Pre-spawn question

Hi All,

I live in SW Illinois and last couple of years I have done poorly in my
pre-spawn attempts on my fav. lakes nearby.

Weedlines are almost non-existent (dormant, stick looking), water cold
(under 45 degrees)

I have "thrown the tacklebox at them" in the last couple of years with poor
results.

Question: What do you guys use as your fav. approach in these types of
conditions?

Thanks in advance.

Suthern

PS

Gettin the boat ready soon...I'm itchin to get out after being cooped up all
winter.

Got any brush or tulies?

Last year I did really good throwing senkos weightless to tulies sticking
out of the water with edge depths of 4-6 feet. Caught a lot of young buck
bass in the 1.3 to 1.5 range I had a couple of 40-50 fish days doing that.
You could see them come out of the tulies and look at the bait. Then when
their gills flared you knoew you had him.

My next choice was to find 4-6 feet in stable or rising conditions and look
for isolated cover or structure, and lee side of points in windy weather.

If conditions are constantly chaning or if you are getting fronts every 4-5
days like we have been this year then all bets are off. If you get lucky
you get to fish as the front is coming in or during the storm. My luck has
been that I have to hit them as the front is rolling out. WE al;reayd have
fish on beds, but all the fronts we have had keep pulling them off the beds
so I have had better luck cranking the 6-10 foot depth, with 10 being our
deepest water in most areas. One note... unlike winter fishing where I
tend to fish the deeper water near the steeper banks, at this time of year I
am starting shallow and working out to deeper water near the shallower
banks. Also, in coves and back waters I am finding more fish on the north
and west sides where the sun hits first in the morning rather than on the
south and east sides where it tends to be better in the summer during the
mornings. Thes are of course very loose guidlins because every place is
different.

I have seen beds and prededding cruisers on solid rock banks this year event
hough those aren't ideal spawning bed locations they happen to be where the
water warms up first espcially west ond north rocky banks.

How this translates to your area I have no clue, so I guess I should just
keep my opnions to myself. LOL

--
** Public Fishing and Boating Forums
** www.YumaBassMan.com


"Suthern Transplant" wrote in message
...
Hi All,

I live in SW Illinois and last couple of years I have done poorly in my
pre-spawn attempts on my fav. lakes nearby.

Weedlines are almost non-existent (dormant, stick looking), water cold
(under 45 degrees)

I have "thrown the tacklebox at them" in the last couple of years with
poor
results.

Question: What do you guys use as your fav. approach in these types of
conditions?

Thanks in advance.

Suthern

PS

Gettin the boat ready soon...I'm itchin to get out after being cooped up
all
winter.

Thanks Bob,

I will try some of this out soon....er' what are tulies?

Regards,

Suthern

"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
...
Got any brush or tulies?

Last year I did really good throwing senkos weightless to tulies sticking
out of the water with edge depths of 4-6 feet. Caught a lot of young buck
bass in the 1.3 to 1.5 range I had a couple of 40-50 fish days doing
that.
You could see them come out of the tulies and look at the bait. Then when
their gills flared you knoew you had him.

My next choice was to find 4-6 feet in stable or rising conditions and
look
for isolated cover or structure, and lee side of points in windy weather.

If conditions are constantly chaning or if you are getting fronts every
4-5
days like we have been this year then all bets are off. If you get lucky
you get to fish as the front is coming in or during the storm. My luck
has
been that I have to hit them as the front is rolling out. WE al;reayd
have
fish on beds, but all the fronts we have had keep pulling them off the
beds
so I have had better luck cranking the 6-10 foot depth, with 10 being our
deepest water in most areas. One note... unlike winter fishing where I
tend to fish the deeper water near the steeper banks, at this time of year
I
am starting shallow and working out to deeper water near the shallower
banks. Also, in coves and back waters I am finding more fish on the north
and west sides where the sun hits first in the morning rather than on the
south and east sides where it tends to be better in the summer during the
mornings. Thes are of course very loose guidlins because every place is
different.

I have seen beds and prededding cruisers on solid rock banks this year
event
hough those aren't ideal spawning bed locations they happen to be where
the
water warms up first espcially west ond north rocky banks.

