• Blog Post by: Bob Turgeon
• May 19, 2009 - 12:48 AM

Well the Statewide Bass season opener is close at hand and none too soon. Saturday May 24th we can all chase our choice of Brown or Green Bass statewide. With the cold spring and a somewhat early date for opener the fish may be in various stages of the spawn and that will determine their location. Keep in mind that not all fish spawn at once so many patterns can produce fish at the same time. Buck Perry wrote that fish are either shallow, deep or somewhere in between and the first few weeks of this season will REALLY bear that out. My experience is that while some fish will move up shallow in water as cold as the upper 50's the majority will wait untill temperatures reach the mid to upper sixties and the big march to the shallows will really get going once the temps hit 70 plus. You can use those numbers as a guideline to help determine fish location. 

  Pre-spawn the majority of fish will hold on the deep weed edges on the heavily weeded lakes we have here in the metro area......use Crank baits if the fish are active. Jig-Plastic combo's or Jigworms if the fish are less active will usually produce solid results. 

   Once they fish move up shallow a variety of plastics, shallow running crankbaits and minnow style jerk baits will all get the job done. One of the techniques that flat out produces both numbers and size is to use a straight plastic worm rigged "wacky" style around docks and inside weed edges. A cigar style worm like the popular Senko or a smaller finess worm on a light wire hook and spinning tackle are all you need. To rig a worm "wacky' style simply put the hook through the center of the worm and let the ends hang....like a mustache. Simply cast...let the worm sink and give a twitch or two and repeat.....the Bass can't resist the subtle fall. This method also works well on the fish you see cruising the shallows, wear polarized  sunglasses and work slowly ahead with your electric motor looking for fish, cast 3-10 feet ahead of the fish and get ready for exciting action....many times you will actually see the fish inhale the bait.

    Finally keep in mind that this is the time of the spawn and returning your catch to the lake will pay huge dividends for years to come with each female producing thousands of little bass for the future of our sport.