How do you fish in the spring?

[Buzzbaiter]

I cannot catch fish in the spring. I’m awful at catching bass this time of year, and I can’t seem to catch perch, crappie, or sunfish either. I don’t know what it is about this time of year, but I just get lost. I’m great at catching fish in the summer, but the spring just frustrates me. The water looks dead and I never pull any fish up. Anybody feel the same way? Any tips? I’d love to hop on the prespawn train the rest of you are riding, but I just can’t figure it out.

[Jar11591]

Spring time I head to the shallows especially on warm, humid days. Hard cover like timber warms up fast and attracts bass especially during a warming trend. Fish slow if the water is still below 50°. This is from a northerner’s prospective. My water has just thawed within the few days. 

[Deleted account]

Patapsco like Baltimore? The reservoirs up that way should start getting really good if they aren't already. There should be more guys chasing fresh water fish and letting the world know where and how now that rock is closed. 

[Bird]

Keep it simple and throw proven spring baits.

Slowly drag swim jigs and throw Spinnerbaits and underspins.

Try Jerkbaits and brush hogs.

 

It may be regional, not sure but I don't start catching fish until water temps get into low 50's but that's when my biggest fish of the year come.

 

Crappie start biting here early, before bass using Beatle spins and Crappie jigs, black and Chartreuse.

 

Don't give up, it's slower in cooler temps but think where bass might spawn and work out from that area where they stage.

Stay away from mud bottom and look for harder bottom and fish the west bank of your body of water, where the sun hits first.

 

 

 

[Buzzbaiter]

38 minutes ago, Deleted account said:

Patapsco like Baltimore? The reservoirs up that way should start getting really good if they aren't already.

I went to Liberty earlier today. Water seemed warm and I saw a dead bass on the ground (no clue what did him in), but no bites. I might try fishing some small ponds or hit the river for smallies

[gim]

I look for warmer water in the spring. And try to fish on sunny, warmer days.

 

Jerkbait with long pauses or a slow moving spinnerbait/chatterbait.

[TnRiver46]

I’ll let ya know if I ever get the chance to go

[Deleted account]

15 minutes ago, Buzzbaiter said:

I went to Liberty earlier today. Water seemed warm and I saw a dead bass on the ground (no clue what did him in), but no bites. I might try fishing some small ponds or hit the river for smallies

 

Dead fish in one piece out of the water in dry land is sign of **** sapiens. 

[papajoe222]

This is an example of either;

1-fishing where they aren't

2-not knowing where to look

3- not knowing what to throw 

4-knowing what to throw, but not changing up the presentation until you find one that works, or any combination of two or more of these.

[bowhunter63]

Shallow next to deep . Creek channels and where the Shad are hanging out. Weightless fluke gets a lot of bites. New weed growth too 

[WRB]

The 1st thing is recognize that Spring isn’t a fish including bass a season, it’s a   Human season based on man’s calendar.

Bass are cold blooded animals, water temperature controls thier behavior.

Except this fact and your success will improve.

Pre spawn, spawn, post spawn makes the bass spring,

Tom

[Catt]

6 minutes ago, WRB said:

The 1st thing is recognize that Spring isn’t a fish including bass a season, it’s a   Human season based on man’s calendar.

Bass are cold blooded animals, water temperature controls thier behavior.

Except this fact and your success will improve.

Pre spawn, spawn, post spawn makes the bass spring,

Tom

 

C'est Tout Fini (that's all finished)

[TnRiver46]

24 minutes ago, WRB said:

The 1st thing is recognize that Spring isn’t a fish including bass a season, it’s a   Human season based on man’s calendar.

Bass are cold blooded animals, water temperature controls thier behavior.

Except this fact and your success will improve.

Pre spawn, spawn, post spawn makes the bass spring,

Tom

In that case, According to our water temps, pre spawn makes up spring, spawn and post spawn make up summer 

 

our waters are also never full pool until summer, some say the bass wait for the water to rise to move shallow, others catch bass in knee deep water all February with rattle traps ?‍♀️ 

[WRB]

26 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

In that case, According to our water temps, pre spawn makes up spring, spawn and post spawn make up summer 

 

our waters are also never full pool until summer, some say the bass wait for the water to rise to move shallow, others catch bass in knee deep water all February with rattle traps ?‍♀️ 

Others say when the dog woods bloom, what happens when there isn’t any dog woods!

Tom

[TnRiver46]

Just now, WRB said:

Others say when the dog woods bloom, what happens when there isn’t any dog woods!

Tom

Cacti maybe? ? 

