Yellow Bass: Ultimate Species Guide

The bass family expands well beyond the largemouth and smallmouth bass that most anglers think about. You have white bass, hybrid bass, striped bass, peacock bass, and even a bunch of “bass” varieties that aren’t technically bass at all.

However, the humble yellow bass doesn’t get much attention.

These smaller bass put up a great fight, they’re fun to catch, and they should be on every angler’s list of targets regularly.

Today, we’re going to go over what they are, how to identify them, where they are, and a bunch of strategic information to help you add yellow bass to your list of caught species.

How to Identify Yellow Bass

Yellow bass are some of the easiest bass to identify, and their name says it all. They’re yellow. At least, around their belly and lateral line, they are. They have lines that are darkish green and black with the top of their body being darker in color.

Other than that, it has the same general appearance as a white bass. It’s relatively stocky, features, particularly spiny fins, and its mouth is smaller than that of other bass species.

There aren’t many fish you can confuse it with. Especially if you know what white bass are and their general appearance.

In a more technical sense, they have fewer rays than a white bass, but the color difference is such a dead giveaway that you don’t have to count their rays.

Where are Yellow Bass Located?

Yellow bass are mostly found around the center of the country. They thrive in the Mississippi River, and they tend to branch off into lakes and ponds around the Mississippi River.

Considering the muddy Mississippi’s massive length and centralized location, this means that most people around the middle of the United States can find it within a reasonable driving distance.

However, if you’re not near the Mississippi, two other locations have yellow bass.

Eastern Texas has a sizeable yellow bass population, and many anglers find them in northern Georgia with relative ease. Unfortunately, they’re not found further east or west than that, and the northern states away from the Mississippi River don’t have them, either.

Preferred Water for Yellow Bass

Yellow bass differentiates from largemouth and other popular bass species because they’re not all over every lake they’re in. They typically like to stay in the deeper parts of a lake or river, and they can frequently be found in the same areas where you’d find crappie and other deep-water fish.

The exception to this is when they’re spawning. Like other bass species, yellow bass spawn on flats in the shallow parts of the water.

That’s both a blessing and a curse to some extent. If you don’t know when these fish are spawning, you can end up scrounging around in the depths of the lake while they’re nowhere to be found. You’ll probably catch a nice crappie if you’re using smaller lures, though. You also miss a great opportunity for some fast bass action, and we all hate it when that happens.

However, if you can pick up on the right spawn period, you can end up with back-to-back catches fairly easily in shallow water.

What Temperatures Are Yellow Bass Most Active in? 

Yellow bass enjoys an optimal temperature range that’s extremely similar to largemouth. The lowest they tend to be really active in is 60-degree water, and the hottest the water can get before they retreat to cooler parts of the column is 80 degrees. This is only slightly different than largemouth which can often withstand extremes about 10 degrees colder or hotter.

Since it’s such a similar temperature range, you can expect to catch yellow bass on the same types of days as you would largemouth. The main difference will be the depth you’re usually fishing at. 

What Lures Are Best for Yellow Bass?

These bass are much smaller than other bass, and we’ll talk about that shortly, but because of their smaller stature, you’re not going to be using a lot of your normal bass baits.

A big spinnerbait is simply not going to fit in their mouths, a long 8-inch worm is a bigger meal than they’ll target, and even a lot of larger jerks, cranks, and swimbaits are too much.

Instead, you’re going to want to think smaller.

Flies are a fun way to catch them when they are in shallow water. So, if you love fly fishing and get to the lake at the right time, you’re in for a treat.

Small swimbaits that mimic minnows are great choices. You can use them to dive deep, skim the shallows, pull them fast or slow, and use a variety of retrieval patterns.

Smaller jigs are also great choices. Since you’ll be fishing deeper in the column, a football jig is recommended to roll right over rocks and keep the action moving instead of dealing with snags on lake-bottom sticks and stones. You can experiment with different colors, but your normal greens, browns, reds, and other jig skirt colors are great. The primary concern is making sure the jig is small enough for the bass to eat.

Finally, lures that mimic smaller bugs are great. Crappie tubes, small cricket lures, and even small u-tail grubs often used by ultra-light anglers are all great choices to target yellow bass.

What Rod and Reel Combo Should You Use for Yellow Bass?

Since these bass are smaller, you’re not going to want to target them with the heavy rods that many bass anglers have started using in recent years. You’ll go to set the hook and rip them right out of the water, and even if they stay in, you won’t get a good fight. It’s unsportsmanlike.

Instead, you should consider an ultralight rod or light rod if you’re specifically targeting yellow bass. A light-medium rod can be a good choice if you’re targeting multiple species, but medium rods and above tend to start overpowering the fish.

