I'm no pro lol, and as a matter of fact, I'm only two years older than you. I live in NW AR, and the farthest south I've fished is the Arkansas River in Little Rock. What I can tell you that will help is to find places where bass can spawn. These places need to have a hard bottom. Pea gravel, lilly pad root systems, etc. Do a lot of research on that and compare it to the cover or structure you have available in your lakes. That is the first step. I would then look for breaks outside of these areas such as points, grass lines, transitions such bottom changes (boulders to chunk rock), humps, ledges, etc. These are the places where the big females will stage up before moving in to spawn. As to when they will be staging in these places is hard to pinpoint. A general way to figure this out is by water temperature. Generally, but not always, they should be staging at around 55 degrees and moving up on beds at about 60 degrees. Again, this a general observation to be taken with a grain of salt. They might move up when the water is cooler or warmer. Also, they tend to move up in waves, not all at once. So there will be some early and late spawners. The only way to know for sure is to get out there and catch them and observe what the bass look like. A female full of eggs caught on a break outside a spawning bed is obviously in prespawn. Make a mental note of conditions. Better yet write it down for later reference. A female with her tail scraped off and bloody is obviously on a bed. Again make a note.
Baits are really subjective if you ask me. I prefer to use a search bait like a crankbait, jerkbait, chatterbait, top water, etc to probe likely prespawn and spawning areas. Then work the area thoroughly with a bottom contact bait like a jig if I think I'm on some fish. If I see them on beds, I prefer a bait I can see well, a white jig or soft plastic usually, so I can see if they eat it or not. Sometimes they can suck a bait in and spit it out way before you ever feel it so a bright color helps to be able to see them suck it in so you can set the hook.
Do a lot of research and try this link to see if you can learn a thing or two about the structure in your lake. http://webapp.navionics.com/It might not have a topo of your lake if its real small, but its worth a shot. Good luck.
Thanks man I will sure give it a try, weather permitting I wont be able yogi ah
Till fri. Or. Sat. But I'll let ya know
