Where Do Bass Go In Spring? ( And How To Catch Them )

what's up guys Tim little welcome back to Tactical bass in today's video we are talking spring bass fishing where did these bass go and the best ways to catch them spring bass fishing if I had to vote this would probably be my favorite time of the entire year to uh to bass fish right you got the the warming Trend in the weather you got lake levels coming to full pool you have fish more active preparing for that spawn you know and these fish need to feed up so you can have days where you can catch you know 50 60 70 plus fish in a single day and you can Al also have days where you catch the biggest fish of your entire life Springtime bass fishing for me is what it is all about So today we're going to cover the different types of Fisheries and uh and my favorite confidence baits this time of the year to help produce and have those magical days now the first thing to understand spring bass fishing uh the fish are on the move it has everything to do with the weather the moon and the fish coming shallow to spawn so right off the bat if you are a Shore based angler if you're a Shore fisherman the fish are coming to you so this time of the year those fish are coming to you so they're easily accessible a lot of times you can get to places where we can't necessarily get to in a bag a big bass boat but um know that this is your time to shine as those fish are coming shallow you know they get behind laydowns they get behind cover that we can't get to you can pick them off walk in the bank so uh hopefully you guys are as excited about spring as I am you know did a video probably I don't know maybe a a month or so ago just talking about the early spring transition you know start thinking about what these fish are going to do where they're going to go and how to catch them so today's video is all about that just kind of sped up about a month or so you know the spawn itself you know if you're down in say Florida or South Texas you know a lot of time times the spawn can start as early as like December right so you guys are way past the spawn and and in that post spawn phase but for the most part that Spa that spawn time frame that spring spawn time frame is from like I'm going to say like March to beginning of maysh I guess you know it's all relative it all has to do with your water temps and your your weather you know if you're up there in you know Michigan Wisconsin that that upper end of uh the country you know you could be May June right for your spawn but these fish depending uh on the type of fishery you're on or your fishing these fish are going to move uh differently so that's another thing to really understand what type of fishery are you on are you on a Highland Reservoir or a lowland Reservoir or a river system or natural l or a pond so we're going to kind of cover that kind of we'll Breeze over that cuz we we Matt and I we do these seasonal videos uh every year to kind of help um help you guys understand you know where these fish are going and how to catch them but more importantly understand the process of the movement of the spawn uh another tip for you guys the spawn is going to happen in waves you know you get that first full moon those fish are going to move up some of them are going to move up uh you know you get a warm weather trend or you get maybe a storm that kind of pushes that process back or at least slows it then you get another warming Trend in a couple weeks you get a different moon phase another wave of fish are going to come up so I like to Target the first wave of fish so this time of the year if I'm fishing um I'm typically uh going to the backs of Coes the backs of of spawning Bays the back the backs of of Creek arms I'm starting in the back and then I will work my way out because I don't want to miss it right that first wave of fish those big pre-spawn females I want to be the first to present you know a big Glide bait or a big swim bait or and we're going to cover baits here in a little bit but I want to be the first guy that's targeting those fresh fish coming up and uh so I typically start to in the back and then work my way out now if that's a Highland Reservoir it's going to be different than a than a natural lake we're going to talk about that here shortly but you guys know that we like to do these seasonal videos you know spring summer fall winter just kind of help you guys work through that process and like I said earlier in today's video we already did that early spring stuff those fish are starting to think about it they're coming out of their winter haunts they're kind of starting to move shallow but now it's 70° 80 90° depending on where you're at and these fish need to get that spawn done so again the fish move in waves and these fish are going shallow okay now the fish also move typically in groups so you'll have a wave of fish move up they'll do their thing and then the next group will move up that first that first group will move out or some will stay shallow and that's where they're going to stay all summer right some of those fish stay shallow some go back out deep and those are the fish you catch out on Ledges in