By Scott Norton
We have waited so long for this moment and the bass are ready to play. The winter slump is clearly behind us. The elevation game is on and now is the time to ride that wave. I have experienced one of the best pre-spawns to date. I predicted that the spawn would hit early this year and it has. Coming out of the winter, with all the rain and warm weather, caused a magnificent beginning to the season.
This year has had its downside with being prepared for the spawn. Shipping and availability of your favorite tackle has been a challenge. The silver lining is what we already have. What I mean is we all have those lures and setups we do not really touch because we have confidence in our favorite baits. Yes, we have problems this year but we can also learn new techniques with tackle we have never used or did not spend the time to master. You know you have been battle tested when you become successful, even out of your comfort zone. I have to say, my best techniques have developed this way. In a crowd of anglers, using new ideas can earn you success in an unconventional way. Doing things differently than the crowd can give you results.
If other anglers do not know the spawn is early this year, then this is the opportunity you may need to get into those fresh bass from the deep. A plan has many facets for success. The more you fish, the more you start to see patterns. You can use this to your advantage such as fishing through the winter gives you an insight on where the bass are and what they are doing when you are tracking them. Things like what they are eating, when they feed, and where they are in their migration. Information that is valuable to know when starting the season strong. Your troubleshooting can be cut exponentially.
The lack of tackle could force you to look at things systematically instead of from what worked in the past. I know a lot of anglers that plan from memory instead, and this can throw you off from reading the actual situation. Learning to switch gears is the best plan because most of the time, it is not going to go as planned. You always have to be prepared for that. Be versatile, adjust to the conditions and situations and you will end up being an angler in a different class.
Scott Norton is a Western North Carolina native. Born in Asheville, N.C., he is a long-time hunter, angler and weekend warrior.