Overlooked Spring Hot Spots
Where will you be fishing this spring? You could take the no-brainer approach and get in line with all those other bass fishermen casting to the bank. Or, you could do what pro tournament anglers do, and load your boat with big bass on these key springtime spots that weekend fishermen usually overlook!
Hotspot #1: Retaining Wall
Description: A sharply vertical man-made structure designed to shore up an earthen bank and protect it from erosion due to wave action. Often associated with shoreline residential developments, retaining walls may be made of cement blocks, wood pilings, or poured concrete.
Importance to spring bass: Bass moving from deep to shallow water in early spring often stage in open water adjacent to retaining walls in water temperatures ranging from around 48 to 58 degrees. These fish can be found suspending in the water column when inactive, or cruising the structure feeding on shad that are eating algae growing on the wall.
Best approach: Go for active bass first by casting a deep-diving crankbait parallel to the wall. If this doesn't produce a strike, move your boat away from the wall and cast a suspending jerkbait directly to the structure. Work the lure very slowly in the coldest part of the temperature range indicated above, a little faster in the upper portion of this range.
Inside tip: In clear lakes, bass action on retaining walls is usually best when a stiff breeze is causing waves to crash against the structure.
Hotspot #2: Fallen Tree on Deep Bank
Description: A tree that has toppled from the bank into the lake; the top portion is laying in water at least 8 feet deep and the trunk is resting on the bank.
mportance to spring bass: This structure acts as a bridge from deep to shallow water. Bass swimming along a deep ledge or creek channel will encounter the top of the tree, then follow it up into water shallow enough for spawning. Also serves as a bridge from the shoreline to the water for insects, mice, and other small creatures upon which bass feed.
Best approach: Slow-roll a spinnerbait lengthways down the tree, making sure the lure contacts the structure. Or, swim a jig 'n pig through the branches.
Inside tip: Make repeated presentations to the tree, taking care to have lure contact where major branches jut off from the trunk - this is where bass are most likely to be holding.
Hotspot #3: Ditch in Tributary Arm
Description: A shallow depression in the bottom, either natural or man-made, running from the bank out into a feeder creek. Ditches were either formed naturally by rain runoff, or dug to divert water flow, before a reservoir's formation. They often occur on flats and may be lined with stumps or brush.
Importance to spring bass: Ditches serve as a route from deep to shallow water. Spring bass will typically stay in the ditch when travelling, then move up to the adjacent flat when feeding.
Best approach: Drop marker buoys to delineate the path of the ditch, then back off and cast a medium-diving crankbait or a lipless vibrating crankbait so the lure covers both the ditch and the shallow flat on either side of it. Or, cast a Texas-rigged plastic worm or a jig 'n pig into the ditch.
Inside tip: In spring, large numbers of bass may stage where a ditch makes a sharp bend. These fish are often sluggish, so once you've located the bend, use a worm or jig to catch 'em.
Hotspot #4: Flooded Roadbed
Description: A flooded road leading into a reservoir. The roadbed surface may be made of asphalt, gravel or earth; asphalt roads were often broken up prior to being flooded. The roadbed may be elevated off the bottom and lined with stumps or chunk rock.
Importance to spring bass: Another "highway" which bass follow from deep to shallow water as the water warms. Bass may spawn on some submerged roadbeds.
Best approach: Run a deep-diving crankbait parallel to the structure. Hit the top of the road first, then root the lure through the rock rubble or stumps on either side.
Inside tip: Unpaved roads such as old logging trails are less obvious than paved roads, and are therefore more likely to be ignored by anglers. Scan the surrounding terrain for indentations indicating an old road leading into the lake.
Weeds are considered by most bass pros to be the #1 cover for bass.
Hotspot #5: Warm Run-Off
Description: Water entering a lake via tributaries, ditches, culverts, etc. which drain from the surrounding terrain following warm spring rains.
Importance to spring bass: The body temperature of a bass matches that of its surroundings. In the cold water typical of early spring, bass are sluggish, but their activity level picks up quickly when the temperature of their surroundings rises following a warm spring deluge. Run-off also flushes worms and insect larvae into the lake, jump-starting the food chain.
Best approach: Move to the extreme back-end of an inflowing tributary and fan-cast a spinnerbait or deep-diving crankbait.
nside tip: An unseasonably warm rain in early spring can trigger a mass emergence of crayfish from hibernation. Root a craw-colored crankbait across the bottom in run-off areas.
Hotspot #6: Beds Around Boat Docks
Description: Spawning nests formed near boat docks located in coves and tributary arms. Beds will appear as light-colored patches in shallow, sunlit areas.
