on the menu for bass in many places.

In many cases, I found his descriptions of how to actually proceed too vague. I think his descriptions of designing a "milk run" is a case in point. On page 73, he tells the reader to create a point system by "simply assigning a number value to each location." Unforunately, I find this direction to be tautological since the definition of a point system is giving a number value so essentially he is saying create a point system by creating a point system. This is not a lot of help. In addition, this does not seem so simple an act. Unfortunately, he refers to this point system you've created for the rest of the book. Yes, life would be easier if I could just list all the areas that hold large bass as a starting point.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Useless drivel, January 6, 2006

By 

Mike Bass (ny) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Big Bass Zone (Paperback)

When this book came out I eagerly bought it. I owned Michael Jones' book on finesse fishing and anticipated this would be an excellent book too. That was not the case. I am sure Bill Siemantel is an excellent bass fisherman but he divulges nothing in this book. It is 280+ pages of rephrasing the same phrase - keep your mind open do different things. But he never describes in detail his methods of fishing a swim bait or what to look for in a good swim bait or how he modifies his swim baits or even what manufacturers make good swim baits. There is very little useful information in this book. Save your money.

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Information- changed my whole point of view, January 30, 2006

By 

E. Falck (Washington, D.C.) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Big Bass Zone (Paperback)

This book is great. I now know why my old techniques were only catching average sized bass. The theories and techniques are right on the money. The ideas and fishing techniques in this book made an immediate improvement. I would recommend this book for anybody who is tired of catching small average size bass and really wants to step up to catching lunker size fish.