the summertime um but understand that these fish are moving so you need to be moving as well sure you can sit there and pick up a Shaky Head or a sinko and fish your favorite brush pile and you might pick off a fish or two that are using that brush pile to get to where they're going but if you want to have one of those magical days where you're finding those big schools of fish you need to fish fast you need to find those active aggressive schools of bass so again that style of fishing is not for everybody but if you really do want to have one of those magical days and I'm not saying you can't have one on a Shaky Head or a a drop shot or a Nico rig or a wacky rig right you might have your favorite brush pile that 50 lbs of bass are going to use as their heading into the back of a creek and you might pick them off one by one or or even if you just get one you got your new double digit PB but if you want to have those truly magical days where you catch a ton of fish and got a beaver right here swimming I swear every time I'm doing a video I don't know if you guys can see this or not right there got a beaver cruising uh if you want to have one of those truly magical days where you find those those Mega schools uh you got to fish fast and find those fish one other tip that I like to tell people this time of the year if you're we're going to talk about the different styles of Fisheries here in just a second but no matter where you are or the type of fishery you're on if you're catching below average size fish or you're catching you know say you're on a I don't say you're on a river system right here on the TVA and it's it takes 15 to 20 pounds of you know best five fish so a three PB average to win a tournament or a 4 PB average to win a tournament and you're catching 10 12 14 inch fish you're catching those bucks those bucks the males move up first and those females those big pre-spawn females are typically a point or uh a secondary Point behind and we're going to cover that stuff as well so uh those fish are going to be like a stepping stone as they move to those spawning Bays to those Coes but if you're catching below average size fish backtrack a little bit to catch the big ones okay so main Lake Point I talked about that talked about secondary points those of you guys that don't understand what those are when you're on a Highland Reservoir typically a Highland Reservoir is going to have a narrow Dam but a real tall Dam typically they are damning up some kind of river or Canyon type Dam right they're they're damning up a river and that gives you steep Banks it gives you long River Arms with lots of fingers lots of offshoots lots of points well those points that separate two major arms right in the middle that is your main Lake Point and then as you go past that main Lake Point and you have the little offshoot points those are the secondary points and then once you get past those typically you'll have some kind of bay or some kind of Backwater that is more flat less Contour not as Steep and that's where those fish are going going so Highland Reservoir typically deeper typically colder uh cuz you got a lot of uh you know water a lot of current water movement in those river systems and you have a lot more sheer walls so if you find yourself in the back of a spawning Bay you got good water Clarity you got water good water temp you know high 50s low 60s and you go all the way to the back and you don't see anything you don't see Fish staging you don't actively see Fish spawning or beds back yourself out to the first break so where that flat kind of pops up right there on that edge that deep water access is a lot of times that's where those fish are going to hang they'll wait for the right light they'll wait for the right temperature or water temp and then they'll pop up boom and go to the back and do their thing now if you you are on a Highland Reservoir and you back out onto that first lip and you don't find them backrack to the next secondary Point you're ahead of them so back up a little bit and then keep backing up if you're until you find them again that's why emphasize the moving baits because if you're sitting there shaking a a Shaky Head or a jig or a drop shot all day on the same spot or the same area you might never come across them but if you jump from this point to the next point to the next point and on the third or fourth point you start catching them now you kind of It kind of keys you in where they are in that process so we talked about a Highland Reservoir um again head to head to those secondary points and then go to that first big Cove or first area where it's less steep where these fish can pull up on a flat they can Sun themselves they can kind of get ready for the spawn and do their thing again backtrack to that first deep walk access to check for those bigger fish or to check for those staging fish lowland Reservoir typically you're going to have a real long or wide Dam it's not necessarily as tall you know some of those dams could be a mile long or two right or maybe multiple dams because you're you're you're damning up a uh not as steep of an area a lot of those types of Fisheries are