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Pre-Spawn Bass In February
First before I get
into talking about the spawn and spawning areas
let's
talk a bit about water levels. At this time we have had
some rain and
the
lakes are beginning to come back up
little by little. Lake Palestine is at
this
time about
five and half feet low and just before our last rain it
was
little
over six feet low. If you are coming to Lake
Palestine you will want to
take
your time on it so that
you don't damage your boat. We have lots of
water
hazards here and even the ones that fish the lake all
the time are
taking their time now.
Now let's talk about
the spring pre-spawn and things you can do to catch
your
spawning bass.
Where do we find bass when they begin their pre-spawn
and what should
look for?
This is one of the most asked
questions I get each year while working shows
and doing
seminars. Now let's talk about that and let's see if I
can explain
what I think and how I go about finding bass
when they begin to go into
pre-spawn.
First what is
pre-spawn? Pre-spawn is when the bass begin getting
ready
for their spawn. They will begin moving up into
the shallows where they
will build their nest to lay
their eggs which will hatch out as small fry or
baby
bass.
The first thing that
will get the bass to moving is when the water
begins to
warm up in the shallows. To get the bass really moving
the
surface
temps should be in the upper 50's to the low
60's and when you
find the
mid 60's you have found an
ideal spawning area where the bass
are on
their beds.
I
know you are reading this and wondering how do you go
about finding
warm water in February when the air temps
are ranging in
the 40's to the
50's most of the month.
Well you have to locate the areas
that get little
wind
and lots of sun. These areas will be found on the north
east shore
lines. These places can be in the north end
of the lake or on the
south end.
Now your thinking you
said the north east section that's right
I did. The
north
east
section of the body of water can be in a cove, on
the
river or in a creek. You
will want to look at areas
where you have the most
sun light for the biggest
part
of the day and this will be where I'm speaking
of.
On lake Palestine
we have several good spawning grounds and here
are a
few.
First up north we have an area called Old Folks
Play Ground this
is an area
that is surrounded by
islands and trees and is very shallow and it
gets lots
of sun light during the day. Here in Old Folks Play
Ground
the
water will be sometimes 10 degrees warmer
than the water on the
outside
of the Play Ground area
and this is what you want to look for.
Second you
can go
up the river and fish the Cades Lake area, this
area is
also surrounded by islands and has lots of back water
that
gets lots of sun light during the
day and this area
will also get water
temps that will range as much as 10
degrees warmer than say the water
outside the Cades Lake
area. Third you
can find areas up in Flat
Creek way back
up in the back portion where the
water shallows up.
This
year we have not had the rain and most of the
areas I
mentioned
is at full pool and not in the great drought we
have now.
For those that want to risk damaging your
boats or that have the small
boats you can still locate
some good water up north but even with the small
rigs
you will need to go slow and watch out for stumps and
shallow sand
bars.
Down south you can get around much
easier but you will still
need to watch
for stumps. The
south end of the lake will have places
that warm fast as
well
as the north end does. You can find the warmer
water on your northeast
sides of all your coves and
creeks. I could go
on and on about different
areas of
Lake Palestine where you can
find warmer water but you
may not
be fishing on Lake Palestine you
may be on Lake
Fork so here are a few
areas on Lake Fork.
On Lake Fork you can
find areas just like we have on Lake
Palestine. On Lake Fork we have Glade Creek, it is a lot like fishing
Lake
Palestine's
Old Folks Play Ground area it's flat and
shallow and holds
big spawning
bass. Lake Fork has other
areas such as Little Canney,
Burch Creek,
Mustang Creek
and Lake Fork Creek. Lake Fork has many
great fishing
spots for spawning bass and like Lake Palestine I could
go on
and on about these spots but there is just too
much to say and not enough
time to tell you everything about fishing pre-spawning bass. Lake Fork,
like Lake
Palestine
is very low and very dangerous so be careful
there as
well. You may not be fishing on one of these
lakes but you can rest assure
that the lake you are
fishing will have areas just like the two I have
mentioned.
