Spring 2018
®
pros pointers for
SPRINGTIME
BASS
by Dan O’Sullivan
page
14
A
s the water warms, the fish begin to move towards
the shallows and they become more aggressive as
they move towards the spawn. This is one of the best times of the year to catch the biggest bass of the year with
relative ease – compared to other seasons of the year.
With all of that said, springtime tournaments can be the
hardest to win. As bigger fish go on the offensive looking
to feed up for the spawn, then get locked onto the beds,
tournament weights skyrocket. Many of those big weight
events, where a four-
day tour event can take
over 100-pounds to win,
and team tournament
weights eclipse 35, or even
40-pounds to win – it ain’t
easy to compete this time
of the year.
With that in mind, how
do the pros tip the odds in
their favor when it comes
to triggering the right
kinds of bites? Why do
some anglers seem to find
themselves on the upper
reaches of the standings
when 20 pounds equals an
“okay bag today?” How do
they cope when they need
to get bites when others
aren’t?
Many of them have tricks that they use to fool larger bass and to continue to get bites when other anglers are struggling. These are their stories.
BILLY HINES – TOP TO BOTTOM REACTION
For Hines, who is in his second year as an FLW Tour pro, the reaction bait bite is key during this time of the year.
Billy Hines Credit FLW