going to have a lot more offshore humps uh but less drastic contour lines you're not going to have those main or huge River Arms you're not going to have the canyon type stuff where you have those Bluffs or or those walls but you will have Creek channels that kind of head back to a bay or to a Cove and that's what those fish are going to use just like a highway right they're going to use that that um little deeper Contour that little deeper depth water they're going to use that and they're still going to use those secondary points but they're going to use that Creek channel to move just like a highway so if you can find where that Creek Channel comes in close to a secondary point just before a big spawning Bay or a Cove and it has good rock on it that is awesome right those fish are going to use that to go in and they're also going to use it on their way out after the spawn you know some of these fish are going to stay shallow some are also going to come back out and they're going to use that just like they they use that kind of Step system in they're going to use that step system out which is awesome because if you find them on the way in now you have some way points now you have some key areas that you can fish post spawn okay river systems basically uh you know here on the Tennessee River you have main river lots of current lots of generated current for power and and then you have little offshoots you have big backwaters that kind of funnel out to the main river as as we get farther into spring that water is going to start Rising you're going to get full pool and those fish are going to be all the way in the back getting ready to do their thing right now same process they're going to get out of the current right they don't want to spend a lot of energy in the current they're going to get out of the current and they're going to start working their way back these little arms to those Bays right the warmer water shallower water uh if there's hard spots maybe there's a shell beds something like that inside a little cut those fish are going to use that as well um natural lakes typically are for the most part fairly featureless you know you might have uh some man-made structure maybe you have tires or fish uh fish habitats dumped or uh you maybe there's uh a lay down or a brush pile something like that those fish are still going to work their way uh into the shallows but it's not going to be nearly as obvious the highway they're going to use you know sometimes if you have a low water year uh those waves will eat away the bank of the lake and then that water comes back up now you have a real subtle uh break all around the rim of the lake you know maybe it's a foot or two foot or 18 in but those fish will will use that to kind of swim around and and get to the back but um if you find as you're going in with your Side Imaging if you find a little subtle break or a brush pile or who knows I've found all sorts of stuff sunken cars boats all sorts of stuff those fish are going to use that hard cover to sit on stage on till they get back into the creeks and in backs of those Bay now if you are in a Big Bay that's kind of featureless a lot of times they're going to sit right in the middle typically the deepest area of that Big Bay they're going to Stage there just like they would stage on that lip in the Highland and lowland reservoirs they're going to stage in that deeper water they're going to kind of pop up and then do their spawn so um pawns same thing they're those fish are working their way from the deeper water heading to the shallows so it depends on how big your pond is hopefully you can fish it all in a day and uh you can kind of work your way through that process are they in the deep water still down by the dam or are they up in the shallows in the grass towards where the water's coming into the pond that's kind of your your checklist that's your that's your process what else we talked about Loland Highland natural lakes river systems and ponds now let's talk about my favorite ways to catch them um you know it's it's these beavers are mad that I he they just splashed right here there's actually two of them now um it's again these fish are aggressive it's go time you want to be covering water you want to find these fish and for me it's really hard to beat an a rig an Alabama Rig you know these fish are feeding up they're active you can cover a ton of water now a specific tip on the AIG you know a lot of guys like them some guys don't like them guys complain about them being too heavy or they hurt their shoulder to throw because they can get really heavy this time of the year I have three 1/ 18 ounce heads so an eighth an eighth an eighth those are 4 in swammer and then I have some demii armor shads on as my my dummy baits this is my go-to rig you know as these fish are going shallow sometimes find myself fishing in 18 in of water you know I'm fishing shallow I don't want this thing to get hung up and throwing really really light heads is easy on the shoulder it's easy on the on the elbow and it allows you to fish this in areas that a lot of guys don't fish an AIG right it's a perfect way to mimic a school