Post Spawn, Bluebird Skies, Where To Start?

[mattk22]

So, I am headed out later this week, my fishery is just post spawn with mid 70's water temp due to the recent cold streak.  The day I am heading out is to be bluebird skies with 5-10mph wind.  Normally I would be fishing 5-10 feet of water with a crankbait, swimbait, or shakey head.  Will the post frontal conditions and high skies push the post spawners deeper off the end of the points, so I should be looking more towards the 10+ feet.  Or, will they push up to the bank and hide in the shade of the overhanding trees?  This lake is void of any grass, and has an average depth of about 20 feet.  Let me know your thoughts.

[quanjig]

When I think post front, post spawn, blue bird skies, I start shallow water, close to deep water. My search then goes to what cover is in those areas. I want my bait presentation to be very accurate as close to the cover as possible with as small an entry slash as possible. Rinse and repeat! If my results are not what I expect, I then look at deeper water with moving baits and see if the bass are suspended at a particular depth. Taking not of that depth, I look for any breaks and fish those depths slowly and methodically. It might not be pretty or fast paced but it should get you some bites!!

[frogflogger]

Sometimes they will suspend in the shade of overhanging trees - I'll use a senko type, trick worm, finesse worm - fluke - unweighted or lightly weighted and let it waft down through the water column - this has been effective for me in this situation.

[ColdSVT]

Points near deepwater, rocky bluffs, and scan for suspenders near baitfish

Bluebird conditions also tell me i need to investigate the lilly pads too!

[mattk22]

Points near deepwater, rocky bluffs, and scan for suspenders near baitfish

Bluebird conditions also tell me i need to investigate the lilly pads too!

no vegetation at all in this lake.  cause if that was the case, that is exactly where i would head.  

[Jig Man]

Blue bird skies are usually the toughest.  Sometimes they go deeper and sometime they hang close to cover.  I try shallow cover first then move deeper.  I have the same conditions today.  I'll be fishing the late afternoon and night.  I'm starting out with jigs, grubs and worms trying to cover the water from 3-10 feet.  If that doesn't work, I'll go deeper.

 

When I leave the launch ramp, I idle around looking for the bait fish to see what depth they are using.  That should give me a hint as to the depth to find feeding fish.

[mattk22]

you think that you can still use cranks deep on bluebird skies if there is some wind?  or think swimbaits, jigs, and shakey heads are a better option?

[Jig Man]

The sky was bright blue and the wind was very low.  I looked at the placement of fish and bait in the water column.  There was a thermocline at 25' and almost nothing below that.  Most everything was in the top 10-12'.  I hit a couple of points and picked up a couple of keepers in less than 10 fow.  We kept the boat less than 20' and threw to around 3'.  After a couple of hours we stopped fishing the bait all the way back as we got no bites deeper than about 8-10 and most were shallower than that.

 

We had a lot of short hits no matter what bait we threw.    We only wound up catching 16 before we left but 8 of them were keepers.  All the fish were on plastics. 

[johnmb]

I've been catching them on a medium sized Shad Rap during the post spawn conditions at my local lake.  Key differences are the water temperature down here is around 85 in the mornings, but the bluebird skies are still present.

[aavery2]

Finesse baits and long casts, as you mentioned target areas with any shade.  I typically try to find bluegill beds and fish the first deep drop near them with slow rolled spinnerbaits, crankbaits, finesse worms, anything that I can move slowly and cover a lot of water from a distance.

[BG RTR]

Just curious as to how u knew where the thermocline was. Thx.

[GADawgs]

You are able to see it on electronics

[mattk22]

headed out tomorrow for the blue bird sky day.  But got out for a little yesterday.  We have had a cold snap and the water is back down around 70, from high 70's a week ago.  everything we caught was in 5 feet or less.  so i guess that is where i will start early Saturday, then check deeper as the day goes on, along with hitting shaded areas. 

[fishva]

I fished under similar conditions last week. I had luck fishing dropoffs near shallows, or any types of transition areas you can find.

[Big Fish Rice]

If you have overhanging trees that are home to shade - start there. If you're catching nothing but small fish, or no fish, move out with your swimbait of choice to that 10 foot range. I think you're right on with your first post, especially if there is no vegetation in the lake. Lastly, go to a jig or shaky head if still no success.

And come back to tell us how you did! This is good info for anyone right now, especially with frontal conditions and blue bird skies coming together!

[Jig Man]

Just curious as to how u knew where the thermocline was. Thx.

The thermocline is the snowy looking stuff that starts about 28' in this screen shot.

 

[mattk22]

Had a limit and culling by 7:50am, had one bite after that.  Tried deep, shallow, shade, sun, everywhere.  Shakey Head, jig, crankbait (the wind picked up in the afternoon), texas rig, and a little bit of swimbait.  I was really puzzled by 7 fish before 8am, then nothing in the afternoon.  We tried everything. 

[aavery2]

Had a limit and culling by 7:50am, had one bite after that.  Tried deep, shallow, shade, sun, everywhere.  Shakey Head, jig, crankbait (the wind picked up in the afternoon), texas rig, and a little bit of swimbait.  I was really puzzled by 7 fish before 8am, then nothing in the afternoon.  We tried everything. 

Post Spawn fish often move shallower in the morning to feed, as the water temp rises with the sun, they often suspend near the thermocline. Find schools of baitfish and bass will often be suspended under them.  Try crankbaits that run the appropriate depth and spoons can also be effective.