How this translates to your area I have no clue, so I guess I should just
keep my opnions to myself. LOL

--
** Public Fishing and Boating Forums
** www.YumaBassMan.com


"Suthern Transplant" wrote in message
...
Hi All,

I live in SW Illinois and last couple of years I have done poorly in my
pre-spawn attempts on my fav. lakes nearby.

Weedlines are almost non-existent (dormant, stick looking), water cold
(under 45 degrees)

I have "thrown the tacklebox at them" in the last couple of years with
poor
results.

Question: What do you guys use as your fav. approach in these types of
conditions?

Thanks in advance.

Suthern

PS

Gettin the boat ready soon...I'm itchin to get out after being cooped up
all
winter.

Suthern Transplant wrote:
Hi All,

I live in SW Illinois and last couple of years I have done poorly in my
pre-spawn attempts on my fav. lakes nearby.

Weedlines are almost non-existent (dormant, stick looking), water cold
(under 45 degrees)

I have "thrown the tacklebox at them" in the last couple of years with poor
results.

Question: What do you guys use as your fav. approach in these types of
conditions?

Thanks in advance.

Suthern

PS

Gettin the boat ready soon...I'm itchin to get out after being cooped up all
winter.


First thing I would do is study your map and find all the spawning areas
(protected bays, coves off the main lake that warm the fastest). For
instance, say you have a brushpile in about 10' of water right near a
dropoff on the outside of a bay on the northwest side of the lake, you
will be in a prime area from 45-50 degrees, and probably be on or near
wintering areas. So from that perspective as the water warms the fish
will move shallow looking for food and preparing to spawn. I am not
sure what lake you are on, and this is all assuming you are on a natural
lake or reservoir with creeks and bays. Find the northwest shore on
your lake and find what could be spawning areas. Look for life, pay
attention to insects, panfish, the start of vegetation. Any greenery
this time of year will attract the fish (in spawning areas).

Baits would very from jerkbaits, to jigs, to weightless plastics. Let
the water temp and aquatic activity determine your presentation. Cold
front comes in , sometimes the fish will move back, sometimes they will
tuck into available cover. If you find spawning grounds, then move back
from there to the flats, and then the adjacent drop offs. Map study to
me is the most important thing you can do. Segment off the areas you
want to fish, bass are pretty predictable, and use the same spawning
areas year after year , almost to the inch (In-Fisherman Largemouth Bass).

Good luck, sorry I cannot be more specific.

Chris

The first thing I look for in pre-spawn is spawning on the northwest
and north sides of the lake that are protected from the cold NW winds.
These areas get more sun and are usually the first to warm up.

Somewhere between these spawning areas and the deep winter areas will
be staging areas such as long points, dropoffs, etc. Is these areas
have cover, then that much better.

My baits choices are simple. Suspending jerkbaits and crankbaits
fished with long pauses, lipless baits dragged along the bottom or 1/2
oz. - 1 oz. spinnerbaits slow rolled are about all I throw early in the
year.

I've caught several nice Indiana bass in March this way.

Brad

Cat tails. Water reeds.
Bill

"Suthern Transplant" wrote in message
...
Thanks Bob,

I will try some of this out soon....er' what are tulies?

Regards,

Suthern

"Bob La Londe" wrote in message
...
Got any brush or tulies?

Last year I did really good throwing senkos weightless to tulies
sticking
out of the water with edge depths of 4-6 feet. Caught a lot of young
buck
bass in the 1.3 to 1.5 range I had a couple of 40-50 fish days doing
that.
You could see them come out of the tulies and look at the bait. Then
when
their gills flared you knoew you had him.

My next choice was to find 4-6 feet in stable or rising conditions and
look
for isolated cover or structure, and lee side of points in windy
weather.

If conditions are constantly chaning or if you are getting fronts every
4-5
days like we have been this year then all bets are off. If you get
lucky
you get to fish as the front is coming in or during the storm. My luck
has
been that I have to hit them as the front is rolling out. WE al;reayd
have
fish on beds, but all the fronts we have had keep pulling them off the
beds
so I have had better luck cranking the 6-10 foot depth, with 10 being
our
deepest water in most areas. One note... unlike winter fishing where I
tend to fish the deeper water near the steeper banks, at this time of
year
I
am starting shallow and working out to deeper water near the shallower
banks. Also, in coves and back waters I am finding more fish on the
north
and west sides where the sun hits first in the morning rather than on
the
south and east sides where it tends to be better in the summer during
the
mornings. Thes are of course very loose guidlins because every place is
different.