of bait fish I have that paired up with this specific bait that is the xzone swammer kitech work great a lot of good swimbaits on the market but that exone swammer has such a good body roll to it it's got a real aggressive kick that head kick As you move forward through the year you get into those warmer temps you want a more aggressive kicking uh swimbait so blades or no blades totally up to you uh I like to throw electric Shad or Bait fish colors if I am fing a a Highland Reservoir where I might have 10 or 12 15t of visibility I'm losing the blades I'm going straight AIG no blades if I find myself fishing in an area that might have got a a spring storm it might have merked up the water didn't make it muddy but merked it up I might throw a rig with blades and again this is our tactical this is our mini under spin it's not a full or mini uh AIG it's not a full-size AIG again those are 4-in swammer super Universal and very easy to fish all right next up for me is going to be the Glide bait I don't know if it's getting dark maybe the sun's going down behind that tree but this is the s-waver 168 this Glide bait has produced so many big fish for Matt and I and a Glide bait in the springtime as these fish are moving up Shallow they're using pieces of cover to ambush from you know whether that's a lay down or a stump or whatever right if you can visibly see those pieces of cover and you throw a Glide bait like this guy right here by them as you're reeling real real real as you come up to that area where you think it is like the spot the Ambush spot and you go twitch twitch you keep realing so this thing's just swimming along like a stupid meal twitch twitch that directional change you can trigger those fish to bite with the Glide bait uh unlike very few swimbaits right if you're throwing just a straight paddletail swimbait maybe it's a kitech or whatever you can't really twitch or or get that thing to do a directional change but throwing the Glide bait is a must for me in the spring now a lot of guys get kind of caught up on the whole Glide bait deal but it's not that overwhelming guys you know here is a jerk bait typically you know we've s we've said this for a long time I believe those Glide bait eaters were or are the jerk bait eaters here's a jerk bait right not much smaller than the Glide bait you can throw it on your favorite jig Rod especially the 168 it's not overwhelming um but you will get bigger bites throwing this presentation so if you're a guy that loves throwing jerk bait this time of the year throwing a Glide bait can uh can improve the size of the fish uh that you're targeting if you don't want to throw the Glide bait okay but definitely throw some kind of jerk bait same type of fish are going to eat both of these so that's why I kind of have them in the same category this time of the year I'm throwing a very aggressive jerk bait again we talked about that warmer weather you're fishing faster uh those fish are eating so I'm kind of putting down the the Finesse uh jerk baits like the the 110 the megabass 110 the 110 junior plus one I'm picking up like the world minnow something that's throwing off a ton of flash right or the Jackal rearrange something that's fairly loud really aggressive you can get real aggressive with your with your Cadence with your Twitches but something that has a lot of flash a lot of body roll that throws a lot of sound and Flash uh jerk bait works really really well so I have this time of the year I have one of these all of these tied on a version of them tied on at all times because you never know what the Situation's going to present do they want the jerk bait do they want the Glide bait do they want the AIG they want the whatever right so I typically have all these baits readily accessible if not tied on this time of the year real quick about the Glide bait uh another guy Glide that works really really well that the bait sanity antidote again not a super large uh bait there's a jerk bait right it's not that small or not that big not much bigger than um the swaer okay but those two guys right there you can get fairly active with your Twitches um you know one thing that I do like to do on the Glide baits that will help you from having that bait roll on your Twitches don't hit it that hard and then secondly put owner st56 hooks on there those are 3x hooks so it adds not only strength to the hook you're not going to bend them out on a big fish but it adds weight to the belly of that bait and allows you when you twitch twitch or real twitch and that bait shoots side to side it's not going to blow out and roll right you want that thing still swimming fairly straight so having the the little extra heav hooks on there really really helps with that and then if you need to you can get like those suspend dots or even Bait sanity makes those tungsten tungen uh strips that you can put under the belly to help get help keep the nose down and help keep this thing right when you add those Twitches okay so the Glide bait the jerk bait the AIG are my go-tos now I can't do a spring fishing video without talking about I'm going to actually add these together it's kind of a weird deal but