matstone7 Posted February 28, 2011 Posted February 28, 2011 One Green Tree - Pre Spawn Bass Tactics Patterning a LM Bass isn't always easy, sometimes it can be down-right frustrating for that matter. But, with a little education, a little practice and some time on the water fishing, each of us can become more comfortable patterning Bass. I would like to share a little story about my latest fishing trip and talk in a little more detail about some of the factors that made a big difference in our pattern. I'll be scratching the surface of some key areas of patterning Bass without a ton of detail so, if anyone wishes to ask a question, add anything to this or make a comment, feel free below. During my recent trip to Texas we fished a classic pre-spawn pattern for bass based upon the 54-60 degree water we found throughout the week. It's during this time of year (pre-spawn) many anglers will concentrate their efforts fishing creek channels leading to spawning flats and the various drops and drains found adjacent to the flats because the fish are stacked-up just waiting to move up and spawn. We know the fish are there, next thing was to identify the depth most of the fish are holding and what they are relating to. By that I mean, what kind of structure are they near or what is different that they like. These fish can be caught many ways, anything from chuckin' crankbaits or spinnerbaits to dragging big worms, jigs or craws. In our case, the fish were holding in 8-14 feet of water tight to cover which was submerged bushes and brush. We now had the pattern but, is that enough, the answer is no! Being tight to brush meant we would be flipping Rage Tail Lobsters and Smokin' Roosters tipped with JJ's Magic into the bushes while we fine-tuned the pattern. With the occasional drag of a big Thumper worm on a drop-off. Don't get me wrong, this is enough of a pattern for many and that's fine. Anyone could flip these bushes all day, chuck spinnerbaits around this brush and catch loads of smaller fish. Truth be told though, it's the fine tuning of the pattern and an understanding of subtle differences that catches more bigger bass and produces the big limits. These subtle differences could be bait color or profile, it could be fall rate or retrieve it can even be something like direction of retrieve or two kinds of structures coming together. The point is, while you work towards fine-tuning your pattern for bass, you need to keep a close watch on everything. When that fish bit, what did you do? Was your bait falling fast or slow? Where was your bait in relation to the structure being fished? Anything different about the structure? These are the kinds of questions you must ask yourself with every cast and more importantly, with every fish caught. The two pictures shown (above) were caught during the basic pattern flippin' bushes and fishing drops and drains. As we dig a little deeper into the fine-tuning of our pre-spawn pattern; an understanding of nature, pecking orders within a species and dominance comes into play. Fish like other animals will establish dominance within an area. The most dominant bass eats first (generally) & the most dominate bass gets the best place to feed, hide or spawn. Knowing this, now look at your pattern and structure again, what are the best places? Is it the bushes right on the ledge? Maybe it's the bushes on the point that gets first sun, it's up to you to figure out. In our case, funny as it may seem was one green tree. Imagine if you would, submerged bushes in every direction, I'm talking acres of brush all holding fish. Which bush is the best bush? Which bush is holding the biggest fish? Can you believe is was the lone green tree in a field of seemingly dead bushes that held big fish? We thought is was a fluke till we duplicated the pattern. I can never tell you what actually set the one green tree apart from the other bushes getting ready to bud themselves. Maybe ph levels around those green trees, maybe the way they reflected light, it's really anyones guess. The important point and moral of the story is that something so silly as a tree being green while all others look dead may be the ticket to the bigger fish. If you can be watchful, methodical with every cast or pitch, you can figure out what is making the difference and fine-tune your pattern for bass. Once you identify that difference or sweet spot within a pattern, you can duplicate it in similar places and get that new personal best or winning limit. The last fish pictured was a new personal best for me and just one of the huge fish caught by a lonely green trees. Caught on a Rage Tail Smokin' Rooster dipped in clear JJ's Magic. If you want to see the first "one green tree" fish, check out Big O's fish in this topic: http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1298739171 Good luck out there next time you need to pattern a pre-spawn bass, hope this helps ya. Quote
Big-O Posted February 28, 2011 Posted February 28, 2011 Excellent write up Matt... your attn to detail is terrific and I agree that the big ones choose the prime real estate most of the time. We've all worn our thumbs out slinging the small ones while wishing we were tugging on the big girls. Your info also makes me think that if we target bigger fish through bait choice and structure types, we have a better opportunity to catch bigger fish. Hmmm, I kinda like that notion and think I'll try it! Big O www.ragetail.com Quote
Super User Gatorbassman Posted February 28, 2011 Super User Posted February 28, 2011 Matt, When are you going to start submitting articles like this to Glenn so we can add them to our Library? Quote
done Posted February 28, 2011 Posted February 28, 2011 Good stuff man. Was out yesterday and had a tough time finding a pattern. Quote
Super User Catt Posted February 28, 2011 Super User Posted February 28, 2011 Matt, When are you going to start submitting articles like this to Glenn so we can add them to our Library? I think he just did cause I have saved it Quote
Super User senile1 Posted February 28, 2011 Super User Posted February 28, 2011 Nice pics and nice write-up, Matt. Quote
Super User bassfisherjk Posted March 1, 2011 Super User Posted March 1, 2011 Good write-up Matt.Nice pictures also. Quote
Super User Lund Explorer Posted March 1, 2011 Super User Posted March 1, 2011 Good job Matt! I take it that a lot of this brush was flooded stuff? Makes me wonder if besides being green, if there were other things about that certain type of bush that attracted the better fish. This might be one of those times when having an underwater camera might have shown something interesting to add to the story. Quote
matstone7 Posted March 1, 2011 Author Posted March 1, 2011 Hey bassfisherjk, my grandfather was from Tyrone.... @ Lund Explorer, on another forum, a fellow talked about something he read in a book by KVD that talked about oxygen levels around different vegetations. I had also wondered about ph levels around certain things, might have something to do with it also. Quote
Big-O Posted March 2, 2011 Posted March 2, 2011 Matt, the two different (areas of the lake) green trees were in fact the same type of trees or Large Bush (Retama) and they are excellent fish holding types because of they green quickly and gain top top foliage earlier than a lot of TX plant materials. They also flower early and the insects like bees are very attracted to them. I think that the bigger fish know them as brim and other bait style fish attractors through out the year so the big girls know their postion well Big O www.ragetail.com Quote
K.Fox Posted March 2, 2011 Posted March 2, 2011 Nice read, nice fish! Could just be Bass are Green and its better Camouflage.... Either way you found em. Quote
intheweeds Posted March 2, 2011 Posted March 2, 2011 Great write up Matt. Thanks for sharing the pics too. Congrats on your new PB. Quote
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