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Spring 2018
3
PRE-SPAWN S yo C u d E o N n’t A wa R nt I t O o m S iss
by David A. Brown
page 30
I
t’s big-fish time;
the pre-spawn.
It’s a time when seasonal transitions
coax large numbers of
bass — many of them
ripe, bulging females
— toward the shallow
bedding zones.
“The fish are
starting to gorge before
they move up on the
beds,” said FLW pro
Jimmy Reese. “It’s the
time of year when
fish start moving and
looking for food. They’ve
come out of their
winter doldrums and
now they’re starting to
heat up a little and get
their bodies moving.
“It’s time for them to get fat. The bait starts showing up
and they’re ready to eat.”
On their way up, these fish will camp out on various
staging areas until the ideal combination of water
temperature and lunar phase usher them into the delivery
room. Generally, these pre-spawn spots are described as
the last area of solid structure before the beds, but that can
mean a lot of things to a lot of people.
There’s no one-size-fits-all description, but Reese shared a trio of can’t miss pre-spawn locations he’ll look for every year.
LAYDOWNS
Fallen trees positioned by wind and current may be more top-of-mind in other seasons, but these often