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There is nothing quite like bass fishing in spring. The calm air, the warmth, the light breezes, and being one with nature is a feeling like no other and if you enjoy bass fishing like I do, then you’ll enjoy bass fishing in spring. I can remember many a day spent with my family bass fishing throughout the year, but the freshness of spring always stood out for me as some of our best experiences. I highly recommend trying bass fishing, especially in the spring season, with your family.

The thing to remember about bass fishing in spring is that the water temperatures are beginning to rise from the winter cold. The fish are starting to become more active as their metabolic rate rises with the rising heat, and this means that the bass move out of the deeper water in search of food after a long winter. Normally, bass can be found in fairly shallow areas searching for food in the bounty of the waters and finding them can be a treat for the fisherman.

Spawning in Spring

Spring is known as the “prespawn season”. There isn’t a specific time that the prespawning activities of bass will take place, though and they will basically occur at all sorts of different times and in different temperatures throughout the season. The prespawn season is categorized by the changes in the bass as they tend to be a lot less cautious in their ravenous search for food, companionship, and a spawning partner.

The bass move back and forth from the shallower waters a few times a day to feed, so finding them in the shallow portions can be generally easy. Bass eat high energy foods in the spring like crawdads and other smaller fish that help give them the protein they need to accomplish all the goals they have in the spawning season. Making yourself familiar with the location of the shallower portions of the body of water in which you are fishing is always a good strategy for catching that giant haul of bass.

Also, become familiar with the foods in the lake and hide out there. Staking out the good crawdad areas is a surefire way to locate large pools of bass. Look for trees, stumps, rock piles or other debris that run from shallow to deep and troll that area. A good angler also becomes familiar with the size of the bass food of choice and lures his or her rod accordingly to try and slip one past the fish.

Bass fishing in spring requires you to do a little research, but in the end it is one of the most rewarding seasons for fishing and a great way to spend time with the family, learn about nature, and explore lakes and other bodies of water.

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Bass fishing with topwater baits is without a doubt the most fun you can have fishing for large or smallmouth bass. People watch these bass tournaments on the tube and see all these pros using plastic and spinner baits jigs and crankbaits, forget about the fun and excitement you get with topwater baits. Topwater baits create great action and stories to pass on to family and fishing friends.

Bass fishing with topwater baits is without a doubt the most fun you can have fishing for large or smallmouth bass. People watch these bass tournaments on the tube and see all these pros using plastic and spinner baits jigs and crankbaits, forget about the fun and excitement you get with topwater baits. Topwater baits create great action and stories to pass on to family and fishing friends.

The best time I find for topwater bass fishing is in summer, the colder the water the slower the response, and the more you have to work that bait. Early morning and evening are best for topwater bass fishing.

Of course weather effects your choice of lures also, on a bright sunny day it is better to have a light wind to go with it, a bit of a chop makes the bass less spooky. On a calm sunny day use a heavier lure and lighter line for longer casts. Bass tend to become real spooky in calm and clear water, so the further the cast from you the better off you’ll be.

Wind can also change the type of topwater bait you can use I believe that when the wind comes up you should use a smaller bait that makes a lot of noise. The larger baits just plow through the chop, while the smaller baits ride the chop and still make that enticing noise to get the strike you want. Also try to fish through the troughs created by the wind.

Bass fishing topwater baits has some of it’s own quirks you want to be able to make pinpoint casts to cover areas and make a clear retrieve. Most of your topwater bass fishing will be done in shallow water over weed beds, flats and around objects and shoreline cover. The majority of bass population remains in shallow water all summer.

To fish bass with topwater baits cast about a foot or two past your target and bring it as close to the cover as possible. If you do not get a strike after the first few feet reel in and try again and make another cast. Fishing cover like this there is no need to reel the bait all the way to the boat. Work the bait slowly to get that strike from the bass that is hiding in the shadows and under cover. Have patience when fishing topwater baits, let the ripples disappear, and let the bait sit a few seconds before you make you retrieve.

