How to catch prespawn northern bass?

[RigsForPigs]

Hey everyone, I have started the 2020 season horribly so far with zero bass total after fishing a week or so. Just wanted to ask my northern friends how they are catching bass right now in this cold weather?

[roadwarrior]

"Just Getting Started"
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[NHBull]

With water temperature in the low 40’s it is very challenging in in central NH.  At this time of the year I usually have a hair jig, Ned, small SB, bladed jig, deep diving CB, and have terrible luck with lipless CB.

[Smokinal]

Jerkbaits; try different styles and colors

lipless cranks; red or gold. Try straight retrieve or "yo-yo"

jigs crawled slowly on bottom

 

These^^work for me from ice-out to around 50deg water.  When water hits 50, spinnerbaits and crankbaits will start to work too. As well as jigs and lipless baits

[EWREX]

jerkbait, hair jig, small swimbait (2.5"-3") on jig head slow rolling the bottom

[scaleface]

Water temps low 50's here and bass good on spinnerbaits .

[basser27]

Really depends on the lake but I would start with a spinnerbait or trap and if that doesn’t work fish slow with a jig and a ned rig

[MassYak85]

I fish jerks, jigs, small swimbaits (and big ones), and blade baits. This time of year I've found that weather trends are more important than actual water temp. You'll have fish shallower than you'd think, sooner than you would think, if you get a few days in a row that are unseasonably warm and sunny. But look for classic pre-spawn areas. Shallow spawning coves or flats dropping off into deeper water that held fish in the winter months. Fish the transitions and check at what "stage" the fish seem to be at, could be they're not ready yet (likely the case this time of year) and still on the deeper structure or on the transitions near the flats. 

[BassKicker42]

So far for me it’s been the weightless senko, dark sleepers, jigs and chatterbaits.

[WRB]

We have a northern lake located 100 miles south of me in SoCal!

Big Bear lake is 7,200 elevation with both Smallmouth and Largemouth bass, some wind protected bays still have ice the main body of water is open.

I grew up fishing BBL and the bass fishing is tough until the water reaches 45 to 50 degrees. If you know how to dead stick or fish extremely slow with a few jerks now and then is the key to catching them. Color doesn't mater with bottom contact lures  as long as it's black. Find the deep water next to steep banks like main lake major points are high percentage location for the next 2 months.

Slowly crawl and occasionally hop with long pauses a 1/4 oz jig with 2"-3" trailer. The other option is a slow sinking clown or silver/lime green shiner color jerk bait fished very slow 10-15 seconds between jerks. Simple but time consuming so be patient.

It's all about location find the right area and you will catch bass.

Tom

[Westcoast]

So far this year, I’ve found the fish where there is new grass growing. What makes it even better is if I can find some laid over or some other over head cover. The water is still cold so all of them have eaten a small 1/4 oz finesse jig with beaver trailer or this weekend it was a 4” Senko neko rigged with the tiniest nail weight I had. Another couple days of warmer weather and they will get aggressive just before the spawn in May. 

[EWREX]

16 hours ago, WRB said:

We have a northern lake located 100 miles south of me in SoCal!

Big Bear lake is 7,200 elevation with both Smallmouth and Largemouth bass, some wind protected bays still have ice the main body of water is open.

I grew up fishing BBL and the bass fishing is tough until the water reaches 45 to 50 degrees. If you know how to dead stick or fish extremely slow with a few jerks now and then is the key to catching them. Color doesn't mater with bottom contact lures  as long as it's black. Find the deep water next to steep banks like main lake major points are high percentage location for the next 2 months.

Slowly crawl and occasionally hop with long pauses a 1/4 oz jig with 2"-3" trailer. The other option is a slow sinking clown or silver/lime green shiner color jerk bait fished very slow 10-15 seconds between jerks. Simple but time consuming so be patient.

It's all about location find the right area and you will catch bass.

Tom

pretty much exactly what i did last weekend and had decent success. a ghost shiner and perch colored shad rap with LONG pauses between not so harsh jerks was the ticket along with slow rolling a small paddle tail swimbait in 17-20ft of water

[Bankbeater]

This time of year I have the best luck fishing with moving baits.  Sometime between the last week in April and the second week in May is when the bite on bottom contact baits start picking up.

[RigsForPigs]

6 hours ago, EWREX said:

pretty much exactly what i did last weekend and had decent success. a ghost shiner and perch colored shad rap with LONG pauses between not so harsh jerks was the ticket along with slow rolling a small paddle tail swimbait in 17-20ft of water

what size jigheads are you using with your swimbaits? I think mine aren't heavy enough they're 3/16 oz and i feel like its never on bottom

[EWREX]

6 hours ago, RigsForPigs said:

what size jigheads are you using with your swimbaits? I think mine aren't heavy enough they're 3/16 oz and i feel like its never on bottom

i was throwing 1/4 oz.. the wind was blowing and i was really trying to get it down there 

[Ogandrews]

Fished a private pond today that was technically legal to fish for bass here in Minnesota. Got 14 bass in 2 hours in 44 degree water temps. 1 was on a finesse swim jig and the rest were on a 1/8th oz shakey head with a fat baby finesse worm on it. The shakey head I fished painfully slow, close to a minute on each cast but they were thumping it right were the soft pond bottom turned to rock. Nothing big, best one was around 3, but it felt great to set the hook. Other lures I would use this time of year would be a jerkbait, finesse swimbait, a hair jig, neko rig and a tube.

