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Springtime
Tips
Early spring fishing can be very good or very bad depending
on the weather conditions. There are a lot of frontal
conditions that bring cold temperatures to your favorite
fishing spots. Which can make the fish go into almost
a dormant state and make it tough to get a bite. On
the other hand a few warm days in early spring can make
for some of the best fishing of the year, especially
for big bass.
A
good temperature gauge is more important this time of
year than a depth finder. If you are fortunate as I
am to have a Raymarine L470 fish finder, it has a built
in temp gauge. In the spring I am going to ride the
lake from one end to the other in my 929 Nitro and look
at the water temp until I find the warmest water possible.
Usually the north end of the lake or coves on the north
side will be the warmest, but not always. If you have
muddy water coming down the lake or a cold rain, you
could have your warmer water nearer the dam area. One
other main factor in water temp can be the wind, depending
on which way it is blowing can affect a change of 10
degrees or more. I have seen it change many times from
one side of the lake to the other overnight, simply
by the wind shifting,
One
other thing to remember is as the day goes on it will
usually warm up so the bass are almost always biting
better as the day goes on. It only takes a couple of
degrees change to get the bass active. A lot of times
we fish through an area with no bites and someone comes
through the same area later and catches fish. So if
you have an area that has produced fish in the past
or an area you feel good about, stick it out for the
later bite. I remember a tournament last year where
Mark Davis told me he never had a bite before noon but
then caught good stringer each day after just a few
degrees change.
When
you start out early on cold days make your presentations
slow. I like a smaller Zoom finesse worm or Zoom centipede
on a Carolina rig that I can fish slow. I also slow
roll a 3/4 to1 oz. Ledgebuster spinnerbait along the
bottom or just over the top of the grass. A Bass Pro
Shop 3/4 oz. tungsten jigging spoon is a prime lure
to use in these conditions, as you can keep it in front
of the bass for a period of time. I spray all of these
lures heavily with Jack's Juice crawfish or garlic scent,
this really helps when fishing is slow.
If
you have found a good looking ledge, point or brush
pile make repeated casts to it, as if you know there
is a bass there and you are trying to make him bite.
You have to really aggravate them into biting sometimes,
One
thing I have done this spring that really worked well
was to fish a Zoom vibra-flex worm. I will break the
tail off the worm, dip about an half inch of the tail
chartreuse (Spike-it dye), using green pumpkin or watermelon
seed, a 3/0 Mustad Denny Brauer flippin' hook rigged
Texas style, 8 pound Stren Super Tough line, a Bass
Pro Shop Woo Daves' spinning rod and simply cast this
lure to structure and let it fall slowly on a slack
line. Once it gets to the bottom I will barely move
it almost taking my rod tip and just quivering it, bass
can't stand it if they are in the area.
Run
your Motorguide, as slowly as possible and when you
think you are fishing slow, slow down some more, in
other words it's almost impossible to fish too slow
at times. May God bless you in your fishing.
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