Earlier this spring, we had a mild warming trend that fooled many of the bass on Lake Lanier into departing their deeper waters, but cooler temperatures, lots of rain and a later full moon has slowed the bass spawn tremendously. It’s true that a few spotted bass were able to spawn on the past full moon, but most won’t complete the job until the next full moon in early May. These different factors have caused the warming process to be quite slow, but the spotted bass are now moving into the spawning areas. The bass fishing is getting better every passing day!
Spotted bass become very aggressive and extremely territorial throughout the entire spawning period, and one method is guaranteed to catch big numbers of these one to five pound bass. It requires the use of a tiny lure that looks much like a shad or herring to the bass. These minnows are not only the main source of food for bass at Lake Lanier, but they also represent a danger to bass eggs.
Though it may sound like a broken record that plays each year at this time, this super productive lure is a small inline spinner known as the “Swirleybird,” and is available online at www.georgiafishing.com/swirleybird-spinners. Despite my belief that colors are a personal preference, the perfect Swirleybird size during the bass spawn is 1/8th ounce. Continue reading….