How to Bass Fish: Spring Bass Fishing

Bass are opportunistic feeders. If there is a lot of a particular type of bait in the right size and it is easily available, they are likely to feed on it. While a lake with shad will always have some bass feeding on them there will also be other types of bait which will attract the bass depending upon various factors such as the time of year, water temperature, the depth of the water you want to work, and if you expect to work schools or scattered bass.

In the spring bass lures such as the jig’n-pig will be quite effective as the bass shift toward shallow water, moving in and out of spawning areas.This is the result of the tendency of bass to forage on crayfish just ahead of the spawn period of the bass. This also means that the bass will be caught in water much shallower that an angler might expect based upon water temperatures. Also effective at this time will be baits which mimic tadpoles and other amphibians and reptiles that swim and crawl along the bottom.

The spawning of other species can also have an effect upon the type of bait which may be effective as well as the time of day when fishing will be most productive. In lakes with a carp population gold or bronze crank baits can be very productive as the bass feed upon the abundance of newly hatched carp.

Shad are surface spawners. They spawn at first light in the morning when the water temperature climbs to 65°F or warmer. The female swims along the surface trailed by 5 or 6 males. This shad convoy also parades right past hungry bass at prime feeding time during the subdued light of morning providing a quick meal for bass. A benefit of this shad spawning pattern is that  surface lures will be effective catching bass in early morning light.

The early morning spawning of shad and the feeding of bass upon the spawning shad means that the bass will not be active again for several hours. This will mean that it will be necessary to either fish for the bass after they become active again later in the day or postpone fishing for the bass until after the spawning season of the shad is complete and the early morning feeding opportunity has ended. 

As the fishing season progresses there are many other factors that have an impact on bass fishing and must be given proper consideration. Information about these things will be presented here in future posts.

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