Perceive motion patterns and habitat preferences to search out prespawn bass.
March 06, 2023
The good cash, the positive guess, the slam dunk—we toss round a variety of hyperbole to emphasize our confidence in a given premise; and, in equity, there’s usually some degree of factual foundation. However for these in search of their private greatest bass, or no less than a stable day of toad taming, the prespawn is the time for off-the-charts alternative.
Give it some thought: The most important fish within the lake are at their heaviest level within the yr and their shoreward motion will put them at peak vulnerability. Can we catch a few of these fish at different occasions of the yr? Positive, however prespawn staging makes the sport way more predictable and accessible.
Right here’s a handful of factors to assist dial in your prespawn sport.
Shifting Up
Clearly, the prespawn specifics will fluctuate by fishery, however two standards stay constant: 1) Staging fish need cowl/ambush factors from which to select off their meals and a pair of) They like fast entry to deeper water.
“Deeper,” in fact, is related to the fishery, however even on shallow lakes with out distinct contour breaks and well-defined creek channels, a couple of ft could make an enormous distinction. In Florida, the fish usually arrange on the outer weed edges, transfer as much as spawn when the moon and water temperature get proper, then slide again out to the weedy perimeter.
Equally, Bassmaster Elite professional Gerald Swindle is aware of that highland reservoir docks can provide bass nearly every little thing the bass want for a lot of their yr. Prespawn finds them feeding and sunning beneath the deep finish floats, the place they’re solely a brief swim from the rocky finish or seawall the place they’ll spawn.
Elsewhere, frequent prespawn positions embody factors, secondary factors, fastened docks, bridge riprap and rocky breaks simply off the spawning flats. Stump fields, standing timber and pad stems are all gamers within the prespawn.
Intercept Course
Reigning Bassmaster Traditional champ Jason Christie as soon as instructed me he at all times desires the fish coming to him. This is applicable to a number of eventualities, however the prespawn defines the logic, particularly in a standard creek/pocket migration route.
Drilling down a bit deeper, overshooting or undershooting your goal space can depart you pondering they should restock the pond. Get it proper and also you’ll want a field of Band-Aids on your tattered thumbs. (The one draw back to catching and releasing a bunch of bass.)
Video That Might Curiosity You
Later within the season, you may skip a variety of the outer areas and go proper to these prespawn areas proper outdoors the spawning flats. Nonetheless, earlier within the prespawn, it makes extra sense to start out on the periphery and fish your manner in. Hit the important thing spots and also you’ll shortly discover out if the fish are there or not.
Don’t dally if you happen to’re gettin’ no love; press on till you run right into a chunky one, then spend a bit extra time in that zone. Additionally strive deeper and shallower to see if you happen to can dial in a cluster of prespawners peppered round a beautiful characteristic.
Key level: As you get nearer to the spawning zone, take note of your environment and word the probably “fall again” spots—safe cowl with a bit extra depth. Pad fields, new spring grass, docks—these are the spots to which bass will retreat if a chilly entrance disrupts their spawning motion. The fish merely gained’t backtrack to the primary lake, however they may fall again to the closest shelter till the climate stabilizes and heat returns.
Velocity Zones
In grass lakes, ripping lipless baits and bladed jigs by way of the vegetation is likely one of the extra in style prespawn methods. It’s pure response chunk, however don’t make the bait disappear too shortly. Bass are sometimes holding proper within the grass, so their visibility is marred. They could catch a glimpse of your ripped bait, however if you happen to’re pedal to the steel on the retrieve, they may lose visible contact.
The problem is discovering the fitting mixture of lure weight, trailer fashion (for bladed jigs) and line dimension that permits you to catch some grass with out bogging down after which float your bait by way of the open spots. Bites often observe the ripping motion, however the higher window you permit a reacting fish, the extra connections you’ll take pleasure in.
Additionally, topwater frogs can provide great prespawn motion, however don’t transfer them as quick as you’ll for summer season or fall. As professional angler Ish Monroe as soon as instructed me, the frog represents an interesting meal for last-minute prespawners, in addition to newly arrived mattress fish. Meaning feeding bites, which are sometimes much less aggressive and kinda boring.
Living proof, throughout a photograph shoot a couple of years in the past, Monroe nabbed a 7 1/2pounder that slurped the bait off the floor with much less aggression than a bluegill sucking in a water spider.
That’s why Monroe and others like white frogs this time of yr. Simple for the fish to identify, however they’re additionally straightforward for anglers to watch. Watch your white object meander by way of the shallow cowl and if it immediately disappears—absent the crushing strike—reel down and lay the wooden to ‘em.
It’s A Drag
Darold Gleason, Bassmaster Elite professional and Toledo Bend information is aware of the significance of protecting a Carolina-rigged V&M Swamp Hog on is deck through the prespawn. Whereas he does a variety of grass ripping with lipless baits and bladed jigs, he’ll scoot a C-rig by way of grassy staging areas and provide fish a bit completely different look.
In Gleason’s view, intense match stress usually finds the fish shying away from these conventional prespawn search baits; probably a downturn after a day or two of heavy response bait motion. Cleansing up with a extra refined presentation may simply be the deal for temping one other massive chunk—possibly your PB.
