SPring time smallmouth 101

[Fishguy20]

So I’m new here and I would really appreciate some help because I just can’t find that much stuff online about smallmouth patterns. I’m looking at getting into smallmouth fishing this spring and I know body’s of water near me but I need help on where to find them. It’s a large resivour and I have some decent electionics. I’ve heard to look for offshore humps in about 15 feet of water for spawning, is that true? Otherwise where do I find them in the spring? Any advice is greatly appreciated, thanks 

[TnRiver46]

I can typically find them on a rock cliff or channel edge any time of year, including spring 

[A-Jay]

Hello and Welcome to Bass Resource ~ 

Here's a little light reading that might help you out.

It's worked OK for me.

A-Jay

 

 

[tkunk]

This is probably what you're looking for. In general, it's a good idea to watch all Seth Feider instructional videos on youtube.

[Fishguy20]

A jay I read that and it really helped me , thank you. So to clarify, the areas I should look are drop offs, points, flats between drop offs, and humps. This is for all year round too?

[smr913]

I've had luck by finding main points of the lake on a contour map then seeing where the closest optimal spawning spots will be. It usually goes main lake point>secondary point>spawning area. Then after spawn it reverses so I'll target the secondary points then main points as weather warms up. Figure out what the main forage is and that will give you a one up. Good luck.

[Sluggo61]

Before you even start, find out the water temps. 

[JLBBass]

they also like cruising flats before the spawn!

[Turkey sandwich]

Welcome to the forum! A-Jay's Smallmouth encyclopedia is loaded with info - enough that he should consider writing a book.  The site also has a killer search feature where you can pull up old threads and articles on a lot of general topics like this.  The search feature is cool because there are threads ranging from A-Jays all the way through threads about spring/spawning migrations/transitions in almost every type of water.  Good luck!