The Starting Spot: The Mayfly Pattern, FFS Crash Course, and a Whopper Plopper Deep Dive

The Starting Spot Daily Bass Fishing Headlines are the perfect way to start your day with some of the top bass fishing articles on the internet. It’s the quick, informative, how, where, and who you need to know. So, rub the sleep from your eyes, pour that first cup of the day, and head to your Starting Spot.

Today on The Starting Spot: The Mayfly Pattern, FFS Crash Course, and a Whopper Plopper Deep Dive. | Photo by Kurt Mazurek

In this edition of The Starting Spot:

-If you’ve ever been around a lake during a mayfly hatch you can imagine just how big of an impact a natural event like that can have on an ecosystem. The sudden appearance of millions of mayflies rings the dinner bell for lots of species, including bass.

-Although it seems like there is no other topic in bass fishing besides forward-facing sonar, the reality is most anglers really don’t know exactly how it works or how to use it to catch more bass. Here’s a video that will get you up to speed quick.

-The Whopper Plopper is one of my favorite topwater to throw in the summer. For some reason the strikes are explosive as it gets. Bass literally attack a plopper. This article includes a bunch of great tips to get in on the fun.

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Make it happen with late mayflies

by David A. Brown

In a story on Bassmaster.com: It’s one of the most dependable patterns in bass fishing, but don’t let the name fool you — mayfly action extends well past the year’s fifth month. In fact, parts of U.S. often finds this brief, but intense forage opportunity occurring as late as August or September.

Mayflies have no mouths because they don’t live long enough to feed. However, plenty of creatures with pretty big mouths are drawn to the annual mayfly hatches — some to consume these insects; others to eat the panfish trying to eat the mayflies. In any case, understanding the mayfly cycle and the baits/tactics that appeal to bass during this time can deliver fast and furious action…MORE.

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Bass Crash Course: How to Use Forward-Facing Sonar

by Shane Beilue

From a video on GameAndFishMag.com: Forward-facing sonar has enabled fishermen to more effectively target populations of bass holding in deeper offshore water. In this episode of “Crash Course,” host Shane Beilue discusses how to use FFS to put more of these fish in the boat…MORE.

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Hot weather and Whopper-Ploppers

by Bill Cooper

According to a story on ThreeRiversPublishing.com: Every bass fisherman is familiar with the Whopper Plopper. It’s a top water bass fishing bait the hit the market a decade or so ago. They have been responsible for the undoing of a lot of big largemouth bass.

You’re probably familiar with River2Sea’s Whopper Plopper, the cigar-shaped topwater bait that features a spinning tail. Chances are, there are a few in your tackle, but you’ve probably fished them sparingly, if at all if you’re a heavy user of forward-facing sonar, which has blinded anglers to many techniques. That’s a mistake.…MORE.

Thanks for starting your day with Fishing On SI. Lines in!