1. THE SHALLOW DITCH
Strategy: Mimic shad using a vibrating jig or lipless crankbait.
at Cumberland, Wilson targeted a classic prespawn staging area for his second-place finish. he located a ditch in the back of a creek channel. Green, leafy, almost grass-like brush that had been growing in the area on dry ground had recently been inundated with water when the lake level rose. Bass were positioned in the cover along the edge of the drop-off into the ditch, waiting for the right time to spawn on large flats located along outside bends in the creek channel.
“ They would pull up on the flats occasionally as it warmed up throughout the day,” Wilson recalls. on sonar, Wilson found the area stacked with near-surface baitfish. even though the bass weren’ t busting the baitfish topside, he was able to use a white vibrating jig with a yuM Pulse swimbait trailer to lure several largemouths out from the cover and into his boat.
The flats were about 2 1 / 2 feet deep, and the channel edge varied from 5 feet deep to around 10 at its deepest. Wilson says he’ s found similar scenarios on other reservoirs around the region.
“ They’ ll sit on those 2- to 3-foot differences on, like, a little‘ plateau area’ before they move up on the flat,” he explains.“ That’ s typically what I look for in the spring – a place like that. It was basically a highway.”
Another approach: While Wilson opted for a vibrating jig, Rose prefers to throw a Strike King Red Eye Shad lipless crankbait, particularly when there’ s grass in the ditch. He says the lure will attract and agitate bass taking shelter in the cover. He also used this program at Guntersville to target bass along inside grass lines.
PhoTo By joDy WhITe
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FLWFISHING. COM I FEBRUARY-MARCH 2018