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BASS
COMING OFF THE BEDS
May
and June are two great months for catching a lot of
bass as they have just come off the beds. They will
be feeding heavily on shad that always spawn two or
three weeks later. Some days can offer tough fishing,
if you are not in the right area. Several things I like
to do this time of year if it is a little tough is
to try find an area with shad and the other is to follow
the break line.
I
will look for shad flicking the surface or flipping
in the grass or bushes. Another good clue is to look
for the fishing birds because they are going to be in
an area where there is food. I made the money at Lake
Eufaula a couple weeks ago by strictly fishing flats
that had fishing birds working the shoreline. Good techniques
to use in these shallow water situations are twitching
Zoom Flukes in Albino color or a 4" Possum
Lure. Floating worms ( Zoom Trick worm), buzzbaits,
XPS Topwater lures are all good. I will rotate
the subtle floating worm or Fluke with a noisy
topwater until I find what the bass want.
Once
the sun gets up or the shallow bite stops, that is when
I will go out to the first break line usually 10 feet
and start working 1 ˝ oz. Ledgebuster shad pattern
spinnerbait, Zoom grubs, and Carolina rigs. You
need a real good depth finder for this tactic. I use
a Raymarine L470, not only does the L470 read
to tenths of a foot but it gives an exact digital depth
readout next to the fish symbol. This lets you know
if you need to be fishing bottom techniques or suspending
techniques. One other good lure to use if bass are suspended
at this time of year is to use a jerk bait.
Basically
what I will do is position my Nitro boat in 10
feet of water and keep my eye on the L470. Don't look
at the bank, just pay attention to your depth finder
and keep your boat in 10 foot at all times, moving along
at a medium pace with your Motorguide trolling
motor. Throw towards the bank and cover a lot of water
until you find fish. Before the first week of June I'm
only looking to catch roaming fish, in other words only
one here and there. After the first of June bass will
start schooling and you can find bunches in different
places.
One
of my favorite technique is to fish a pearl Zoom
grub on 8 lbs. Stren line, a 6 ft. medium action
Woo Daves' Extreme rod, 1/8 oz.
sinker. Just follow along the break line casting ahead
and let your grub go to the bottom, move once or twice
and repeat. I pick up a lot of bass doing this, especially
along sandy banks or outside grass lines. You will be
using your batteries a lot doing this so be sure and
get some good Trojan batteries, they can take
the abuse all day long.
The
weather is hot this time of year so be sure to drink
a lot of water and wear a good sun screen like Dermatone.
Have
a good day fishing and may God bless you.
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