CONDITIONS
Weather | a mix of cold, rain, wind and overcast skies on days one, two and four; cold and breezy in the morning on day three, with sunshine in the afternoon air temperature | upper 20s to upper 50s Water temperature | upper 40s to low 50s moon phase | first quarter predominant lake features | various shallow grasses, riprap causeways, bridges, points and docks photo by andy hagedon grass lines formed by submergent vegetation, usually hydrilla and milfoil, or even some types of emergent grass such as gator grass. The grass lines are created primarily by the rise and fall of the reservoir and / or low water temperature in the shallows. Aquatic grasses dry out and die when a lake is pulled down to“ winter pool,” or when extreme temperatures kill off shallow grass. When the lake starts rising again in the spring, a clean lane forms between the old winter shoreline and the new flooded shoreline. This ribbon of water creates prime real estate for staging bass, allowing them to hold up against the inside grass line until conditions are right for them to spawn.
Browns creek Bass
Rose knows this staging phenomenon well.
“ It’ s an age-old pattern that happens in grass lakes all over the Southeast in February and March,” Rose says.“ Inside grass lines are the key places that the females stage. The places where I caught them in Browns Creek in Guntersville were textbook spots for staging fish.”
Rose’ s primary“ textbook” spot featured a flat point that stuck way out into the creek. The top of the point included scattered hydrilla in 4 to 6 feet of water and served as a gateway to the staging areas. As the grass ran toward the bank down both sides of the point, it formed a hard inside line, separated from the bank by an open lane of water about 2 to 3 feet deep. The lane was littered with hard objects such as laydown logs and scattered rock, creating a perfect staging area.
“ I couldn’ t have scripted a more perfect spot,” Rose says.“ It had everything they needed to hold them in there. I found some other thinner grass lines that held a few fish, too, but they were more like grass strips along clay banks. The inside line around that big point was by far my best place.”
In addition to the perfect staging spot, Rose also tapped the causeway riprap along the bridge in Browns Creek for several solid keepers on the week. He considered the riprap bass to still be in winter mode. They hung around the Browns Creek channel and occasionally moved up to feed on big gizzard shad along the rocks.
“ When I first got to town and drove across that bridge, there were hundreds of birds diving behind that causeway,” Rose recalls.“ So that’ s the first place I went in practice, and I started snagging big gizzard shad on my crankbait. I knew then there had to be some winter bass feeding on those gizzards. After that I ran back farther in the creek and found that beautiful inside grass line, and I was sold on Browns Creek.”
two-part execution
By tournament time, Rose had developed a potent milk run in the creek. His strategy was to start on the causeway riprap in low light to fish the winter pattern. Once the sun got up, he moved into the back of Browns to the point and its adjacent grass line to pick on the staging bass for a prespawn pattern.
TOP FIVE name |
hometoWn |
WeIght |
fIsh |
WInnIngs |
1. MARK ROSE |
WEST MEMPHIS, AR |
79-11 |
20 |
$ 125,000 * |
2. BRYAN THRIFT |
SHELBY, NC |
78-12 |
20 |
$ 30,200 |
3. ALEX DAVIS |
ALBERTVILLE, AL |
72-10 |
20 |
$ 25,100 |
4. SCOTT SUGGS |
ALEXANDER, AR |
68-09 |
20 |
$ 20,000 |
5. SHINICHI FUKAE |
PALESTINE, TX |
68-04 |
20 |
$ 19,000 |
* Includes Ranger Cup
“ Some of that was about timing, too,” Rose says.“ The riprap was a great place to kill time while letting the staging spot replenish. I would make a pass through the staging area, pick off one or two good ones, then retreat to the riprap and crank it while the staging area rested and reloaded.”
Things went perfectly for Rose the first two days. But on day three, a frontal passage left behind a blustery northeast wind that blew right down the main drag of Browns Creek.
“ I thought I was toast,” Rose says.“ That wind had really stained up the water in back of the creek. But that inside line had done its job in sort of protecting that inside lane from the wind-driven mud. I think that’ s one reason why inside grass lines are such attractive staging areas: protection. They provide a nice, secure place for the fish to hunker down and feel comfortable while they wait for the spawning process to happen.”
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