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I have a favorite lake I like to fish here in Ohio and I do really
well from May through October but I just can't seem to figure out the early spring. It's a shallow lake with avg depth around 9 ft max around 18-20ft. There is not alot of wood or rocks in the lake but there is some good shoreline. I like to through spinner baits and soft plastics but I can't seem to be able to catch them. Should I fish "slow" with finesse or "run and gun " with spinner baits? Is drop shotting a good method for pre-spawn bass? Please help I'm clueless!

G Pride, in early spring, it's best to fish shallow water, but not all shallow water. Find shallow points, sandy banks with pea gravel or chunk rock banks close to deeper water. I'd forget drop shotting for now unless you do it along sides bridge pilings or boat docks. That will come later. I alo like to fish the North east shorelines early in the year. It receives the most sunshine and the least efects of cold northeast winds. Chunk rock banks are my favorite folowed by mud flats with brush and stumps or carp wallows. The stained water from the wallows stirs up the algae which attracts minnows and panfish and bass.
I like to throw chartreuse fire tiger spinnerbaits with gold blades early in the season-1/4 to 3/8 ounce slow rolled or buzzed across the surface. Look for indivual little pockets along the bank that will warm the quickest. Another great early season bait is a cokmmon V wiggle wart in shad-fire tiger or spring crawfish, especially along bluffs and chunk rock baits. Fish these baits at a medium slo retrieve. Good luck and keep on pluggin' Johnnie

I thing that I keep reminding myself during this early season is that a bass has no control over their enviroment and are conditioned by that enviroment.
If you know where they are going to eventually spawn, then just start backtracking out and hit every little possible piece of cover there is between spawning grounds and main lake. I know it will be different for each lake but somewhere between the two will be either grass, wood, rock, points, etc... With rock being my favorite.
In the early season, I don't think that bait is as important as location. Once you feel you have the location correct then experiment. I usually start with traps, jerks, and jigs and expand from there.

Hope this makes sense and good luck.

Roger Spaulding

It took me a while before I wanted to answer this question because I too have suffered in the early spring. I looked back over my tournament logs and records and realized that my weakest finishes were in the early spring. Since this discovery I have read just about every peice of litature I could find on fishing early spring and applied it. So far its has helped though I am still not at the point I would like to be.

Anyway back to your question. Jonnie and Roger have both given you some exclent information as they always seem to do.
I have started approaching it like Roger mentioned. Look for the place the fish will most likely spawn. Now look for anything near this spawning area that the fish could use to get to this spawning area. For example say you are driving down the interstate. You need to stop and get some coffee at the next gas station. What are you going to do to get off the interstate to the gas station? You are going to use the exit ramp and the access road, right? Fish do the same thing. They follow the contours of the deep water then go along the contours working there way shallow. This could be points, rock piles, old fence rows, old road beds,or even a change in the bottom make up. (like chunck rock to pea gravel) It could be a large lay-down log that they use.

Use your electronics and find these Interstates, exit ramps, and access roads to find your early spring prespawn bass and I bet your catch rate will improve also. Think about it for a second. Interstates are usally lower, you exit off the interstate and usally go up hill to the access road, then the access road carries you to the gas station and you exit off it into the parking lot, a large flat area that is usally gravel or pavement. The same things fish are looking for to spawn on. Hope that helps and doesn't sound to corny, but that is the way I compair my early spring fishing.

The baits that I use depends what part of these roadways I'm fishing. If the fish still seem to be out deep on the interstate I fish a carolina rig or a deep crankbait. As they hit the exit ramp I start with hard jerkbaits such as a suspending rouge or a spinner bait. On the access roads I use the jerk bait still along with a lipless crak bait like the rattle trap or strike king diamond shad. When they are parked at the gas station I hit them with texas rigged lizards, tubes or a jig and pig.



mofish