Spring 2020
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banks act as natural and important banks for largemouth to hang out on until they are ready to move up and spawn.
My preferred presentation: Booyah One Knocker (Red Craw) fished on a Witch Doctor Tackle Kahuna 7’ MH Rod, with a Wright & McGill High Speed Reel with Seaguar InvizX Fluorocarbon 12-lb.
highway and the locations relation to spawning areas which will dictate when the bass load up in the area.
The second condition that will play a role in where bass position themselves is the river current.
In the spring, Bass won’t want to be positioned in heavy current. Putting themselves in heavy current will force that bass to burn energy that they are saving for the spawn. But being close to or adjacent to the current allows the bass to hold tight and have food delivered via a seam or current break.
Some key areas and forms of structure that make up these bass highways include rock, such as riprap banks and wing dams. These forms of cover likely line the main river channel and could be adjacent to a key secondary channel that leads to a backwater spawning area.
These secondary channels or backwater sloughs, sand points or sand bars that have natural current seams, are key stretches that both species of bass will stack up on as they make key moves in the spring.
Also located in these backwater sloughs are stretches of banks that have deeper water on them with timber. These
FLATS
As largemouth begin to move shallower
or towards the bank, locating banks of flats
in backwater sloughs and lakes that have
emergent lily pads, submerged laydowns, or
stumps is another great springtime pattern
for anglers to look at.
Looking for flats or banks that are close
to spawning bays or banks, while still having access to deep water is many times the key in finding those honey-hole stretches.
When I mention deep water in this situation, that doesn’t necessarily mean feet deeper, sometimes all largemouth need is a slight depression or trench running through that flat or along the edge. This slightly deeper water gives largemouth the comfort to move deeper should a springtime cold front move through.
As I’m moving along a bank or flat and making casts to the obvious visual targets, I’ll also keep an eye on my Humminbird SOLIX unit with MEGA 360 Imaging on the screen.
What I’m looking for here is key isolated,
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