I'm going to explain why a square Bill and a ChatterBait Matt and I I just found myself in this situation just the other day Matt and I were fishing and um he's throwing a ChatterBait I'm throwing a square Bill he gets a couple bites but they're short strikes right they they don't eat it all the way and I come behind him with the square bill and I could pause that bait in their face and they have to eat adding that just like the Glide bait adding that that Cadence change that directional change you know having that bait burned by and then paw right in their face they have to eat it and then they get a mouthful of of treble hooks right so I like to have that one two punch so let's talk about the the ChatterBait first I love the Jackhammer right it's been around for several years that thing is an amazing Chatterbait uh recently zman came out with their Evo Elite they got some really cool colors painted blades electric Shad color they got bluegill colors uh and then also the cross eyes so I have those three different style of chatterbaits depending on what I'm fishing okay that cross- eyes you see that big uh titanium wire guard if I find myself in an area with a ton of flooded timber wood or lots of debris in the water I tie on that cross eyes CU that that wire guard really helps that bait come through clean deflects really well and those fish still get it and then I talked about the Evo right that Evo Elite just some really cool color patterns M uh paired up with uh heavier snap and painted blades those are really cool and then obviously the Jackhammer those are my three go-to chatterbaits as far as color you saw me hold them up got one of for you there's the Jackhammer real bright trailer that spunk Shad I'm typically this time of the year depending on water Clarity I'm going with either a bait fish color so like an electric Shad a bluegill color or a black and blue if I'm in that real muddy stained water that having that dark contrasty bait uh really stands out so I'm going black and blue again U I'll link all this stuff down below in the video description there's some really cool uh spunk shads uh colors from hog farmer and then mile baits also has their custom colors they do and uh have some favorites in that line as well uh and then again throwing that orange or red if you there's some Fisheries that you just need to throw bright red so that's the ChatterBait again it's a onew punch I can cover more water I can cast farther with a half half oun ChatterBait I can I can fish that point that secondary point or that channel fairly quickly again I'm moving I'm trying to find those fish I can fish a lot faster a lot farther now if I start finding myself getting those DK and then nothing d d nothing or swinging and missing that's when I'm going to switch over to the square Bill two of my favorites this guy right here that is the Bill Lewis ATV now we've we've talked about Square bills in the spring for I don't know a decade or so it's just one of our go-to deals you know the rivers SE biggie we have some of our favorites but as Matt's talked about in some of his recent crankbait seminar seminars there are some amazing baits that are newer to the market that ATV has quickly become one of if not my favorites it's a fairly inexpensive uh Square bill but this thing is a four wheel drive you can throw it right into your lay downs you can throw it right into that stump and that bill angle and that those ewg style hooks on it just come through 95% of the time it's crazy how good that thing is and then you guys have heard us talk about this guy right here the Rocco the Rocco is another it's a silent bait whereas that one's a more of a subtle kind of a rattle but this is a really uh quick starting ing Square bill now what I mean by that and why that's important this time of those the year where those fish are going shallow I mean sometimes they're they're pushing bait super shallow I mean shallow enough you can't even get your boat to and you're trying to cast as far as you can but having a a square build that you can throw up there super shallow and burn burn pause burn burn pause and as soon as you're turning that Randle that that handle on that reel that baits that bait's kicking that bait's thumping right so whether it's a whether it's a a craw pattern or got another one here for you it's another cool color or a bait fish pattern totally up to you I typically start with that those red colors and then I'll go more of a shatty if I'm uh or more of a bait fishy color if I have water Clarity or I feel like that orange or that red is just too much but that is a onew punch so the ChatterBait the square bill I intertwine them depending on how the fish are acting and how they're eating some days they're not eating the square bill but they're choking the ChatterBait just kind of is what it is okay now last but not least a lipless that's the tn70 okay again you'll s you'll see a lot of similar colors those Reds in the spring just work really well but the tn70 is a b bait that I can typically this time of the year I'm fishing a lipless with that hopping action you know hop it up just enough where you fill that bait vibrate