Generally speaking........

[rocknfish9001]

Generally speaking, what will you target and how will you attack it for this time of year. I would actually like to see the difference in opinions from northern and southern boys, so state your position with your answer, please.

[basser89]

It was a toss up for me here in MD but I went with wood. The other part of the toss up weeds.

[Muddpuppy]

North east Tx.  voted weeds although wood is alway good,  this time of the year weeds are where we have the best luck especially near channels.

[Guest bigtex]

EAST TEXAS---I picked shallow water but with shallow water down here comes wood. So I get the best of these two.

For example,  we have a lake called Lake O' the Pines and when we had very little rain last year you could drive down hwy 155 over one of the bridges and see nothing but wood and dried up weed beds.  But I never knew that it had that much wood and really didn't realize it was that shallow either.  I know where to go now.

[Randall]

Georgia- The first choice and thing I always look for is weed flats. They will always hold fish and I feel It is always the best cover for bass at all times of the year.

[paparock]

If the weather would ever make up it's mind then maybe the fish could make up theirs. There have been a lot of false spawns for the bass except for the smallmouth. Small gravel flats right now are the main targets for the smallies here in north central Arkansas. The largemouth bass are still getting ready to try to spawn again. Surface lake temp. is around 65 degrees but fifteen feet down it is 59 degrees. :-?

[Rattlinrogue]

South Mississippi-I voted weeds,but I could 've went with wood just as easily.

[dodgeguy]

southern ny.the bass are pre spawn moving up in the shallows right now.if wood is around i flip a jig to it.if weed flats are present i fish them.sometimes they are cruising the shallow flat spawning areas with no cover.

[Bankbeater]

I voted for weed flats. Here in Mo. in the smaller lakes they have started moving out of the deep water and onto the flats. After they spawn they will usually move into the weeds that are around on the flats.

[gatrboy53]

fla.... weeds,primarily hydrilla,millfoil,  coontail,and eel grass where present.wood is good in some places rodmans,rouseau,and the hot spot seems to be the stump fields in stick marsh.if you havent read the report in locations...s.e. about recent catches in stick marsh they are impressive. in the shallow lakes in n.fla. you fish grasses or you go home. even the sjr eel grass is a mojor holding area.

[alhuff]

when i lived in TX if there was a weed bed or a patch of reeds i fished them no matter what.  

now that i'm in nothern va i tend to look for downed trees.

i've used soft plastics and crank baits in both places...

i've caught more bass from weeds, reeds, and wood...i love to fish structure.

Alfred

[roadwarrior]

Tennessee

Structure in or near deep water is the best bet for consistantly catching big bass, especially smallmouth.

[bassnleo]

Could be any of the answers, depends on the day's conditions.

[Panamoka_Bassin]

It was a toss up for me here in MD but I went with wood. The other part of the toss up weeds.

Yeah, same goes here, but there aren't too many weeds right now, but there's plenty of water surrounding the edges of the lakes and ponds, which has submerged a lot of brush.  Shallow water would have been my next choice for Long Island, NY.

[.ghoti.]

Central Illinois  Any kind of vegetation will hold fish here most of the year. Deeper structure is the second best choice for me.

[squid]

I chose deep water, only cause I will be on Kentucky Lake the first week of May, but for up here in Michigan, for this time of year.....shallow flats for the spawning period.

[Hookem]

Texas.................

VEGGIES!!!!!!! Any time of the year

[senile1]

I'm in the Kansas City, MO area.  I chose wood but I've been finding the bigger bass on rock banks with wood and laydowns in less than 6 feet of water at Smithville Lake, Truman Lake, and Belcher Branch.  I haven't been catching many keepers in the coontail moss, although I have seen some beds in these areas.  The water level on these lakes is really low now so some of the weedy areas I would have fished last year are high and dry.  

[Raul]

Knock on wood.

[MadGator]

Wisconsin  Weed flats are something I have not really targeted yet so I am going to try this year hopefully with better results.  The lakes I fish have rediculous weed growth from all of the farm runoff so I assume that those weeds would provide good cover for fish.  I've also decided to start running a spinnerbait, something I have not tried before because I used to mostly shore fish.  I figure the spinnerbait should work well over/through weeds and also allow me to cover lots of water.

[RoLo]

Above all else, gamefish gravitate to bottom contours with the most rapid change in depth (FL to Canada).

With respect to cover thereat, "weeds" are the first love of the largemouth bass (not smallmouth though).

Where weeds are absent or in short supply, 'wood' is the second choice of cover (stumps, brush, docks).

'Rocks' bring up the rear, but in some lake sections they're the best available cover (e.g. rip-rap).

The hierarchy among plant species is a little more involved, because the predominant weed species

vary from region-to-region. In Florida it goes something like this:

1. Hydrilla (grows dense and deep, but is a problematic weed costing millions of dollars)

2. Pondweed (called "cabbage" in the north, "peppergrass" in the south - superb stuff!)

3. Eelgrass (grows deep in still water and in current - never a problem weed)

4. Watermilfoil (a problem weed growing to 15' deep)

5. Reeds/Rushes (probably the deepest growing emergent plants)

Though they are loaded with bass, most emergent weeds rarely grow deeper than 4-feet,

for example: bulrushes, water lilies, maidencane, cattails, etc.

Roger

[Guest the_muddy_man]

I live in North East PA and mostly the 2 bodies of water im fishing have no weed growth So i fish a lot of big rocks and where the sand/gravel meets the mud b/c thats were they will head to to spawn SLOW is key here and RAPALAS are the pnly thing they been hitting for 2 weeks Original Floater #9 and Jointed # 7 the only problem is thise toothy pickerel are very active and play havoc with the balsa wood Howeverf the pickerel have been very big and fighting very hard

[RoLo]

Original Floater #9 and Jointed # 7 the only problem is thise toothy pickerel are very active and play havoc with the balsa wood Howeverf the pickerel have been very big and fighting very hard

I realize my reply is off-topic, so I'll be concise. When I lived in NJ where pickerel abound,

I switched from a rapala original floater to a cordell red fin - 4" x 3/8oz (a highly under-rated lure).

It's made of plastic, casts like a rocket, pickerel can't hurt it and bass love it (faint twitch - long pause) 8-)

Roger

[langs15]

I think the Rapalas are th best! THe jigs have been hitting them here, just need confidence :'(.

[ww2farmer]

LMB remain fairly shallow year round up here in NY, I will fish shallow from about the time the water hits 50 degrees till the hotest days of summer. Even when it gets real hot I will still fish shallow,only very early or late in the day, or on cloudy days. Most of the shallows in these pars are weedy, and the best spots often have 10'-12' of water close by.