water rising? You need those warm water runoffs to perpetuate the warming of the backs of creeks and as one of the signals that call the fish into those areas. The next two variables are temperature - one, water temperature and two, air temperature. The warming of both, simultaneously, will be what you’re waiting for. a combination of the air temp spiking into those first few 70-degree days, mixed with the warmer nights and the water rising into the low to mid 60’s is a tell-tale sign that a topwater lure is good to go.
glass rod better than a graphite rod. i like the feeling it has to with reaction bait and its slower response time. My okuma is spooled with 65-lb braid for the buzzbait and mono for either of the others. i use 15- to 17-lb-test with a Spook and 10 to 12 with a Pop-r.
hANgOUT
Just like you hang out with your buddies at your local watering hole or you all go grab a burger at your favorite greasy spoon, the bass are lookin’ for a hangout and some grub on the way to their spawning area. They’re going to gather in those back pockets with the warm water runoffs. i’m going to target them by moving from those secondary points to secondary creeks and major creeks. on new fisheries, i would look for these areas on my lowrance HdS units. You can locate standout structure and then waypoint sweet spots in these areas with your electronics as well. There are many of these type of areas that you may already be familiar with in our Northern Calif. reservoirs such as back of Hatch Creek in don Pedro, New York Creek and Jack’s Shack in Folsom, Potter’s ravine and Canyon Creek in oroville and Jones Valley and so many others at lake Shasta. i’m sure you can think of many more. Now, don’t wait for summer, grab the topwater bait that tops your list, head to that pocket and fill the well.
LURE ThEM IN
There are a multitude of topwater choices available today. an angler just released from his wintertime fishing sabbatical can run wild through the tackle store fraught with spring fishing fever, loading his boat with every shiny new wham-wham and zoom-zoom on the market; but for me, there are only three must-haves. The Heddon Super Spook in a shad pattern tops the list. Usually, i pick an okie Shad or something shad colored with some chartreuse. i also have to have a poppin’ bait. of course, i like the rebel Pop-r; but you also got to love a rico or rio rico. designed with rick Clunn for lobina lures, the rico is definitely a go-to chugger. lastly, you cannot think about crossing the top without a buzzbait. i don’t get carried away with my buzzbaits. i still like a simple, 1/2- or 3/4-oz, standard, double metal blade with a clacker in all white or white and chartreuse. regardless of the reservoir, i’m always fishing my buzzers with a stinger hook - a Gamakatsu open eye Siwash Hook. Whether i’m workin’ a Spook or a Pop-r, i’m doing it on a 7’, medium-action, glass casting rod with an okuma Helios high- speed reel. i’m from that die- hard, old school group of guys that just like the action of a
spring 2013
TIPS
look for the runoffs. They love to stick their nose in that warmer, running water. to increase your hook-up percentage swap out the front hook on any Pop r or rico. Changing the front hook won’t alter the action; but it will put more fish in the boat. i change the #6 to a #4. on the rio rico, i also go up one size on the front hook; either way, i never
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