Spring 2024
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Senko, or I like to use the Northland Fishing Takle Weedless Wacky Jig. The double-wire weed guard will help keep your bait from getting hung up when you are fishing it around the flooded cover.
JUST WHEN YOU HAD THEM FIGURED OUT, THE RIVER WILL FALL!
The main thing to keep in mind when fishing for bass when the water levels are dropping is that bass have the knowledge that the water is dropping and that they need to relocate. They do not want to be caught on dry land or trapped in a shallow back water, so they must stay one step ahead of Mother Nature.
The trouble that this causes anglers is that bass will move out from the bank and suspend in the water column. They may be 5- to 10-feet away from the bank or shoreline that they were holding on.
When these bass suspend, they are keying on several items. The first is any cover that they can find, whether it be trees, bushes, or underwater features like rock piles or a ledge. Another item that these bass will relate to is baitfish. The bass will sometimes suspend in the water and follow around a school of baitfish. Two areas that I pay particular attention to and try and locate when the water is falling are tree lines and funneling areas.
Bass will set up on tree lines as they pull out from the shallow water that once was up and behind the trees. The depth of water on these tree lines can range from 2- to 6-feet depending on where the tree line is located. These trees also have a lot of insects on them, which attracts baitfish and in turn provides bass with the nourishment that they need.
When I am targeting bass along a tree line, I first go after them with a search lure that will help me identify where they are located along that tree line. The fish may be right up tight along those trees, or they may be holding a foot or two out in front or behind the tree. I’ll try a vibrating jig as it will allow me to cover a lot of water in a short amount of time and will help me determine where the bass are positioned along those trees.
After establishing where the bass are located on that tree line, I will slow down and try to get a few key bites out of that area. I’ll again turn to my flipping presentation with a Texas-rigged soft plastic, so I can drop my bait right in front of the fish’s mouth. This is why it is important to note where you are getting your bites along the trees, are the bass sitting behind, in front, or on the down current side.
The other area that I like to target is what I call funneling areas. These areas can be composed of many things. I look for areas that our congregating the bass in a specific location. This could be a chute that the water is coming out of or a pile of lay downs that are dictating the flow of the water as it falls. What either of these forms of cover provides is an exit point for the fish to move out of an area and it helps keep them in a central location that they will stack up in, this of course is very beneficial to us as anglers.
Three sub-factors that affect these funneling areas are wind, current and bait fish. I will look for areas that have the wind or current pushing the baitfish into an area that the bass are pulling out of. Dialing in all the factors on the water can really load the boat.
By examining the water and all the factors that affect how the bass position themselves on the cover will help you catch more bass this spring as your favorite river rises and then retreats into its confines. •
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