Crestliner2008

I really don't care too much about what the trees are doing....I just go fishing.

Slow & steady usually works. Jigs or hollow bellied swimbaits.

Agreed.....birds and shore mammals (racoons) are major contributors to stocking many small ponds with different species of fish eggs. However, nature selects which of those species will survive in that particular eco-system.

Same thing with trout fishermen. Some catch them on spinners & spoons. Some on live garden hackle and shiners. Some on flies. Whatever your cup of tea happens to be is just fine.

Back in the 60's, the L&S Mirror Lure was "the" lure to have. I use to have several of the smaller versions with metal bills. The finishes were truly a state-of-the-art for back then. And they worked! Caught many sm & lm on them....as well as one heck of a carp!

One of my favorites for smallies (this time of the year) would be a 5" SK Shadalicious paddle-tail swimbait on a 5/8 oz. weighted swimbait hook. Again, long casts and slow rolled along the bottom. Just make sure the head and tail are acting properly. You do that by looking at it in shallow water to determine proper speed. Another good producing (jig style) bait is the Chatterbait (I prefer white) with a 4" fluke-type plastic on it's behind. Senkos work - period. Color is of little concern to me. Green Pumkin and/or Watermelon will represent just about anything in the aquatic world. Sometimes I Texas rig (unweighted always!); sometimes wacky rigged. Depends on the mood of the bass. But know this, bass will eat it one way or the other - SM or LM.

If you have some current, which it appears you do, the first thing you need to consider in approaching any structure (such as an eddy) is boat control. You will not be able to present your bait effectively to any eddy (or other river structure) unless you control your boat properly. What this means is that your boat must be moving down stream slower than the current. This give your bait time to get down and stay down in the strike zone for longer periods of time. "Slipping" a river was advocated extensively, in the upper Mississippi river area, by Dan Gapan. This technique of boat control is effective everywhere there is current - with fish holding in current breaks (eddys, wing dams, bridge pilings, etc.). All this is, is using your main engine to move the boat forward, bow upstream, but just a bit slower than the current flow - slipping it, if you will. If you get the hang of this technique, your catch ratio will increase dramatically on any river system. It has for me, for many years. When you get the hang of this, it will reveal that smallies, walleye and northern pike, will take just about anything coming down at them close to the bottom, where they feed. Tubes, jigs, soft plastics all work. You'll become proficient at "reading" current in no time. Good Luck!

Some excellent points and tips! I can't remember the last time I tossed a spinnerbait without a trailer hook though! Maybe 30 years or more. Haven't experienced the problems Hank points to. I usually never get snagged as long as I'm retrieving it up close to the surface. If I'm going to be tossing to wood, I'll opt for a swimjig or squarebill crank instead of a spinnerbait. But that's just me.

For pre-spawn, focus on flats that have deep water close by. The bass may/may not be on these spawning flats, but I'll guarantee they are not far from them. Difficult fishing any kind of jerkbait or crank when fishing from the bank. If I'm bank walking, I'm carrying jigs and soft plastics. Remember your polaroid sunglasses. Walk softly. Keep low. Make long casts. Big females will be cruising in & out of these flats all day long. You just have to present them something they can't resist....like a 7" Senko!

Round up a copy of Buck Perry's book entitled, "Spoonplugging for Bass". It will educate you quickly in all aspects of structure fishing, from shallow to deep. Once you understand these basic concepts, you can & will build upon them, according to the waters you fish. Invaluable information.

Early in the season like this, I've had decent results from Chatterbaits. I dress them with a 4" Fluke. White seems to work very well.

I'm sure the water is still pretty cold. Locate the spawning flats with deep water close by. Ply the drop off areas with jerkbaits until you find them, then slow down. They are definitely moving up this time of the year, even though the water is still cold. It's a light thing.

Scott has given you some excellent advice.

Very nice catch indeed! Congrats!

