Largemouth Locales largemouths typically will stage up and spawn in the same general areas : dead-end backwater bays cut off from the cold inflowing current of the main river . these areas warm quickly because they ’ re relatively shallow and because there ’ s limited snowmelt coming in .
Bass might hang out in slightly deeper water within the bay or in adjacent chutes and secondary channels before spawning , but as the water temperature creeps up toward the 60-degree mark , they start heading to the flats where they ’ ll fan their nests .
“ look for shallow bays that have good green grass and areas as far away from current as possible ,” says stefan . “ i ’ m talking you ’ re fishing in a foot to 2 feet of water in the areas that in the summer are choked over in weeds . largemouths are looking for areas that are oxygenated and have the warmest water possible . in april you ’ ll have main-channel water in the 40s , and you ’ ll be able to find backwaters in the 60s .
“ if we ’ ve had a couple warm days , that ’ s the best fishing of the year ,” stefan adds . “ Grab a swim jig , grab a chatterBait and you can just go to town in these back bays because they ’ ll be grouped up . a lot of these bays are where the largemouths winter . they ’ ll stay in the bays that have some deep water in them , but they ’ ll get up on the flats .”
Better flats have hard-bottom areas of gravel , rock or even pad stems that provide suitable substrate for spawning . stefan seeks out these smaller sweet spots in what can be vast stretches by fancasting with moving baits . once contact is made , slower baits such as yamamoto senkos and texas-rigged plastics are perfect for catching multiple keepers . is a really good bait , too , as is a jerkbait if we ’ ve got clear water . once i catch a fish or two , i ’ ll slow down with a carolina rig or jig . i really try to look for current breaks that are not one-cast spots , but that i can thoroughly work in 15 to 20 minutes .” vast eddies behind wing dams , islands and large points are classic prespawn spots , but stefan actually avoids them . they ’ re too obvious , he thinks . he prefers to target smaller eddies created by boulders , man-made structures and “ sand drops ,” which are formed when the current deposits sand on the river ’ s bottom . some will form in the middle of channels like sunken islands . they also form like tails on the downstream side of dry islands .
“ picture the downstream side of an island , and you ’ ve got current coming around both sides . you ’ ve got a seam that comes off the back end ,” says stefan . “ it [ a sand drop ] is really similar to that , but the sand bar usually comes off the backside and trails off into the main channel and is submerged . you might have 2 feet of water that comes off 200 feet from the bank , and then it drops off into 4 to 12 feet of water .
Prespawn Smallmouth Strategies
stefan targets prespawn smallmouths in eddies and other current breaks . some will be near heavy current , but most often they ’ re in secondary channels and chutes with milder flows . smallies also stage in deeper , cooler water ( 8 to 12 feet , usually ) than their largemouth counterparts – places where the water warms more slowly – which is what sets up the order of their spawns .
“ they ’ ve been sitting in that eddy for months , and they ’ re just waiting for it to warm up enough to move in ,” stefan says . “ that ’ s why they actually spawn later in the season than largemouths up in this part of the country .” stefan begins his search with moving baits , but because the fish are grouped up he stays prepared to milk out additional fish once he finds them .
“ usually i ’ ll throw a swimbait or spinnerbait . even a rat-l-trap is an excellent bait up here ,” stefan says . “ that ’ s kind of what i start with to find them . a crankbait
ABOVE : Lawrence Lake shows a typical area where largemouth bass will stage and spawn . It ’ s out of the current and shallow . Smallies might set up to spawn in the channel leading in . BELOW : Another classic example of a good largemouth spot . Smallmouths will stage at the mouth of the backwater area and spawn near deep water .
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