I have seen beds and prededding cruisers on solid rock banks this year
event
hough those aren't ideal spawning bed locations they happen to be where
the
water warms up first espcially west ond north rocky banks.

How this translates to your area I have no clue, so I guess I should
just
keep my opnions to myself. LOL

--
** Public Fishing and Boating Forums
** www.YumaBassMan.com


"Suthern Transplant" wrote in message
...
Hi All,

I live in SW Illinois and last couple of years I have done poorly in my
pre-spawn attempts on my fav. lakes nearby.

Weedlines are almost non-existent (dormant, stick looking), water cold
(under 45 degrees)

I have "thrown the tacklebox at them" in the last couple of years with
poor
results.

Question: What do you guys use as your fav. approach in these types of
conditions?

Thanks in advance.

Suthern

PS

Gettin the boat ready soon...I'm itchin to get out after being cooped
up
all
winter.

On Fri, 25 Feb 2005 15:44:27 -0500, go-bassn wrote:

I think the problem is that his fish aren't yet in prespawn patterns,
they're still in winter patterns...

Warren

"Brad Coovert" wrote in message
ups.com...
The first thing I look for in pre-spawn is spawning on the northwest
and north sides of the lake that are protected from the cold NW winds.
These areas get more sun and are usually the first to warm up.

Somewhere between these spawning areas and the deep winter areas will
be staging areas such as long points, dropoffs, etc. Is these areas
have cover, then that much better.

My baits choices are simple. Suspending jerkbaits and crankbaits
fished with long pauses, lipless baits dragged along the bottom or 1/2
oz. - 1 oz. spinnerbaits slow rolled are about all I throw early in the
year.

I've caught several nice Indiana bass in March this way.

Brad

Warren,

Right, I believe finding spawning grounds will give you an idea about
where the fish will winter over. So working out from there is probably
his best bet, especially if you are not used to fishing those patterns
(deep water, slow presentation) use jigging spoons, or blade baits, or
even jigs or plastic salamanders.
I have never got to fish Pre-spawn here on Winnebago out of my own boat,
so it will be interesting once I get my boat back :-). I know where the
fish spawn, so to find their wintering areas will help me big time.

Chris

I think the problem is that his fish aren't yet in prespawn patterns,
they're still in winter patterns...

Warren

"Brad Coovert" wrote in message
ups.com...
The first thing I look for in pre-spawn is spawning on the northwest
and north sides of the lake that are protected from the cold NW winds.
These areas get more sun and are usually the first to warm up.

Somewhere between these spawning areas and the deep winter areas will
be staging areas such as long points, dropoffs, etc. Is these areas
have cover, then that much better.

My baits choices are simple. Suspending jerkbaits and crankbaits
fished with long pauses, lipless baits dragged along the bottom or 1/2
oz. - 1 oz. spinnerbaits slow rolled are about all I throw early in the
year.

I've caught several nice Indiana bass in March this way.

Brad

Suthern Transplant wrote:
Hi All,

I live in SW Illinois and last couple of years I have done poorly in my
pre-spawn attempts on my fav. lakes nearby.

Weedlines are almost non-existent (dormant, stick looking), water cold
(under 45 degrees)

45 degree water, I'm throwing a smoke grub on a light jig head and a
hard jerkbait. The jig & grub is used as an object lure, and the
jerkbait is fished with LLLLLOOOONNNNGGGG pauses.

Brad Coovert wrote:
The first thing I look for in pre-spawn is spawning on the northwest
and north sides of the lake that are protected from the cold NW winds.
These areas get more sun and are usually the first to warm up.

Somewhere between these spawning areas and the deep winter areas will
be staging areas such as long points, dropoffs, etc. Is these areas
have cover, then that much better.

My baits choices are simple. Suspending jerkbaits and crankbaits
fished with long pauses, lipless baits dragged along the bottom or 1/2
oz. - 1 oz. spinnerbaits slow rolled are about all I throw early in the
year.

I've caught several nice Indiana bass in March this way.

Brad

45 degree water isn't really prespawn. The fish aren't really moving to
spawning areas yet at that temp, but some of the ose same areas can
expected to hold the most active fish in the lake, and they are there to
feed, not to spawn.