[primetime]

When I lived in NY, I would always do best in early spring with a 1/4 oz spinnerbait with a skirt that that has orange in it. 

 

For covering water, a Red or craw colored lipless crank is another great option, once you find fish, you can slow down and fish it with plastics.....Red Eye shad or a one knocker in red/orange is a safe bet.

 

When in doubt...Throw a senko. You can always add a split shot in front or c-rig one if deeper, or rig your favorite plastic. 

 

If open water, you can't go wrong with casting a tube jig with open hook. Will catch fish any time of year.

[FishinBuck07]

My little brother lives up your direction, you are a little further north than he is.  He has been killing everything up that way with a Red Craw squarebill crank lately.  He caught a 4 pound smallie on one cast and then a 36" long musky on the very next cast.  

[Hartwood71]

I live in northern NJ, and have been fishing quite a bit in southern NY over the last month, in lakes of varied depths.    
 

In the lake ranging from 2-10 feet, I’ve have great success in water 4-7 feet when it’s windy (5-15 mph), fishing around structure (laydowns, beaver dams) with jerkbaits.  Caught 30-40 bass total over four trips.  Starting to see some fish around beds, but they are definitely still pre-spawn ( 3-lb in pic below) and more interested in structure.   In calm-to-no-wind situations, the fish have almost no interest (no finesse stuff, no jerkbaits, no crankbaits, no nothing).   
 

In lakes with more depth range (4-20+ feet) I’m not seeing any fish bedding in the shallows yet.    
 

Water temps have been 44-50 degrees.  Grass beds haven’t grown yet, so there is much less cover - thus the reason for crowding close to structure.   
 

This may sound silly, but dressing in layers for the weird weather changes has been crucial for me.   If you’re comfortable, you can stick with it more and build confidence with a certain bait or presentation.   Once you have confidence in something you’ll find the right slot and catch a lot of bass, despite the cold.  

[CrankFate]

I would say wait until next month. On the water, in real life, according to anyone out there, these fish are not catchable yet, according to everyone you’ll meet. Take internet reports with a grain of salt.

[GTN-NY]

2 hours ago, Hartwood71 said:

I live in northern NJ, and have been fishing quite a bit in southern NY over the last month, in lakes of varied depths.    
 

In the lake ranging from 2-10 feet, I’ve have great success in water 4-7 feet when it’s windy (5-15 mph), fishing around structure (laydowns, beaver dams) with jerkbaits.  Caught 30-40 bass total over four trips.  Starting to see some fish around beds, but they are definitely still pre-spawn ( 3-lb in pic below) and more interested in structure.   In calm-to-no-wind situations, the fish have almost no interest (no finesse stuff, no jerkbaits, no crankbaits, no nothing).   
 

In lakes with more depth range (4-20+ feet) I’m not seeing any fish bedding in the shallows yet.    
 

Water temps have been 44-50 degrees.  Grass beds haven’t grown yet, so there is much less cover - thus the reason for crowding close to structure.   
 

This may sound silly, but dressing in layers for the weird weather changes has been crucial for me.   If you’re comfortable, you can stick with it more and build confidence with a certain bait or presentation.   Once you have confidence in something you’ll find the right slot and catch a lot of bass, despite the cold.  

I’m in western ny and fish from a kayak. I’ve noticed when I’m out on calm wind days no action at all. Now some diehard friends will be out on miserable days and they are pounding the big fish

[GTN-NY]

Another 4 hours in today without even a single bite to show for it

[MassYak85]

20 hours ago, CrankFate said:

I would say wait until next month. On the water, in real life, according to anyone out there, these fish are not catchable yet, according to everyone you’ll meet. Take internet reports with a grain of salt.

If you can stand the weather or it's a nice day definitely get out there, don't wait. May, it usually picks up, especially in the shallows, but classic prespawn areas you can still get fish in April. I got a nice smallie in NH this morning on a jerkbait right where it should have been, on a point outside a spawning cove dropping into deep water. The water is still mid-40's and a bit windier than I would have liked in my small kayak, the wind made it hard fishing the deeper water getting blown around. 

 

The key this time of year IMO is all confidence. DRESS WARMER THAN YOU THINK. If you're cold and not catching anything it's a lot easier to throw in the towel early rather than trying a new area that might be the ticket. And sometimes the bite might just open up for a short window even if you've been fishing the same area for a while. 

[WRB]

50 years ago the saying was 10% of the anglers catch 90% of the fish. I would say this is still true today.

If you know where the bass are located your odds of catching them improve tremdously.

The statement "I didn't see any bed fish" when the water temps are in the high 40's to low 50's solidifies a lack of knowledge about bass behavior and location.

Tom 

[DogBone_384]

On 4/22/2020 at 10:01 AM, NHBull said:

and have terrible luck with lipless CB

Have you tried fishing a lipless like  blade bait?

 

To RigsForPigs:
I’ve had some luck with a SMB colored LV-500 in Plymouth & Cape Cod when lifted & dropped.

 

I had good luck in February & March (water temps in low/mid 40’s) with blade baits, flat side crankbaits (fished S L O W w/ long pauses), and 2.8” Keitech’s on an under-spin.  
 

Best of luck, and don’t give up.