ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Matt Allen and Tim Little are well-known big-bass experts who own Tactical Bassin , a website and social media channels dedicated to educating the public about bass fishing .

he birds are chirping and the smell of freshcut grass lingers in the air . Spring is upon us . More importantly , this means one more thing : The spawn is coming . Springtime is the best time of year to catch a personal-best bass . Right now , the biggest bass in the lake are on the move and are the most susceptible to being caught .

Depending on where you are in the country , there ’ s a good chance your fish are most likely in the prespawn or spawning stage . No matter which stage your fish are in , understand that they ’ re on the move . If you can effectively predict their transition routes , you have a better shot at catching a giant or two .

As bass begin their spring migration , their final destination is to shallower water – often in the form of spawning flats . With that in mind , it ’ s important to identify the nearest spawning areas on your fishery . It doesn ’ t matter if you ’ re looking at a paper map or using Google Earth , try to find flats or spawning bays located nearest to where you were catching fish during the winter months . With that information , all you have to do is figure out the route between the two locations . Sounds simple enough , right ?

Once you ’ ve figured out the route between bass ’ wintering and spawning locations , identifying the key structure and feeding locations between the

two locations is crucial . This time of year , I like to power fish to cover a lot of water . I use baits that cover water quickly , have significant drawing power and can trigger a vicious feed response .

During the prespawn stage , bass are typically feeding up and generally bite because they ’ re hungry ( instead of being triggered into a reaction bite or out of plain curiosity ). Tapping into their natural predatory instincts to trigger a bite doesn ’ t hurt , though .

Different types of fisheries progress differently through the spawning stages . I like to break fisheries down into four major categories : highland reservoirs , lowland reservoirs , rivers or deltas and natural lakes .