Late Wnter -> Prespawn Large Mouth Tips to this mystery time of year.

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Ronald Hobbs, Jr. on March 20, 2012 at 4:27pm

I feel that slow is once it hits the bottom that you just don't hop it up and out of there, let it hit shake it a couple times then reel and recast, hitting as many targets as I can pays off for me better then letting something sit there and motionless. 

I use mainly jigs this time of year with a little more bulky profile than the rest of the year to get a slower fall, than a standard jig. Almost all the bites happen when the jig is falling or after the intitial shake, they aren't going to slam it but rather either just mouth it (pressure) no tick of the line, or you will just see your line moving in a weird direction. I usually find the trailers with more of a fluid action out perform the trailers with a flapping or twirling action.

Permalink Reply by Marc Marcantonio on March 20, 2012 at 10:20pm

I look at winter largemouth bass fishing with one main focus, keeping it natural and easy for the bass to eat. 

I have fished all over the country in the winter for bass, and growing up in Delaware and Maryland I tried for many years to make bass bite when there was ice on the water, or when it was still liquid but very cold.  Because I had very poor success fishing for largemouths in water colder than 40 degrees, I made it a personal crusade to overcome.  Studying fisheries biology and spending as much time as possible on the water and/or ice still didn't make me what I would call a successful winter bass angler. 

However I did catch bass through the ice, and even when vertically jigging a chrome spoon through the ice.  I also learned how to catch some using a Carolina Rig but instead of using a soft plastic I used a BangOLure. 

Regardless, I learned it was a better idea to go duck hunting instead of bass fishing.

Some things I am convinced of:

1. Bass are extremely difficult to get to bite, especially if they have eaten within the past week. 

2. Any baitfish consumed will be fairly large or else it would not survive the winter, or would not even cause the bass to care about eating it.

3. When a largemouth does eat, it will take up to a week for it to digest the meal due to its slow metabolism and digestion rate.

4. It will not chase a bait like it will the rest of the year.  This gets back to my natural approach.  Most bait are also cold-blooded, and their metabolism is also slow, so it is unnatural to see prey moving quickly underwater in the winter. Bass just don't seem to pay attention to horizontally moving lures if they move fast.

5. If you put your lure in the bass' mouth, and it is interested in feeding, you can catch that bass.  The problem is the bass decides this, not the angler, and it still is a low percentage ordeal.

 

There is no doubt in my mind that as the water temps warm and the days get longer, the likelihood of a bass showing more interest and being more aggressive goes up. This can happen much faster than many seem to realize, and while the water is still "cold." It can happen overnight under the right situation, which explains how some feel a lot of what I already stated can't be true.

That's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

Permalink Reply by Steve Hastings on March 20, 2012 at 10:45pm

For everyone that has responded so far, I thank you very much. 

I just spent over 2 hours on the phone with Tag discussing this subject. Admittedly, I'm like every other angler I know who love to talk fishing, and was glad Tag is no different, it was a real treat and very much appreciated the time, conversation and education. Yer a very cool dude Tag.

I had mentioned to David H, that I am certain that one could write a book just on this topic. Well I am not going to write a book but will definitely write a summary after this weekend. So if you still would like to comment with what has made you successful this time a year, or any other concepts or ideas, Please do so. I'll be out applying some of what has been described here and who knows.

Thank you all again! Keep it coming.

Permalink Reply by Mike Floyd on March 21, 2012 at 12:27am

A couple other things I look at in early spring, not only for largemouth but for early spring Muskies. Both the Tiger Muskies and Largemouth have similar habits during the season. I always concentrate on the North and east shorelines of the lake, they get the most sun and usually have the warmest water in the lake. I also watch which way the wind is blowing. If the sun has warmed the water and the wind is blowing it is moving the warmer surface water, the most active fish will likely be where the warmer water is. Moon periods can also have an effect on the fish, I had a good day on the last full moon.

 

Permalink Reply by Jake Anderson on March 21, 2012 at 8:38am

I've only fished for largemouth in Feb/March for just 2 years.  Every bite I've gotten in this time frame is described exactly by Ron in his post.  For that reason I tend to "fish the bite" instead of "fishing the bait."   When working my jig, I'm actually not working the jig.  I'm just putting in a shake, then slowly lifting the rod a bit feeling if it might load.  If it loads, you can actually feel the fishes small motions, then smile, then have a cup of coffee, then CROSS HIS EYES!!! I certainly could be wrong, but in my experience if a fish inhales a jig this time of year....he's not letting go.  I know I've lifted a few fish pretty far off the bottom before and they dont care much. 