five or six times let it fall let it fall let it fall now if you're on a fishery or you're in the very back of a a bay where there's grass that's coming up you might have to go with like a a Rattle Trap let me grab one of those for you cuz I I did not pull one of those boat lipless you know something like this right again real bright red real bright orange uh but a half oun half oun trap versus a heavier you know Tenn uh is going to work differently in different scenarios if you are up Shallow in that grass you're probably going to get hung up with that 3/4 ounce bait uh whereas that Trap Half oun trap is going to be a larger size but it's not as heavy and you can burn that thing over the tops of the grass again it's a kind of a onew punch and it depends on the type of fishery you're in okay with that said going all the way back to the guy that wants to fish slow you might have the best secondary point on the lake excuse me you know the cove's right there you got the secondary point right right here nice Chunk rock right you know those fish are going there and you want to pick them off as they come through a Shaky Head uh a a power shot or a drop shot and a sinko are basically my three finesse baits this time of the year if I find myself in that situation you know a Shaky Head do I even have one yeah right here Shaky Head that T-Mac this is actually the Finesse Worm but that T-Mac paired up on a Shaky Head it's weedless so you can fish it through those rocks you can fish it through the brush pile uh but I like to have some kind of Flash in my worms this time of the year whether it's electric Shad or uh this is tilapia magic look at this you guys know how much we love the netbait but look at the Gold the purple the blue flake in that bait again I'll link all the stuff down below the video description if you can't see that sunet behind the trees but uh that is an awesome so here's the T-Mac and there's the Finesse Worm two different sizes I don't know if you guys can see that or not you probably can see fine it just looks dark with my glasses on but but uh that guy right there if you're a guy that's fishing shallow you know you're fishing around wood that sort of stuff maybe you're you're fishing docks okay okay a weightless 5-in Seno either Texas wig or or Texas rigged or wacky rigged is a killer as well it's a very subtle presentation it's a bait you can get into places skip into places that you can't get other baits it's it's super subtle and big ones eat it so some kind of electric Shad I'm throwing electric Shad I'm throwing green pumpkin or I'm throwing like the numberers like 31 right like a green pumpkin purple copper flak something with a little bit of Flash in it okay and then last tip for you guys if you're throwing like the Power Shot or you're throwing a Shaky Head and you're not getting bit on like that tilapia color or some stuff with some some flake in it try throwing some kind of pink worm okay this is the missile Bas is the magic worm this is missile morning really really bright you've heard of morning dawn you know those pink colors for whatever reason shine in the springtime I remember back on Clear Lake there was uh three n Pounders caught in a tournament out of all the Anglers there were three nines caught and every single one of those big fish were caught on a pink worm go figure it's just one of those things that just is what it is I love throwing like Margarita mutilator or like P eb&j uh you know most of the year but in the springtime something about throwing throwing that pink and then again having some kind of flake in that I don't know if it's just mimicking bluegill or Bait fish or what but having some kind of flake U helps really really well guys as always uh thank you for watching we're coming up on what 40 minutes or so you know it's a it's a great time to get out on the water enjoy the outdoors enjoy the warmer weather uh the good water Clarity and big bass so if you haven't got ready get your stuff ready you don't need all these things but get yourself a couple right get yourself some options as you find yourself in these different situations you'll have the best bait for that situation and uh and hopefully you feed off of our confidence you know we got years of catching fish on these specific baits these specific colors we have a ton of confidence in them and hopefully that uh that floods out to you guys um hope you guys enjoyed this video you learned something from this video if you did hit that Thumbs Up Button subscribe to the channel and we will see you guys on the next video

Channel: TacticalBassin

Views: 39,459

Keywords: fishing, bass fishing, fishing tips, Spring fishing, Spring bass fishing, how to catch bass in Spring, where do bass go, how to fish, fishing for beginners, beginner fishing tips, best baits for Spring bass fishing, Best baits for bass fishing, bass fishing baits, tactical bassin, tacticalbassin, chatterbait, spunk shad, crankbait, Spring crankbait, swimbait, glide bait, alabama rig, lipless crankbait, crankbait color, April bass fishing, April fishing, crankbaits

Id: OFAsWnnIvvs

Length: 35min 56sec (2156 seconds)

Published: Wed Mar 27 2024