Westernbass Magazine - FREE Bass Fishing Tips And Techniques - Spring 2014, Page 43

Westernbass Magazine - FREE Bass Fishing Tips And Techniques - Spring 2014, Page 43

I

t’s the big round-up call for big mama bass

that will soon take to the spawning zones and

do their part to perpetuate the species. In the

process, they’ll put a serious dent in the forage populations, as this is a major feeding time when the

fish are driven by the need to pack on weight to get

them through the forthcoming reproductive rigors.

What does that mean to anglers? Simply put: big-

time opportunity.

The downside? You’ll have to go find the fish.

They’re generally less obvious than those stationed

on beds; nevertheless, with the right strategy, you’ll

find action aplenty during the prespawn.

Without a doubt, the most versatile and consis-

tently productive bait for the prespawn is a crankbait.

Designed to imitate multiple types of bass-enticing

forage, with the ability to dig around, bump around

and make a general nuisance of itself, the crankbait

delivers.

For the grassy habitat that bass love for pre-

spawn staging, tournament pro Phil Marks suggests

a one-two punch that employs

a lipless

crank and a squarebill. First

off, Marks is pretty particular

with the prespawn grass he

seeks and it’s his feeling that

anglers who look for “the

right grass” will more quickly

dial in their search.

“I don’t want to be way

back in a pocket and I don’t

want to be on some old

river channel type of stuff

– I want to be on those big

main-lake or creek mouth

flats,” he said. “Then I go

looking for drains, corners,

and isolated clumps of

grass.”

Marks, said that

hydrilla beds, most of

which remain subsurface

during the prespawn

season, benefit bass

with shelter, shade and

feeding opportuni-

ties. The fish are there

to feed, so he mimics

SPRING 2014

natural forage with a Strike King Redeye Shad and a KVD 1.5 squarebill.

Now, the prespawn crankbait depth, Marks said, depends largely on weather patterns – particularly the influence of rainfall on water levels and turbid- ity. Rising water, which is typically dirtier, pulls the fish shallower; while clear, falling water finds the bass moving deeper. In the California Delta’s tidal environ- ment, daily ebb and flow will also move fish. Keep on

top of these

dynamics to keep yourself in the

right zone.

Marks typically

starts with a ½-ounce

Redeye Shad, but

he may bump up

to the ¾-ounce

model when big

fish abound, or

downsize to the

¼-ounce

for

highly

pres-

sured

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