You will get more value added responses if you can tell us what kind of water you are fishing - lake, reservoir or river? Which species of bass are you targeting? How clear is the water and what is the temperature? Just a thought.

Has anyone seen anything "official" on this yet? I'd hate to think it was an "April-fools" joke of some demented kind! Have yet to any obit.

Another MA fisherman here as well, being forced to endure the wrath of the tree huggers! In any case, more & more companies are specializing in, or incorporating non-lead jigs, hooks and lures into their product lines. One that I've done a lot of business with is Cadman's Custom Fishing Tackle. You can contact Ted Cadman directly at his email address: chodor@sbcglobal.net. He has an extensive online catalog which he will send to you. Another I've bought jigs from is GreenTackle.com. More & more of them are popping up every day.

RIP Doug. One of my "teachers" from early on. Will truly be missed.

I much prefer salt water fish to fresh water. That being said, there isn't a lot of species I haven't eaten at one time or another. The walleye is certainly an excellent eating fish. However, after a couple of meals, you can get tired of the taste. I like crappie and yellow perch too, but not something I could dine on all the time either. Catfish isn't bad, but I'm not partial to many bottom feeders - my own food prejudices! I've also eaten eels, striped bass, LM & SM bass, white perch and bullhead. Never tried a carp or bowfin though! Hands down, the best eating fresh water fish - in my opinion - is the Northern Pike. Once you learn how to properly filet them, you can eat this fish daily, if you had to and still like it. It's a compromise between tasty and bland. I usually dust the filets with various seasonings to change up the pace from time to time. These days though, being retired and not of a notion to kill & keep my catch any longer, I go more for the salt water species offered at my local butcher shop.

I've done about as well with Little Georges as I have with blade baits, such as the Silver Buddy. About any presentation, under cold water conditions, that employs a snapping on/off bottom retrieve will work. There's a lot of hype going around this year about the Jigging Rap. This is an old ice fishing lure that the Lindner's have resurrected from the '60's and have successfully applied to early season walleye fishing. Again....it's all about depth & speed control. Nothing magical. The older fishermen knew this....I paid attention!

Thanks....my thoughts exactly.

Just picked up a small 12' aluminum deep-V for pond hopping. It will be powered by an old (1977) 9.9 hp Evinrude, with a 55# thrust electric. Both on the stern. It's been awhile (30 years) since I've had a small open fishing boat like this. Is it O.K. to have the battery AND the gas tank in the rear floor compartment, behind the rear seat? Forget about balance for this discussion. I'm interested in the safety aspect of doing this. The trolling motor terminals will be screwed down on the 12V deep cycle marine battery. But, the gas tank is of the old, steel variety and will have to have the cap loosened one notch to prevent air locks. Thanks a bunch guys.

Some very deep insights here on the use & selection of spinnerbaits. Henry David Thoreau once wrote, "Simplify, simplify, simplfy." A lot of folks get tied up in their socks over which spinnerbait to be tossing. Agreed, bass can be selective, some of the time. But mostly I've caught a lot of bass on the same spinnerbait that Bill Dance uses; a 3/8 - 1/2 oz., single silver blade with a black body & skirt. I have a box FULL of all kinds and colors. Yet, in all the years I've been tossing spinnerbaits (don't ask!), the above selection has produced reliably for me, time & time again. And, I use one of the oldest spinnerbait designers and manufacturers....Fleck. Probably because I'm old too! Some folks just have a tendency to "over-think" some things. I don't. Just another opinion folks.

Even though the water is cold, start looking for drop offs close by spots you believe they'll be using for spawn. The light factor starts moving them shallower this time of the year. Probably a more potent factor than water temperature. The jerkbait can be a very valuable tool this time of the years. Bring along some bladed, vibration jigs as well as some spinnerbaits. Good luck!

Bluegill are particularly responsive to small spoons; i.e.: 1/12 oz. KastMaster & 1/8 oz. Swedish Pimples. Works well in cold water too. Use a drop & pull technique. You'll get bit.