Top 10 Random Thoughts
About the Spring Spawn
By: Robert Hudson
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Spring fishing is here. Get out the sunscreen and put on those high dollar sunglasses! Fish are heading to shallow water to spawn. In this article, I will do my best to avoid the annual “how to catch spawning bass” information. Instead, I want to point out what may be well known, but still important aspects of tournament bass fishing during the spawn.
Here are a few random facts about fishing the spawn that you need to know:
1. Make sure those expensive sunglasses are secured with an around the neck lanyard. A good pair of sunglasses is probably the most important tool during this season. They are necessary to be able to see the fish on the beds, but they are useless at the bottom of the lake. So secure them well.
2. Leg stretches before and during the day can help with the fatigue you may feel. Stretching will help to avoid those leg cramps that often develop from those unusual postures.
3. Don’t let the fishing pros and the bait companies confuse you. If your favorite lure has been catching bass off the bed for years, then it will still work today. It is always fun to try new baits on bedding bass, but fish the lure that you are comfortable with and that you feel strongly about!!
4. If you don’t have them by now, Power Poles or Talons are must-haves in today’s spawn fishing. Holding your position while casting to a spawning fish is vital. These excellent tools will help you to stay put and not drift away from or over the bed.
5. Two-pound fish are not worth your time in most tournaments. With the weights climbing every week, you need to use your time wisely. Spawn fish can be BIG fish, not two-pounders. Keep looking!!
6. In most instances, a bass on its bed will look smaller than what it actually will be. Be sure to look for fish that are bigger than what you think might weigh two pounds.
7. When you see a bass on the bed flaring its gills, it is ready to be caught! That familiar puffing of the gills and smacking of the lips is a sure sign that he is agitated and ready to bite.
8. There really is no magic temperature for a lake bass to start spawning. We always hear 60 degrees, but keep your eyes open starting at 57 degrees on our Virginia lakes and rivers.
9. Tournament guys, make sure when using way-points on your electronics to keep the 5 biggest fish in the order you plan on fishing for them. Sometimes having those way-points in order will keep you from allowing a competitor to beat you to one of your biggest fish. Sometimes our memories fail us, so use those electronics!
10. Don’t be afraid to jump on a bedding fish when you see another angler give up on it. What you are doing is probably different and may put the fish in the boat quickly since it has already been irritated.
Keep these random facts about the spawn in mind as you search for that BIG one! Please release those bass quickly if you’re not in a tournament. They will return to the bed and may be the ones that have a successful class of fish for the future!!
David Rush of Summerville, Sc caught the biggest bass for the boaters. His big fish locked in the scales at 5.84-lbs and it was good enough to earn him $580.
In the Co-Angler Division, Brandon T Pent of Sumter, SC won with 3-bass going 12.62-lbs that included a 6.21-lb big bass. He pocketed a check for $950 for his win and an additional $145 for the big bass.
