By Scott Norton
Spring is here and it is that special time that all anglers have been waiting for. The bass are feeding up for the spawn and it is a great time for bites. This time of year, bass have been deep or have sunned in the shallows briefly, but it has been a while since they have been pressured from anglers. They are not finicky to common lures you see most anglers using yet, so you will be able to use any lure and have a good time with the catches.
We, as anglers, know we will be dealing with others there to catch bass. What you want to do is have a good plan so you can switch gears in case you have a special spot that someone is already on. Three plans you will need to follow will be showing up early, fishing deep, and using different lures than the rest. This is what separates the men from the boys. When you show up early you can cover the spots not fished yet. Use a lure you can cover water fast with because you’re only looking for the most aggressive bass in those areas. If the lake starts to get crowded, go deep and fish for bass coming in on the second wave. You can find fish in different stages of spawn or transition. Most people will more than likely be fishing shallow but there is more bass in the deep than in the shallows. Bass up shallow are the early wave and more come in later, so you have options. If you are forced to fish behind other people, pay attention to what they are using so you can fish with something different. Just using this plan will get bites for bass that were on the fence with other lures.
When you find the bites tapering off, use big swim baits as the sun gets high. Most likely bass will go in the shade line up shallow or in the drop offs down deep. This is a good opportunity to get those trophy bass. They like to set up in places where they can ambush forage. That sun allows them to see out further while they hide. These fish will be looking to the deep instead of looking to the shallows, so boat position is important. You will want to keep your boat in the shallow water and cast in the deep for this technique.
Springtime is a time when you can run into clear water or muddy conditions. Be sure to have a variety of lures to cover these kinds of water conditions. Once the rain starts, the bass will move to the backs of the creeks to feed. When you see rising water, you will know they will be nosing really shallow or they will position on current breaks looking for food being washed into the lake. If no rising water or storms are affecting the water, check the secondary points to locate the bulk of fish moving in for spawn. I hope this helps and you enjoy the bounty nature has to offer.
Scott Norton is a Western North Carolina native. Born in Asheville, N.C., he is a long-time hunter, angler and weekend warrior.