The longer days of spring signal the start of some the best fishing of the year on area lakes. Here are some helpful hints for a great day on the lake. Despite the sometimes unpredictable weather conditions, anglers can still manage to spend quality time on the water, catching fish on a variety of lures. First and foremost, dress for the conditions and “Always” wear your PFD! Second, is to emphasize a slow approach for just about every presentation would be an understatement; when you think you are fishing slow, slowdown!
Let’s set the stage, over the last couple month’s water temperatures dropped in some cases to the upper 30’s. Bass became more lethargic to conserve energy. Starting in Mid February with day light hours increasing and the presents of bright sunny days can raise water temperatures by as much as 5 degrees in just a couple of hours; triggering feeding binges.
Considering, you’ll find me fishing with water temps as low as 38 degrees; I’ll start a typical day searching for fish to react to a jerkbait bite. This pattern is fairly steady, winter time presentation that can produce quality fish and adequate numbers. Later in the day, say after about 11am; we will go rattle baits. As we move through February into March rattle baits will be the name of the game for the most part.
Proper presentation is everything! While the water is still in the 45 to 52 degree range, I’ll start a typical day with a jerkbait using a four or five count — that’s one thousand one, one thousand two, and so forth —before you jerk it again. Sometimes it may not even be a jerk, just turning the handle of the reel and pausing it again. It’s something you have to play with. The colder the water temperature, the longer the pause needs to be. If it’s really cold, you have to make a cast and crank the bait down, stop and have drink of coffee before you move it.
I recommend using a variety of jerkbaits to reach different depths. Ideally, the lure reaches a depth at the top of the grass left over from the summer. I’ll keep about four rods rigged up with different baits designed to reach a different depth, 1 to 3 (feet), 4 to 6, 6 to 8, and maybe one deeper.
I highly recommend utilizing a sensitive rod such as Duckett Micro Magic rods for most of these applications, normally spooling a LEW’s 6.4-1 with 10- or 12-lb. Vicious Ultimate Copolymer, occasionally dropping to 8-lb. line when the fish are finicky. I favor a 6’9” or 7-foot, medium-heavy rod with a fast tip for jerkbaits. With this setup, I am slowing that jerkbait down and stopping it!
My primary jerkbait is a Rapala X-Rap in colors ranging from Glass Ghost (white) in clear water to clown in dirty water and in between, I’ll throw a variety of natural colors. You need a slow, patient approach right now, but the fish will hit.
If the water warms up or if the fish prove they will chase a lure, I would actually rather see his clients throw traps. They are simply easier for the average fishermen to use. I find the trap bite in many of the same places we’d might fish a jerkbait earlier in the day. The difference is these fish are more active, willing to pursue a moving bait.
The trap has got to tick that grass. Count it down until it’s ticking that grass and then rip it loose. Also, you can catch fish burning it across a point or across the top of the grass. As the water warms up, the fish totally commit to the prespawn areas and feed up, put the feed bag on. They are chasing everything. That’s when the water temperature has rise to 50 degrees and up. I’m not saying it has to be that high for the trap to produce, but that temperature has been most productive for me.
For rattle baits, I use a Duckett rod with a soft enough tip that he doesn’t take the trap away from the fish. A rod that is too stiff will also result in lost fish after the hook set.
I’m using anything from 12-lb. Ultimate to 65-lb. test braid both made by Vicious Fishing, depending on what we are throwing it in and around. They will still hit it even when using braid. A key point is a rod with a fast tip that is still limber enough but with enough backbone to get the hook set.”
I’ll normally start trap fishing with a 1/2oz Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap and XCalibur Xr50s or Xr75s. If the fish don’t respond to the bigger baits, he has experienced success downsizing to a quarter ounce. What I use depends on the bait in the area. It’s a match-the-hatch scenario. The smaller bait creates a slower presentation, and a slower fall will trigger a bite at times when nothing else will.
While red traps are used extensively on Tennessee River impoundments such as Guntersville, I also like royal purple, sexy shad and I’ve experienced great success with gold with a black back.
If the fish don’t respond to hard baits at all, then time to revert to plastics or a jig. I’ll Texas rig or Carolina rig a D-Bomb or Tomahawk 8.75 worm from Missile Baits. The other go to is a 1/2-oz. Tightline football head jig in Guntersville special, which is green pumpkin with some black and blue mixed in or a Green Pumpkin Orange with a Turbo Tail Grub trailer from Missile Baits. The jig is particularly effective around deeper docks. I’ll fish the perimeter posts first and flips underneath on sunny days.
Slow that fall down, fish your Texas rigs with a 1/4-oz. tungsten weight. This is where a lot of anglers forget to slow down their presentation. Fish it slow, and then slow down some more.
Be prepared to throw any of the previously mentioned lures as the bite changes frequently in the early spring. As far as location is concerned, I’ll spend a good bit of my time fishing the many large tributaries that feed the area lakes.
Generally, we’re targeting grass in 4 to 10 feet of water. It’s a classic pattern with one caveat. Keep a watchful eye on the super shallow water ranging from a few inches to 2 foot of water. You can catch bass 365 days of the year on most lakes in a foot of water as it warms up on sunny days.
Capt. Jake Davis is a USCG Licensed Professional Fishing Guide on Lake Guntersville and Tim’s Ford. Visit www.midsouthbassguide.com or call/email 615-613-2382, msbassguide@comcast.net