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

So I have actually spoke to a number of folks on this forum, and have yet to get anyone that was able to pin point, what it takes to catch largemouth  consistently this time of year.

So I am looking for your best tips, approaches, etc for catching largemouth at this time a year. I am more than willing to admit, its a mystery to me, so I am looking for help.

I spent Saturday fishing Black Lake, water was 44-45 degrees, air temp was 41.  I wasn't the only one either, but I am not aware of any fish caught.  I may have picked the worse day of the month, but everything I have read, learned and heard tells me fish still can be caught even at these worst possible conditions. 

I have always been very patient and willing to really slow down but have discovered the value in covering water verses fishing slow is a difficult balance to obtain, when you get no feedback from the fish in the form of getting bit.

So, Whats it take? what do you do? Where do you start. If you see fish deep, how do you catch them?

Thanks

Steve

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Replies to This Discussion

wait till May....sorry couldn't resist but I skipped fishing this week when I saw the snow coming down otherwise I would've been there too.....lol

I was on the way to the lake, and thought, If I turn around, I just know its going to be a pleasant day... and it was. Only rained once for a few minutes. Was cold but still felt great to get out.

I'm no expert but I fish later in the day and when it's sunny. I want the sun to warm the water a bit.

My magic number is normally 48 degrees, smallies a touch cooler.  I think the main thing is, the fish, both species will be really bunched up, find one there will be more.  Slow is the norm but, a reaction bite normally gives them away.  Fish a warming trend, 2 or 3 days of nice weather, the 3rd afternoon usually is pretty productive.  Find the crappie and the bass are near.  Best day ever was on Eloika, a small lake north of Spokane.  Ice was off for 2 days, windy/rainy, buddy and I caught 23 fish only 1 was less than 4lbs.  Using a jig or a Pork-o, 1st fish hit a spinnerbait.  Find a place that you know will hold spawners soon and just try to fish every foot of the water out front, 1st ledge usually.  Good luck!

In order for there to be a consistant Largemouth bite or success in the winter/early early spring, there has to be consistancy in the weather. Since we live in Wa, there is no consistancy in the weather therefore there is no perfect consistant Largemouth strategy for success this time of the year.

 

There may be a few hints to when they might be more prone to bite and like Mike said, go in the afternoon or when the sun may warm the water up a bit more and also like David said about getting a solid stretch of nice weather. Look for hard bottom, wood, lilly pad roots/stems that may hold heat.

Steve,

 

        I think the fish on the East side respond to weather changes (good and bad) quicker than on the west side.

I have a buddy who fished a small lake in eastern washington this weekend, and caught 4 largies from shore. Remember everything moves slower in cold water, so your presentations should be the same!~

Another thing to consider is whether there are special areas on the body of water where the water warms quicker or is for some reason warmer than everywhere else.  These warmer areas will usually hold concentrations of fish that are more active.   

I've always wondered about "fishing slow" in the early spring.  I fished a large pond in eastern wa last week and caught 3 and lost a very nice largemouth by fishing jigs relatively quick.  I was fishing "slow" in that I made 20 pitches to every bush, but I would shake, drag, and hop my jig like i would in late spring or even summer.  I would get hit within 5 seconds of my jig hitting bottom.  Couple shakes....DOINK...:-)

 

I've gone back through with a dropshot and drowned robo worms for minutes and not gotten bit???

 

While I understand stroking a jig, or burning a spinnerbait is a bit much in early March around here, but do we over-emphasize "slow" too much?  Do we really need to fish slow? Or do we need to fish "thorough"?

 

Chad Simon said:

I have a buddy who fished a small lake in eastern washington this weekend, and caught 4 largies from shore. Remember everything moves slower in cold water, so your presentations should be the same!~

I'd say you were fishing slow enough! Let the fish tell you what they want, but in general I would stick with slow approaches. How big of a jig were you using? ROF? Would you have gotten more bites on the fall if your jig would have fallen slower? Would you have gotten less bites if the profile of your jig was smaller? It's bass fishing, and there will always be 100 variables with what-ifs attached. Slow is a generalized starting point. If I was to go largemouth fishing tommorrow, I would most likely start with a large mop jig with a slow ROF with either a pork trailer, or a trailer with subtle action. Yes, largemouth tend to be in predictable spots this time of year, and yes they can be tough to catch. So to answer your question I would say both thorough and slow are two very important aspects to puting fish in the boat this time of year.
 
Jake "The Snake" Anderson said:

I've always wondered about "fishing slow" in the early spring.  I fished a large pond in eastern wa last week and caught 3 and lost a very nice largemouth by fishing jigs relatively quick.  I was fishing "slow" in that I made 20 pitches to every bush, but I would shake, drag, and hop my jig like i would in late spring or even summer.  I would get hit within 5 seconds of my jig hitting bottom.  Couple shakes....DOINK...:-)

 

I've gone back through with a dropshot and drowned robo worms for minutes and not gotten bit???

 

While I understand stroking a jig, or burning a spinnerbait is a bit much in early March around here, but do we over-emphasize "slow" too much?  Do we really need to fish slow? Or do we need to fish "thorough"?

 

Chad Simon said:

I have a buddy who fished a small lake in eastern washington this weekend, and caught 4 largies from shore. Remember everything moves slower in cold water, so your presentations should be the same!~

Steve, I have always liked the dynamite approach in early spring.  The key is to keep adding sticks until you get the proper concusive ratio as to stun but not kill the fish.  Here on the west side it can be such a crap shoot from day to day.  Some of the basic's I do, fish with slow moving baits. Look for banks that have the most sun exposure in the later part of the day.  Look for the most dominate pieces of cover and work those few special area's over many times instead of just run the whole bank or all the docks of a shoreline.  By finding the ( lets just say for arguement sake ) the best 5 looking docks, on the shore with the best sun exposure, that is close to deeper water.  I would hit those 5 over and over, rather than just going down the bank and hitting everything.

 

Mark

I think Jake sums it up pretty well.  "Slow" is such a relative thing that its almost meaningless to talk about.  Many guys will interpret slow to mean grab a plastic bait and move it really slow.  I think this time of year you should mostly try to get fish to react since they will be feeding very little.  You may line up your fishing efforts with their one meal in the last 3 days, but odds aren't good.  I think the better odds are to get where they are at and make many casts and get them to react even though they probably aren't feeding.   Water clarity seems to play a really big role this time of year, but again, it's so relative it's hard to really sum up in a few words.  Bottom line is your gonna get skunked some this time of year-  fish are making some big transitions in many cases, their metabolism is low and they aren't feeding much, and the weather is all over the place.  But the good news is your also gonna catch some of your best bass of the year now.

Jake "The Snake" Anderson said:

I've always wondered about "fishing slow" in the early spring.  I fished a large pond in eastern wa last week and caught 3 and lost a very nice largemouth by fishing jigs relatively quick.  I was fishing "slow" in that I made 20 pitches to every bush, but I would shake, drag, and hop my jig like i would in late spring or even summer.  I would get hit within 5 seconds of my jig hitting bottom.  Couple shakes....DOINK...:-)

 

I've gone back through with a dropshot and drowned robo worms for minutes and not gotten bit???

 

While I understand stroking a jig, or burning a spinnerbait is a bit much in early March around here, but do we over-emphasize "slow" too much?  Do we really need to fish slow? Or do we need to fish "thorough"?

 

Chad Simon said:

I have a buddy who fished a small lake in eastern washington this weekend, and caught 4 largies from shore. Remember everything moves slower in cold water, so your presentations should be the same!~

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