One of the best times of the year to catch bass is in the spring. Often this is the prime time to even attempt bass fishing. Often for the professional anglers, the biggest bass will be caught between roughly early February and late May. Thankfully instead of having to struggle and waste time trying to catch a giant bass, we have the top guide on how to have successfully have a bass fishing season!
In the early spring, bass spawning instincts forces the fish to leave their dark deep water and move towards any shallow water so they can spawn. Spring bass fishing is much easier compared to any other season of bass fishing since they are in shallower water, therefore the lures present themselves more due to how the anglers can effectively land it in the strike zone compared to when you are in deeper water.
The time is approaching fast and you are just wasting time when you should be out there on the lake participating fishing! I’m sure you’re wondering though, “how am I going to catch it”? When you head out, its just the same people catching those giant bass every single year. You may be wondering what their secret is, if there is a secret lure, or maybe they are just extremely lucky?
Top Early Spring Bass Fishing Tips
Don’t get too caught up in the dust if you are failing to pull in that giant bass, luck plays a bigger roll than you think. With a few of our tips, you may be able to create your own luck and hopefully be that one angler you’ve been idling!
Equipment, technology may play a big roll, bit its not everything
Often, professional anglers who are seen catching big, huge trophy fish are not just solely lucky, but also have a lot of skill in this spring fishing season. These anglers come into the right lake with everything they need to exceed; with the newest technology, equipment, skill and knowledge; there simply is no way that they will fail.
Knowledge is power
Most states have plenty of lakes to catch bass in the early season. In most lakes, you will find up to roughly about 12 pounds. Once you start trying to score that big bass over 12 pounds, the list of lakes quickly dwindles. If you are looking to pull in a massive bass, try to find the top lakes in recent years that have pulled out the largest bass. Once you have your list, it’ll most likely be the same lakes the following years too. Research is key when you are trying to participate with bass fishing.
Shallow to deep water is key: Find those drop offs
If you are planning on trying to get anything when out on the lake during the spring season, go for the shallow water right next to a major drop off. This even applies to major or narrow creeks, small points, open coves and especially anywhere with deep banks or obvious breaklines.
If you are fishing in the spring during a cold front, your best bet is to head towards the deeper breaklines at roughly 10 to 15 feet of water. Once the water starts warming up and or starts becoming something consistent, head over to the shallow water area that is roughly 3 to 5 feet deep. Sometimes you may get lucky trying to fish deeper breaklines that are 10 to 15 feet deep when the water is warmer.
Cover as much water as you can
This is one of the hardest things to get used to when learning how to catch bass in the early spring. You will want to cover a lot of water but try not to cover too much. You will want to try your best to stay on the breakline or at the very least; near it. When bites start coming in, you’ll need to start slowing down your pace and try to “work” the hole.
Often you will find small to even large schools of bass near mouth of creeks and sometimes even to the back ends depending on the weather. Once you find these schools though, you will be in one heck of a time of bass fishing and you will often find your line being strikes right and left!
One of the bad parts about finding these schools of bass though is that they are not consistent. There is a low chance that you will find them again the next day. Its better to at the very least give the hole a shot and maybe you will get lucky! More often than not, they will be gone.
Early Spring Bass Fishing in the Deep
Often you will have the most trouble pulling in bass when they are in deeper water. This is the time to pull out any of your diving crankbaits. These crankbaits are key to getting down into deeper breaklines that are roughly 10 to 15 feet. If you have a shallow breakline, I suggest you use a lipless crankbaits.
Many people don’t realize how effective these two baits are used to cover a lot of water at a time. If you start to locate a school and start getting a few strikes. You might want to switch over to a jig, or sometimes a soft jerkbait. You might even be able to just use a typical jig technique and pull in a decent size bass. Half the battle is locating where the bass is when they are in the deeper water.
Shallow water bass fishing tricks
Everyone and anyone will tell you that spinnerbaits are the best to throw out and snag a bass. When in shallow water, this is the perfect time to let these lures shine. One of the main goals when using a spinnerbait though is to try to cover a lot of area but only work the hole at a slow pace.
One of the best tips of spring bass fishing is to try to use a larger lure. The bigger the lure, the bigger the catch will often be. Along with that, since you are catching such big bass; you will need equipment to stand up against the test of time. With that in mind, stay near the heavy side for rods, medium to heavy for reels, line that can hold roughly 20 to 30 pound with mono or if you are using braided, roughly 40 pound braided line.
If you are even debating on going out and participating in this spring season of fishing, it can be a blast! Give it a shot, it may be a little cold, but you’ll enjoy it! You will often have strikes hitting your lures right and left; providing you with one of the most action packed, adrenaline pumping fishing seasons of the year! Don’t miss out on catching a trophy bass, get out there and give it a shot!
