Story by Todd Goade | Photos by Tanner & Travis Lyons
Springtime is a season of movement for bass as they transition from winter mode to prespawn, and eventually to full-out spawn. I start my process of locating concentrations of mobile springtime bass with some good old map work to identify some higher percentage locations.
The first thing I look for are obvious spawning areas on my Lowrance C-Map. Look for areas that will get the most sunlight, are out of heavy current, and are least impacted by inclement weather. That’s a good starting point.
I like to implement what I call a three-step approach to pinpointing ideal spawning areas (and thus, the largest concentrations of bass).
First, look for where fish winter—think deep water. On one of my home lakes, Cherokee in East Tennessee, there are several channel swing banks and bluffs that open up into large expansive pockets that have the ideal spawning habitat. Then, in those pockets I’ll locate that shallower water close by where they’ll likely spawn and then follow those natural pathways the fish use to move from deep to shallow and back again.
Those obvious pathways are places that bass use and so should you as an angler. You can follow their movements by following these pathways where bass eventually move in to spawn.
Once I’ve located pathways, I pay very close attention to water temperatures.
The number one factor in the early spring for me is water temperature. It’s huge! In spring, bass are instinctively triggered by length of day and how much daylight there is. They know spring is coming. What holds them back a lot of times is water temperature.
Second, once that temp moves to the mid 50s, start checking secondary points on the way to those spawning areas. Those areas are like a gang up spot. Once the water is in the upper 50s, the bass migrate and they start to slide up to the banks to spawn. I’ve been on the water many times where the water temperature hits 55-56 in an afternoon and it’s like those areas of the lake wake up with life.
I saw that at an event a few years ago where practice was super tough. The first day of the event was cancelled due to wind but it was 85 degrees, the warmest day of the year so far. Everyone was thinking that 12 pounds a day would be great and make the top 10 cut because practice was so tough. The first day of competition I started on one of my favorite areas and in about an hour I had caught 19 keepers. I had a little over 14 pounds each day and finished 40th.
The moral of the story is that it can turn on in one day in the spring!
And third, a few baits I love to throw in pre-spawn conditions are a double willow spinnerbait and a Side Piece from Pulse Fish. These are great baits for targeting bass as they move up in transitional spots. These are also great baits to stand on the trolling motor and cover water and find those hot stretches they’ve pulled up on.
You also need to have a jerkbait. That twitch-twitch-pause has caught a lot of bass for me over the years, especially in the pre-spawn season.
Finally, my springtime list isn’t complete without a couple of baits that I have used for decades—a Zoom Trick Worm in Merthiolate or bubble gum, and a Zoom Ultra Vibe Speed Craw.
With springtime just around the corner, utilize some of these things and see if it helps you get more bites. I’m ready for warm weather!
Tight Lines!
Todd Goade – Angler Profile
