We may find ourselves on the shore, maybe on a dock at a summer party, or near a pond or a lake at a cookout with a rod and reel in hand.

Fishing with the kids might be on the agenda.

Or we may be in a boat, canoe or kayak.

Whether on the water or next to it, the challenge of bass fishing began in New York state this year June 15 after being changed from the traditional opener of the third Saturday or Sunday in June.

According to the NYSDEC, new this year, along with so many other 2022 fishing regulation changes, June 15 is now the official opening day ... at least until it is changed again.

The season for bass this year runs until Nov. 30. New York also has a catch-and-release season which allows anglers to fish for bass from Dec. 1 to June 14 throughout most of the state. The move is controversial as some believe that fishing for bass during their spawning time (May through early June) allows predatory fish to attack the unprotected bass nests, thereby reducing the number of potential bass in New York's lakes and ponds.

Bass, like trout, guard their nests and if caught and released, sometimes will allow the unprotected eggs and/or fry to be eaten by bluegills and other hungry fish.

The daily keeper limit of bass, whether Largemouth or the Smallmouth, variety is five per day with a minimum size limit of 12 inches.

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If there was only one rod and one bait to use, a six- or eight-inch plastic worm is a good bet for bass fishing, rigged on a medium heavy rod.

A plastic bag can easily carry a number of colors (as bass seem to prefer different color worms on different days). Good choices are purple, black, blue, and motor oil green. (Make sure various colored plastic worms are not left in the bag long because they may discolor each other. The colors bleed.)

A good way to rig a worm is "Texas style." Take the hook (a sharp 4.0 bait hook works well), and push the point down through the head of the worm, about a quarter inch, to one-half inch, and then push it out the side of the worm. Pull the hook through, so the head of the worm is covering the knot, at the hook's eye. Then stick the sharp part of the hook through the body of the worm so that the artifical worm hangs straight. That's important.

Make sure that you put a bullet weight, or slip weight on the line ahead of the hook.

Two rods are better than one, and just as easy to carry. A good second lure choice is to tie on a three-eights ounce spinner. I like a heavier bass rod to toss a spinner bait, usually a "medium-heavy" or "heavy," in at least six-and one-half feet in length.

When hiking back to a pond, two rods are easy to carry, along with a little tackle box or backpack with an assortment of spinnerbaits, worms, extra hooks, line clippers, and extra worm hooks and needle-nose pliers.

I like tossing the spinnerbait around the pond or off the dock before I use the worm rod.

The spinnerbait often picks up the active, more aggressive fish. And there are usually a few hungry bass around any pond that can't resist a spinnerbait fished just a few inches below the surface.

Some pond bass act as if they have never seen a spinnerbait before and on occasion hit without hesitation — sometimes rocketing out of a hideout in the bank, cattails, or weeds, making a V-shape in the shallow water.

Cast the spinnerbait out into clear water, next to weeds, and reel it in at a slow, steady pace so that the spinners can work their magic and call up Mr. Bass.

After probing the available water with the spinnerbait, and the action cools down, pick up the worm rod with the Texas rig setup, fish slowly for the more inactive, stubborn bass. If one worm color is not working try a different color.

Try different techniques. Most of the time, bass like a slow presentation with a worm, so cast it out, then lift it, reel a couple times, let it sink, lift it off the bottom again, crank the reel a couple more turns, lift it again, and so on.

Once in a while bass seem to like a faster presentation, and the worm can be reeled in like a spinner. Other times, if there is surface vegetation like duckweed or lily-pads, bass may prefer to dine near the surface. The Texas-rigged worm can be "swum" through the floating algae or duckweed and surface blowups make for an exciting time.

Speaking of top-water, a couple jitterbugs, or floating frogs, are worth the extra space in the little tackle box or pack if fish are in the mood, especially in the evening or early morning. Fish them on the spinner-bait rod. Fish the jitterbug through clear water (because weed interferes with the 'bug motion) and twitch the frog across the floating vegetation.

And one tip: It doesn't cost any more money to set the hook on a pond bass than it does a lake bass. So set the hook when Mr. Bass runs with your worm like you mean it.

Oak Duke writes a weekly column appearing on the Outdoors page of The Spectator.