[padon]

10 hours ago, Buzzbaiter said:

I went to Liberty earlier today. Water seemed warm and I saw a dead bass on the ground (no clue what did him in), but no bites. I might try fishing some small ponds or hit the river for smallies

in the next couple weeks these reservoirs are gonna explode. you should be able to catch all kinds of fish around shallow cover.

[A-Jay]

How do you fish in the spring?

Like a man possessed ~

A-Jay

 

https://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/211811-brown-bass-tools-~-questions-answers/?do=findComment&comment=2713835

 

[the reel ess]

8 hours ago, WRB said:

Others say when the dog woods bloom, what happens when there isn’t any dog woods!

Tom

It's usually a good sign. But in the southeast we had a very warm Feb. Great for getting the fish to start moving. Things started blooming a month early, then we had a hard freeze. Dogwoods are bloomed out and I still have only seen a few beds with no bass even cruising nearby. I'm still catching prespawn bass on wood cover.

 

OP: Try dragging a lizard.

[Functional]

I keep it simple. If I'm cold when I get on the water I start with main lake points (entrances to coves) and work my way into the furthest back pockets until I can get bites. If I'm comfortable or warm I start at the back of the pockets and work my way out.

 

Chatterbait along/in the edges of any grass that looks new or starting to turn green. 

 

Spinnerbait into any laydowns

 

Swimbait (most recently anyway) into heavy grass or if its super sunny and decently clear water.

 

I've started to throw a light Trig (1/4oz) beavertail after I stop getting bites on any of the top 3 before moving on. 

 

Process has worked well for me this year than any of my other processes the past few years. May or may not work for you. One spot thats been killing it for me consistently is if you have a skinny or peninsula type point, fishing the calm side of the point. Been seeing them stack up there I'm assuming waiting for forage to move past the point following the wind. Not sure if this is common but its new knowledge for me. Always fished the wind blown pockets but this has been very productive for me this year. 

[scaleface]

I just target shallow water and the cover there . Lots of different lures . Just keep moving and make productive cast . Eventually a few fish will be caught then start patterning them .

[Bankc]

If the water temperature is below 55°, I head deep and work my way shallow.  Once it gets above 55°, I head shallow and work my way deep.  Look for steep changes in water depth and bends in channels and fish along those.   You're looking for the bass highways that they use to travel from main lakes to their spawning areas, and just fishing along those.  

 

It's basically a game of spot hopping until you find fish.  Once you find fish, look for other areas similar to where you found them.  Try a little bit of everything until you get a bite.  That goes for bait selection too.  Prespawn and postspawn bass can change behavior rapidly, so it's all about finding what mood they're currently in as quickly as possible, and then figuring out the patterns from that.  

[Pat Brown]

Just cast a weightless t rigged green pumpkin senko at every shallow target you can see, let it fall on slack and watch your line....you'll probably have some solid success.  That particular technique is about as sure fire in the spring as anything in life.

 

I've also been doing quite well on a jerk bait fishing for post spawn and pre-spawn fish in the staging areas, but that's a little more nuanced perhaps.

[IgotWood]

On my home lake the fishing really turns on as soon as the water hits the mid 50s.  Squarebills, spinnerbaits, swimjigs, and standard jigs do well. This bite holds out for a couple weeks and then the fish move onto the beds and shift gears. 

 

This kinda blew my mind, but a few years ago a guy I would often see on the lake was smashing big bass. He was pitching frogs at standing timber in 3'-6'. I couldn't believe it. When he'd miss a fish, he'd immediately follow up with a jig n craw. I tried it, and I was amazed at how productive it was. This really changed the way I fish in the spring. On overcast days or windy days, I'd swap the frog out for a spinnerbait or a squarebill, and the jig for a weightless senko and slow down my presentations. 

 

[TnRiver46]

2 hours ago, IgotWood said:

On my home lake the fishing really turns on as soon as the water hits the mid 50s.  Squarebills, spinnerbaits, swimjigs, and standard jigs do well. This bite holds out for a couple weeks and then the fish move onto the beds and shift gears. 

 

This kinda blew my mind, but a few years ago a guy I would often see on the lake was smashing big bass. He was pitching frogs at standing timber in 3'-6'. I couldn't believe it. When he'd miss a fish, he'd immediately follow up with a jig n craw. I tried it, and I was amazed at how productive it was. This really changed the way I fish in the spring. On overcast days or windy days, I'd swap the frog out for a spinnerbait or a squarebill, and the jig for a weightless senko and slow down my presentations. 

 

Ours are somewhat the opposite, once it gets to mid 50s, keepers become much harder to come by

 

now when they have a winter tournament with water temps  in the high 40s, people bring in monster bags