Help With Bass Moods

[stanlje2]

I finally made it back out on the lake for the first time in about a month. My boat has been in the shop and then my dad had to have open heart surgery so I lost a feel for what state the bass are in concerning the spawn. I am usually out there minimally once per week and usually figure something out with the bass but not this trip. I literally saw hundreds of bass on the beds around the lake and also just outside the bedding areas just cruising back and forth. Bluebird skies. 20-25mph winds but the bedding areas were mostly gaurded from the wind. Water temps had dropped slightly from the low 70's to 68. Every time I would present a bait to the bedding areas or anywhere else for that matter where I could see the fish, the bass would immediatly run away from the lure. I tried everything, long cast and slow retreive and dead stick it (senko, Yum Money craw and jigs of various sizes) over the bed, drag into and around the beds and even through some lipless and square bills outside the beds around hydrilla.....nothing! Skunked! I only had one small buck bass all day bother to pick up the money craw and when I set the hook, I pulled it from his mouth. I guess he didn't have the hook in his mouth. This was the only fish that showed any interest all day. What causes this mood? I did see males and a few huge females but didn't see any spawning rituals taking place like I have seen in the past.

[WRB]

When bass are transitioning from late pre spawn to spawn, the first sign is seeing female cruisers and spooky males selecting bed sites.

The females can be caught by fishing the deeper breaks. If the males are not holding on a bed site, they haven't made a commitment to protect it. The best way to know is wait until the bass returns and try something smaller like a 3" tube or 1/8 oz jig and have patients. If the bass runs off every cast, try a different bed site. Your best bet however is targeting the bigger females in deeper water, the ones you can't see.

Tom

[IneedAnewScreenName-972354]

How was the fishing pressure on the lake that day? Remember if you can see the fish, the fish can probably see you, and if they have seen several dozen boats that day they can be very wary. One thing you can try is to mark the location of beds holding Bass and move out of the area for some time and then come back and remain out of sight from the bed and cast to your markers.

Good Luck!

[stanlje2]

How was the fishing pressure on the lake that day? Remember if you can see the fish, the fish can probably see you, and if they have seen several dozen boats that day they can be very wary. One thing you can try is to mark the location of beds holding Bass and move out of the area for some time and then come back and remain out of sight from the bed and cast to your markers.

Good Luck!

The pressure was not bad at all the day I was there, although there was a tourny a couple days before. I talked to the owner of the local tackle shop and he said fishing at the tournament was terrible that weekend. He didn't recall what the winning weight was but said 2nd place was just over 10lbs which for this lake is extreemly bad. The last two tournaments weighed in over 30lbs 5 bass limit so the fish are for sure not biting. I did mark several of the locations and will give them another chance soon. looking back, I'm sure I should have moved out a little deeper....its very hard to do that when I can see all the bass on and around the beds but I'm sure that was part of the cause of my failure. Thanks for the input guys!