Daryl  Christensen
Published April 20, 2009

It's spring in most parts of the country and that means the ice is gone up north, the water is rapidly warming everywhere and bass fishin' is heating up. Two days ago, I fished two tournaments on two different lakes using two completely different presentations. That's bass fishing in the spring.

	The Author shows off a nice Spring Bites Bass

Transition is the key word with spring bass. During practice two days before the first tournament, the water temperature was 51 degrees. On tournament morning it was 59, thanks to two days of warm, sunny weather. Although most of the fish were staging in deeper water during the week, a few of the big boys were beginning to trickle into the warm water shallows of the bays like they always do as temperatures rise.

Normally, I would have worked a jig on the deep water edge, but the fish were too few and scattered so I opted to cover about 4 miles of shoreline in practice, locating fish with a spinnerbait. I knew that I would miss fish with this presentation, but I wanted to locate key areas and it worked.

I always cut the hook of my pre-fishing baits because I don't want to "stick" the fish, and during my final day of practice, "rolled" about a dozen fish, but they all looked like the "right" fish. What I noticed was that most of the fish were staging on points along the shore, so during the tournament, I concentrated on those. It worked. I finished 2nd in the tournament with 20.65 pounds and was one good bite away from first.

Just about every other angler fished jigs or worms in this tournament, but I opted for the spinnerbait because I could cover water much faster. In spring, especially in stained water, I fish a quarter ounce white spinnerbait and try to fish it slow and steady, occasionally slow-rolling it, especially around deep water points. I bulk it up with plastic twin tail, which gives it more bouncy and allows me to retrieve it slower than normal.
I always want that bait about 4 inches below the surface on the retrieve.

Weather conditions on this day were sunny and 75 degrees with light winds and the fish were holding about three feet from shore in 2-3 feet of water. Perfect for cranking a spinnerbait.  Medium range casts were the key and a soft drop of the bait prevented the "splash" from spooking these shallow fish.

The next day was a whole different story on a different lake. The fish were cruising a current area and with temperatures in the mid-40's and water temperatures dropping, I opted for a watermelon Zoom "French fry" rigged on a 5/0 worm hook and 1/8 oz. sinker right at the hook. These fish were tight-lipped due to the cold front and heavy pressure from several club tournaments the day before.

My partner and I located a spot where bass were moving from a deep channel and making a turn back into the current at a corner above a low-head dam. Fish would come and go at this spot all day, so we simply sat there all day and pitched to the current edge, sometimes working the worm slow; other time shaking it, and still other times simply allowing it to lay on the bottom for a minute at a time waiting for the pick-up.

We used spinning gear with 8-10 pound test line for better casting accuracy and to get more distance with the light line. We caught lots of fish throughout the day and weighed a respectable 19.45 pounds for another high finish.

What was so interesting is the contrast between day one and two. The first tournament we covered 4 miles of water. The second tournament we didn't move the boat 4 feet! But that's springtime bass fishing. You have to adjust to the bite and not try to make the fish bite on what you like to use.

Personally, I like nothing better than to catch bass on buzzbaits or top water twitchbaits which I will be doing in a few weeks, weather permitting. But for now, I'll use whatever I need to to catch fish, because that's the name of the game. The bottom line is that there really are only a half-dozen ways to catch bass with a variety of modifications.

Learning to use and apply these techniques at the right time of year and during changing weather conditions will put a lot more bass in the boat for both pro and recreational anglers alike.
     




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