Considering how small the lures are, you’ll want to opt for a spinning reel and a lighter line. This will help with casting those smaller lures, and you don’t need much power to pull these guys in. They’re not quite as small as bluegill, but they’re still not heavyweights.

How Big Are Yellow Bass?

Yellow bass are not big fish. You’ve probably picked up on that by our gear recommendations. They tend to be between 10 and 14 inches long, and you’ll usually only catch them at around one or two pounds.

That doesn’t mean they’re not fun to catch, though. They’re pint-sized dynamos that put up just as much fight as their larger cousins. You just have to use the right equipment to let them shine and test your skills in a fair and sportsmanlike manner.

Strategies for Catching Yellow Bass 

Yellow bass isn’t overly difficult to catch if you’re fishing in the right area. However, just like any new fish, you need to know what to do in the first place. 

Once you’re geared up with the items we told you about earlier and at a spot that has them, try using some of the following strategies.

1: Look for Beds on the Flats

If it’s the spawn, the only thing you should be doing is looking for beds. You’re not going to find them anywhere else.

The beds will be exactly like they are with largemouth. They’re on flats in the shallows, and they look like little pockets carved out of the lakebed.

If you can find those, you’re in for a good treat.

2: Drop Shots, Drop Shots, Drop Shots

Drop shots are great for all kinds of bass in certain situations, but when you’re specifically targeting yellow bass, they just make sense.

Yellow bass tends to hang around the deeper parts of the lake. A drop shot is designed to drag your lure down at a steady pace straight to the bottom. If you’re casting in the right spot, you’re practically guaranteed to tease the bass with the profile of a little bait fish diving right past them.

The key point here is that the lure should be small.

Use a little tube grub, minnow-sized swimbait or fluke, u-tail grub, or similar lure, and drop-shot it right at the deepest portion of the lake.

If you’ve done drop shots before, this is the easiest way to catch them. If you haven’t, the hardest part will be learning to detect the bite. Since it’s getting bitten in the fall, you might not notice it right away until the bass tries to run with it. Over time, you’ll figure it out, and you’ll end up timing your hook set perfectly.

If you specifically want to catch yellow bass, we recommend using a drop shot setup the second you get in your spot. You can move on to other strategies if it doesn’t work, but this should be your go-to.

3: Jigs and Mini Cranks Are Great in the Warm Season

During the spring and fall, you’re going to want to use jigs and mini cranks that dive deep. They produce a lot of action, you can get them down to the bass, and this is essentially your reaction-strike setup when drop shots just aren’t working.

4: Fish Fast

Yellow bass are a lot like bluegill. When you find them, all you really need to do is put your lure in front of them with the right presentation, and they’ll eat. They’re extremely aggressive fish, and they’re a lot less finicky than other bass species.

As such, you should speed up your fishing. They want to move in for the strike, and you need to give them a “meal” that makes them trigger that aggressive streak. Don’t go too quickly, but you don’t need to poke around and play with slow fishing tactics much at all.

5: Follow the Bait Fish

Yellow bass differs from largemouth in the fact that they don’t usually care about ambushing their prey much. You don’t need to hang around the cover and try to draw them out. If you can follow the bait fish that they’re eating, you know the bass is right there going on a killing spree.

Of course, you have to ensure that the yellow bass is on the bait fish’s tail, too.

One thing to consider when heavily targeting bait fish schools is that the lures you’re using are also great for panfish. You’ll likely catch some bluegill and sunfish in the process. That’s perfectly fine. With the right equipment, they put up a great fight, too. They just don’t get nearly as big.

6: Target Beds in May When the Water Stays Above 50 Degrees 

We’ve mentioned fishing the beds during the spawn a few times, but we never really told you when to do that.

Well, this can differ from area to area, but they tend to spawn in May after the water temperature hovers at 50 degrees.

You’ll have about a weeklong period where you can hop on the flats and catch yellow bass like crazy while they’re trying to protect their nests.

For the exact date range, you’ll want to research your local area. 

Is It Worth It to Target Yellow Bass?

Yellow bass fishing is a lot different than largemouth. You’re not going to get a 20-pound monster. You won’t even get one that breaks 4 or 5 pounds.

However, they are a unique target, and they can produce some amazing fishing experiences.

They fight hard, eat aggressively for faster action, and require different strategies.

Essentially, targeting yellow bass is like getting into ultralight fishing, but you still get to enjoy the hard-fighting bass spirit that you love with largemouths.

See if There Are Yellow Bass Near You

If you enjoyed this guide on yellow bass, make sure to check our other species guides on white bass, spotted bass, and smallmouth bass.

 If you want to try some of these new trends at an all-new body of water, check out our BassForecast fishing app to understand what top lures will be in play based on real-time weather for your fishing location, best bet lake locations and presentations, weather data, and more to give you the edge.