Marc's comments are exactly what I've experienced as well.  a pond 1/4 covered in ice and I get 1 bite in 3 hours.  1 week later, with just a little ice around the edges, you get 4 bites in 45 minutes.  Saw that this year.  The pond probably switched on overnight.

Permalink Reply by Don Hogue on March 21, 2012 at 11:06am

OK Steve, these have been my experiences... 

I would say 90% of my late Feb-March LM have come on two categories of lures: 

1.)     Jigs. Usually black and blue, black and purple or black and red.  Something dark...how's that?  Pork chunks, plastic trailers, both have worked.  Both reg. jigheads and a punch skirts/plastic combo have worked.  Swimming a jig has also worked in clearer water.

2.)    Lipless cranks.  Reds, chartreuses or some kinda shiny chrome combo

The other 10% have come on jerkbaits (Staycees) or spinnerbaits slow-rolled.  I don’t usually fish around water conditions (clear enough) that are conducive to the jerkbait.

 

None of that really matters much, unless I can find/combine multiple parts of the following...in general order of priority

• north, northeast banks
• near logical or historical spawning areas
• mid-day till afternoon
• Day on the calendar more than water temp.  I've skunked on many upper 40's degree water days in early March and done great on many mid-40's water temp days in late March. 
• if carp are present, I need to either see carp activity or bump 'em with lures
• green vegetation if avail. (pretty rare around here for most of March)
• rock/hard bottom if nothing green avail.
• matted, brown veg. if the other two aren't avail
• wood if nothing else is available esp. if it's isolated, but it's got to have some other ingredients with it
• steepest contours avail that intersect with the above cover/structure and bank orientation
• if all else is equal, I focus on the warmest, cleanest water that also has the above ingredients, but "warmest" water in and of itself means nothing.  This is tricky, cause often your dirtiest water is your warmest.  But again, if I can find the other ingredients, then I would focus on the best water clarity areas that have the other stuff going for it.

The more of those things I can get going on at the same time, the better my odds are, regardless of lure.  From there, the lure is just whatever works with the cover, depth, structure, clarity and LM activity level.  However, I can't take the "right" lure and make it work without multiple ingredients from the list. 

Permalink Reply by Ronald Hobbs, Jr. on March 22, 2012 at 7:38pm

That is written way too well, I think guys should really print that out and put it in their fishing logs. Seriously I really liked the combined multiple parts of your write up, adding up all the ingredients!

Don Hogue said:

OK Steve, these have been my experiences... 

I would say 90% of my late Feb-March LM have come on two categories of lures: 

1.)     Jigs. Usually black and blue, black and purple or black and red.  Something dark...how's that?  Pork chunks, plastic trailers, both have worked.  Both reg. jigheads and a punch skirts/plastic combo have worked.  Swimming a jig has also worked in clearer water.

2.)    Lipless cranks.  Reds, chartreuses or some kinda shiny chrome combo

The other 10% have come on jerkbaits (Staycees) or spinnerbaits slow-rolled.  I don’t usually fish around water conditions (clear enough) that are conducive to the jerkbait.

 

None of that really matters much, unless I can find/combine multiple parts of the following...in general order of priority

• north, northeast banks
• near logical or historical spawning areas
• mid-day till afternoon
• Day on the calendar more than water temp.  I've skunked on many upper 40's degree water days in early March and done great on many mid-40's water temp days in late March. 
• if carp are present, I need to either see carp activity or bump 'em with lures
• green vegetation if avail. (pretty rare around here for most of March)
• rock/hard bottom if nothing green avail.
• matted, brown veg. if the other two aren't avail
• wood if nothing else is available esp. if it's isolated, but it's got to have some other ingredients with it
• steepest contours avail that intersect with the above cover/structure and bank orientation
• if all else is equal, I focus on the warmest, cleanest water that also has the above ingredients, but "warmest" water in and of itself means nothing.  This is tricky, cause often your dirtiest water is your warmest.  But again, if I can find the other ingredients, then I would focus on the best water clarity areas that have the other stuff going for it.

The more of those things I can get going on at the same time, the better my odds are, regardless of lure.  From there, the lure is just whatever works with the cover, depth, structure, clarity and LM activity level.  However, I can't take the "right" lure and make it work without multiple ingredients from the list. 

Permalink Reply by BigBass Dez on March 23, 2012 at 8:42am

I agree 100% jr  Iv been keeping a fishing log full of notes from this site from day one , im currently up too page 20 at this point  :)  

Guys like Don , Marc , Tag , and many others  have been very informative displaying tons of knowledge on this site over the years . In two years from now or my "senior year "  , I will proud too say that im a true product of our environment and one hell of a angler , thanks for giving back guys and continue to grow the sport  !!!  realtalk

Dez "The Sophomore"

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