Prespawn Bank Fishing

[Senko lover]

I've heard a ton about Falls Lake (NC) in the third week of march to early april being on fire. It'll take over 30 pounds to win a tournament there. I live right down the road but don't have a boat.
I'm going to try to get in on the action by trolling the banks. What am I looking for (generally) in a good spot to fish for these prespawn females? I don't fish lakes, just small ponds, so I don't have a lot of experience with it.

Any help appreciated.

[RoLo]

Focus on shallow, weedy coves, especially with northwest protection.

Ideally, an estuary that adjoins the pond's basin with a lead-in ditch, natural channel or manmade canal.

 

Roger

[Ozark_Basser]

Start in areas where they could spawn and work your way out from there.

[Sam]

Senko, how good can you transverse the bank around the lake?

 

Lots of open places for you to be able to cast?

 

Any homes where you will need their permission to fish off their banks?

 

Be sure to wear our PFD when fishing banks if there is a possibility you could fall into the water. Not kidding.  A missed step and BAM! You are in the drink.

 

Here are some things to do looking for prespawn bass. You know most of these so don't sweat the small stuff.

Your first job is to go on a recon mission.

Yep, like in the Army. 

Take a swimming pool thermometer on a long string or braid and throw it into the water every place you stop and record the water temperature.

This will give you a good idea of how the bass will be moving as the water reaches and exceeds 60*.

If you have any Dogwood trees watch them. When they blossom the bass are on their beds. So as soon as the buds show up hit the lake.

Make notes about the bank; places to avoid; good places to try; wood; grass; rock; shallows; drop offs; dam area; boat docks; piers; coves; anything you can fish or can't fish.

Your job is to map the lake and the bank to find the best places to fish.

Then, try to get a topo map of the lake.  Call the County and find out what department would have a map of the lake. Have your mom drive you to the County offices if they have such a map and sit down and study it, looking for what RoLo said above plus any depth information.

If there is a local tackle shop try to speak with one of the clerks about the lake. Someone may know about fishing the spawn from the bank.

Then, with all this homework (yuck) done you are ready to attack the lake for the prespawn.

1.  Follow what RoLo suggests.

2.  Wear your polarized sunglasses and a cap.

3.  Look for shallow places from one to five feet off the bank.

4.  Look for hard bottoms. Not girlfriends, but the bottom of the lake. Bass like hard bottoms to make their beds.

5.  Look for "white" areas on the bottom. This will be a bed. You may not see the bass but they will see you.

6.  Walk softly and away from the bank.

7.  Have your flipping stick in your hand ready for action as soon as you see a bed.

8.  Remember to make many casts to any one bed. Bass hate lizards but tubes and any other baits you want to try may work.

9.  Keep at it. Don't give up. After five or six minutes give it a rest; mark the bed on your map; and to in search of another one. Return after a half hour or so and give it another whack.

10. Tell parents where you will be and what time you will be home. Safety is always a good move even though you have a cell phone. You do have a cell phone, don't you? If not, try a walkie-talkie!!!!

 

No go out there; do your homework; make that map; check with the County; and let us know how you do.

[Senko lover]

Thanks guys. I appreciate the help.

[Senko lover]

I'm planning on doing bed fishing as well, but I'm more talking about the prespawn before the actual "bed stuff" (lol). I've heard the females will be cruising around, eating a ton and getting fat. Any suggestions on the time before the reproduction?

[Weld's Largemouth]

lipless crankbaits along the bank, great searching for big bass.

[Sam]

Senko, work your formula backwards.

 

Start with the males moving up to make the beds.

 

Then calculate how long after the males move up the ladies follow.

 

Try to find their pathways to the spawning grounds.

 

So if you see the males making the beds on April 15 then the females will be heading to the beds April 10, give or take.

 

Water temperature will determine when they start to move; stop on the way; and then reach their destination.

 

So the exact travel time cannot be determined. It is a best guess scenario.

 

That is why you have to know the body of water as best you can and then take that data and transform it into days after you see the first male bass or the first bed.

[Khan of the Res]

Be sure to wear our PFD when fishing banks if there is a possibility you could fall into the water. Not kidding.  A missed step and BAM! You are in the drink.

 

 

More importantly, watch your step. What ended my fishing season last year was a drunken misstep. In the last week of august I was bank fishing off of a place my friends and I call Pride Rock. Its a rock that juts out over the water and theres around a 4-5 drop with jagged rocks and tree roots on the bottom. I remember having an awesome day, having caught 6 largemouths, and I had downed about a pint of Evan Williams finest discount sippin whiskey. I remember standing near the edge and fixing something the end of my rod when I stepped back too far and fell into the water. I scrambled back up the rock face and back onto the bank. I looked down and noticed there was a golf ball sized hole in my leg along with a glob of fat dripping out. I shoved a liquor bag in the hole and tied down with fishing line and limped about a half mile or so out of the woods. I was lucky to run into my friends brother who called him to take me to the hospital. Got me 14 stitches and missed out on September bass fishing.