jigs in shallow coves and on deep drop offs close to shallow cover. stick baits and small texas riged craws. i think it is the north western coves that are the ones that are protected the best, but dont quote me. anything that gets good sun and is protected from the wind is a place i am targeting first.
Pre-spawn is any time after ice out until the spawn. In the north east the spawn can go from the end of april to the end of may. the more north you go the later it starts. remember, the fish can be spawning in the upper part of a large lake and the lower lake fish could still be pre- spawn. use the same staging spots that you used right before the spawn for post spawn fish as they leave the spawning beds and rest in the deeper water that they used right before moving up.
pre-spawn: jigs, jerkbaits, crankbaits, swimbaits.
spawn: texas rigged lizards and worms, tubes, topwaters, creature baits, jigs.
post-spawn: spinnerbaits, topwaters, jigs, texas rigged worms, and any other reaction type baits.
Mike H
Last edited by michaelharris88 on Mon Feb 22, 2010 4:00 pm; edited 1 time in total
pre-spawn: jigs, jerkbaits, crankbaits, swimbaits.
spawn: texas rigged lizards and worms, tubes, topwaters, creature baits, jigs.
post-spawn: spinnerbaits, topwaters, jigs, texas rigged worms, and any other reaction type baits.
Mike H
Last edited by michaelharris88 on Mon Feb 22, 2010 4:00 pm; edited 1 time in total
'prespawn' for largemouth bass is generally(there are no absolutes in fishing!) when the water temp gets to about 50-55 degrees or so...
that being said, there are always some fish shallow, no matter the time of year. In fact, you can catch a helluva lotta fish by just concentrating on 7 ft of water or less in any body of water. Doing so, you just eliminated ALOT of area, so it should make finding the fish-holding areas easier.
This weekend they're fishing the 2010 Basssmaster Classic in Alabama, catching most fish on lipless rattlebaits in 4-6 ft of water, and the water temp is high 40s, low 50s.
I'd have immediately thought "jigs in deeper water" or maybe s-l-o-w rolling spinnerbaits, but hey, whatever it takes.
EDIT: GREAT info above from Mike ^^^
EDIT #2: a good tip for 'prespawn' is to find those spawning areas, then back up to the nearest drop-off or maybe just deeper offshore adjacent to those spawning areas.
**'deeper' is relative - if the whole area is only 3 feet deep, 5 feet is deeper
that being said, there are always some fish shallow, no matter the time of year. In fact, you can catch a helluva lotta fish by just concentrating on 7 ft of water or less in any body of water. Doing so, you just eliminated ALOT of area, so it should make finding the fish-holding areas easier.
This weekend they're fishing the 2010 Basssmaster Classic in Alabama, catching most fish on lipless rattlebaits in 4-6 ft of water, and the water temp is high 40s, low 50s.
I'd have immediately thought "jigs in deeper water" or maybe s-l-o-w rolling spinnerbaits, but hey, whatever it takes.
EDIT: GREAT info above from Mike ^^^
EDIT #2: a good tip for 'prespawn' is to find those spawning areas, then back up to the nearest drop-off or maybe just deeper offshore adjacent to those spawning areas.
**'deeper' is relative - if the whole area is only 3 feet deep, 5 feet is deeper