02/22/05

Where do you find bass during pre spawn?  How should you approach catching them.  Part II of the Definitive Pre Spawn will provide these answers and more.

Pre Spawn-Cover And Lures:

"Today, we'll take a look at the cover used by bass as they stage both to feed and to get ready to move up into the shallows to spawn.  To me, cover is important, but it needs to be on a significant structure.  Over the years, I have learned that there are three specific types of structure to look at, points, points and of course, points.  Do you get my point?"

"As far as structure is concerned, let's define that as changes in the lake's bottom, topographical changes.  Places where the depth might go from 15 feet to 10 feet, like a drop off or channel edge.  Points are the best structure because they slope out into the lake and run from shallow to deep, allowing bass to intercept that slope and move up towards the shallows.  Cover on the other hand, is something that fish can hold on.  Stumps, brush lines, isolated bushes and grass that are on these structures serve as the ideal places to begin your search for pre spawn bass."

"You will always be able to spot a likely looking pre spawn point.  The trouble is, so will everyone else.  Come February, March and April, you will see guys lined up on your local lake, waiting to fish these obvious spots.  I like to find things that other anglers miss, so I tend to look for points that are less obvious.  To me, the best pre spawn spot you can find, is a grass point that may be inside a bay or creek arm.  They typically are not on the map, that is, you can't look at a map and say, I'll fish this point.  You have to kind of run into it.  One of the things I have learned over the last couple of years is that when I catch a couple of fish and input the GPS coordinates into my Garmin unit, I can take the Garmin chip and plug into the USB port on my lap top computer.  At night I will study the area that I have caught fish on, and very often will discover that there is in fact a slight contour point on the map where I caught the fish.  What the map doesn't show is the presence of the grass.  So seeing it, (the grass,) catching the fish, comparing the GPS coordinates to a map, helps me to understand why this spot is good.  Obviously that takes a lot of home work, but I now have a spot that nobody else knows about, and I have done very well during pre spawn doing just this."

"If I could pick three pre spawn lures to use I would opt for a bulky 3/8 oz Stanley jig, and I would swim it using a Kinami double tail trailer.  I also would use a buzz bait to cover water.  A lot of people think that pre spawn is too early for a buzz bait, but it is a well kept secret on the pro tour.  The fish haven't seen this type of presentation for a long time, they are feeding, and pre spawn is one of the first times of the year when bass actually turn their attention upwards.  Creature baits, such as the Kinami Nori Bug or the Stanley Wedge Hog would be a third choice.  Crawdads become important part of a bass's diet this time of the year."

Part III.  Pre Spawn On The FLW Tournament Trail