Importance to spring bass: Boat docks are usually thought of as fall structures, but bass will spawn around them when the water temperature reaches approximately 65 degrees. Multiple docks help block the wind, creating a calm surface where solar penetration is maximized and the eggs of the bass can be incubated more efficiently.
Best approach: Locate bass beds visually, then cast a weightless plastic worm to the nest.
Inside tip: Pre-rig three rods with a floating worm, straight-tail finesse worm on a light jighead, and a tube bait with pegged sinker. Rotate casts to the bed with these three lures, never presenting the same bait twice in a row. This strategy usually invokes a killing response from bedding bass. Note: it's always best to release bedding bass immediately where you caught them!
Hotspot #7: Early-Emerging Vegetation
Description: The first green aquatic vegetation to appear in spring.
Importance to spring bass: Weeds are considered by most bass pros to be the #1 cover for bass. They provide hiding and ambush places, and attract a variety of forage species including shiners, crayfish and bluegills. Weeds also filter impurities from the water and produce oxygen through photosynthesis.
Best approach: Look for emerging vegetation in shallow areas of quiet coves and tributary arms, where solar penetration is maximized. Cast a tube bait or plastic worm doused in liquid fish attractant to the thickest past of the grass and work it to the outer perimeter. If the water is clear, try twitching a silver or gold floater/diver minnow around the grass.
Inside tip: Weeds usually appear first in the northwest corner of the lake. This is the area most protected from cold north winds, so the water will be warmest here.
Hotspot #8: Deep Pocket
Description: Indentation in the shoreline, usually oval-shaped, with a depth of at least 10 feet in the middle.
Importance to spring bass: Bass often suspend in the middle of these structures after making their initial move toward the shoreline from deep water.
Best approach: If the water is clear, fan-cast a suspending jerkbait around the pocket.
Inside tip: This is a great spot for a 3/4 to 1 ounce spinnerbait. Look for baitfish suspending in the pocket, then slow-roll a heavy spinner at the depth level of the school.
Hotspot #9: Flooded Bushes
Description: Completely- or partially-submerged willow or buck bushes, commonly found in the back-ends of reservoir tributaries after the water level rises in late spring.
Importance to spring bass: Bass will spawn in open, sunlit areas around this cover. In late spring, bass will hang around flooded bushes for a brief period prior to moving out of the shallows. Mayflies often hatch out around flooded bushes, attracting bluegills and bass.
Best approach: Skip a weightless plastic worm under bushes you can't reach by overhand casting.
Inside tip: Both bedding and post-spawn bass often need to be coaxed into biting. "Shake" a soft plastic centipede, finesse worm or tube bait around flooded bushes by squeezing the rod handle repeatedly while the lure is lying on the bottom.
Hotspot #10: Crappie Cover
Description: Man-made brushpiles or stake beds put out as crappie attractors in coves and tributary arms.
Importance to spring bass: Prespawn bass often stage around crappie cover in the 8 to 12 foot zone. Postspawn bass will hold around shallower crappie attractors prior to heading out to deeper water.
Best approach: Locate crappie brushpiles visually, then run a spinnerbait past it, taking care to bump the cover. If the water is muddy, flip a jig into the attractor.
Inside tip: Large brushpiles intended as crappie attractors are broken up and scattered over a wide area by panfishermen who hang up anchors in the cover. The biggest bass in the area often hold on the outer perimeter of this scattered cover, so when approaching a brushpile, start at least two cast-lengths away from the structure by fan-casting a spinnerbait, then move gradually toward the main concentration of brush.
Tip: Try River Bars for Big Spring Bass
Many bass anglers ignore rivers, but they can hold tremendous numbers of quality bass. And right now is your best shot at a big river largemouth or smallmouth. They're prowling gravel, sand, or mud bars in a river or tailrace near you, feeding up heavily prior to spawning.
Bars provide river bass with food, cover and an escape from current. The best bars have some form of cover on them - scattered stumps, a big rock, a tree washed in during a flood. In swift rivers, bass hold tight to the down-current side of this cover, and may not move far to strike your lure. A swirling eddy often forms at one end of the bar; baitfish injured by passing through the turbines of the upstream dam are often sucked into this spot, only to be inhaled by bass holding there.
Spinnerbaits and crankbaits are usually your best bets on river bars, but if you see bass-busting baitfish on the surface, try a topwater popper. If it doesn't get eaten by a big bass, a hybrid or striper might grab it.