When the bass strikes a topwater bait, wait till you feel the fish before you set the hook. If you try to set that hook when you first see the strike you’ll miss more than you will catch. I can’t count the times that lure has been knocked back towards me by the bass striking that topwater bait.

Now for some of the most popular baits, Poppers are among the oldest of topwater bass fishing lures. They have the dished out face with the line tie in the middle. When retrieved they make a slash noise or "bloop" when popped. Poppers work best in warm, calm, shallow, clear water. You get your action from the rod tip not reeling. The harder you snap the bait the more noise and commotion created.

Stickbaits are rounded, hot-dog shaped lures usually plastic or wood. weighted to float nose up. The only action they have is what the angler ads to make them work. These baits have appeal for big bass, just using the jerk, then real up slack and jerking again produces a good erratic side to side motion that gets lots of attention from bass.

Propbaits are cigar shaped and fitted with propellers on one or both ends. Propbaits can be worked fast or slow, quiet or loud, but stop and go retrieves are best. The bass will let you know what is best so vary your retrieve. Be sure to experiment, propbaits are dynamite around sunken logs, lily pads, and shallow cover. Be sure the blades on the lure run freely,

Wobblers and Crawlers, these baits are particularly best at night or early morning, Examples of these are the Jitterbug or the Crazy Crawler. They make a loud plopping sound when retrieved steadily. Use a steady slow retrieve for the best results with this bass bait.

Buzzbaits are a little like spinnerbaits designed to be fished on the surface. There are two types, the opposite wire types, with the blade above the hook, and the inline type with everything on one shaft. Excellent for clear water, and pick up less weeds. Again experiment with your working of this bait, twitching and vary speeds to create different noises.

Weedless Spoons are also in this category, designed to be fished in dense cover, either through the thickest weeds, lily pads, or grass. They go through the toughest cover you can find. Fishing with weedless spoons for bass you will want to be using heavy fishing tackle, rods and reels. I like to point my rod tip at the lure on my retrieve, and again here be patient and allow the bass to take the lure.

Jerry J. Jansen
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It probably was originally practiced in search for food among the people in the south of the United States. Since then, it has started gaining numerous audiences of all ages and nations. Today, countries such as Australia, Cuba, South Africa, United States and most of Europe participate in this kind of event.

Timelines

•    The year 1768 or 1770 represents the birth of bass fishing sports. Onesimus Ustonson introduced his first multiplying reels to the fishing gurus and lovers. It was later developed into bait caster.

•    William Shakespeare Jr. materializes the production of a level wind device and secured its patent on 1897.

•    The William J. Jamison Co introduced the overly ornamented Shannon Twin Spinner in 1915 and was improved to create today’s spinner baits.

•    In 1932, President Franklin D. Roosevelt instituted the creation of Tennessee Valley Authority and encouraged the creation and building of numerous dams. These dams were later used for culturing different varieties of bass fishes.

•    Five years later, DuPont Company filed patent for nylon fishing net, this was later developed into nylon monofilament fishing line.

•    The year 1992 is one of the most glorious events in the history of bass fishing. Larry Nixon, the famous fisherman in the history of bass fishing won $1 M total earnings for this sport on this year.

Bass Fish

Several fish species that are being caught in the bass fishing events are the following:

•    Micropterus salmoides (Lacepede) – Largemouth Bass
•    Micropterus dolomieui – Smallmouth bass
•    Micropterus punctatus – Kentucky Bass

Other species of Micropterus are also caught but one that remains popular is the Largemouth bass. However, it should be emphasized that Australian Bass are different from the above North American Bass variants although most share similar features.

Perhaps, the most robust success of Bass Fishing was in the 1950s. The popularity of the game during this period is the springboard to the development of modern fishing equipments from bass boats, rods, lines, lures and various fishing gears.

Electronic gears were also incorporated among the host of equipments bass fishers used at that time. Reels of different types, which function in hauling and hoisting, were also created.

The contribution of bass fishing industry to the US economy records $50 to $70 Billion and the number continues to grow. Statistics show that the audience base of this sport is increasing and that more and more people are getting interested in it compared to tennis and golf.

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