Once you find these
areas you will want to fish slow moving
lures because
the bass won't move real far to take a bait but will
take one
when
it is presented to him in a slow working
motion. You can use a number
of
lures. If you are a top
water fisherman a torpedo, jitter bug or Zara
spook
or
even a yellow magic hugger can be very good because you
can
work it
with several speeds and then stop it in
prime areas to make it look
as if it
were a crippled
shad or perch and then make it move slowly out of
the
strike zone where you think your fish may be. Now if you
have a real
warm
day you can throw a spinner bait such
as my 430 Special. The 430
Special is
a spinner bait
that can be worked fast or slow and it has proven
it's
self for
me many times over during the pre-spawn and the
spawn
itself.
If your not into top
water fishing then you may want to try a
lizard, plastic
worm or maybe a jig all three will work great. My main
choice of jig
will be my Diamond Head Jig in a
Black/Blue color rigged
with a Mr.Twister BA Hawg
creature bait and another great lure is the Mr.
Twister Comeda
worm. These are lures of my choice because I can
work
them at any speed
and they will still be inside the
strike zone. If you are
fishing the south end
of the lake
or should I say the deeper end where you
have open water
you
can try another method and that is working a
suspending rouge or Long A rigged on a Carolina rig. Use
these lures
instead of using a soft plastic bait.
I
think you will agree they work great.
I guide on both
Lake Palestine and Lake Fork and during the spring
I
will
fish the same type water on one as I do on the
other.
Lake Fork has many
great spawning coves on the main lake and even
more back
in the main lake creeks such as Burch Creek, Glade
Creek,
Running Creek, Dale Creek and again like Lake
Palestine I could go on and
on naming out great spawning
areas.
I will locate the
back water areas of these creeks and this is where I
will
spend my time fishing for the big spawning bass.
You can use the type
areas and lures I mentioned on any of your
lakes you
fish just locate the waters that have the most sun light
and this will
be
where you will find your early spawning
bass.
Remember that most
of the bass you will catch during the spawn are our
good brood fish and they need to be handled with care if you
want to
protect our fisheries. Release your fish back
easy and don't throw them
back hard this could damage
the spawn of that fish and we would be the
losers
because most of your spawning bass will lay as many as
5000 eggs
each year
and out of the 5000 only about 10%
will make it to adult size due
to all the predators in
the water and us the fisherman being the biggest
predator of all.
Pre-spawning bass
can be some of your tougher fish to catch due to
the
cold
weather and all the fronts blowing in. It seems
like when you finally
get
them figured out another front
will blow in and change everything up
and
then you will
have to start over again. The main thing is don't get
discouraged and give up just keep on plugging and looking and you will
figure them out and go home the
winner in the end.
The pre-spawn bass
can be some of your larger fish of the year due
to them
being at full egg roll and weighing more now than any
other time
of the year so do as I do if you want a wall
mount or table mount of your
fish. First keep a soft
ruler on board and a good one would be one like
your
grandma used when sewing her clothes next weigh your
fish and then
use
that soft measuring tape and measure
her length and girth, take a
good
photo and release your
great catch back into the lake very easy to
not
damage
her and at the end of your day go by Lake Fork Taxidermy
and
give your measurements to them and have a replica
made of your
catch
then there will be two winners that
day, you with your new replica and
the
bass.
Until next month
remember to keep only the fish you can use and release
the rest so that our children can enjoy the great sport
we call fishing.
If you have pictures
of your trophy fish them send them to me and I
will
try
to get them in our next article or if you have questions
shoot me an
email and I will do my best to answer any
questions you may have. When
you send in your pictures
and questions be sure and send your name
and address and
if I use your question in my next article I will send
you one of
my great fish catching lures.
Next month I will
talk more on spawning bass and site fishing.
I'll see you on the
water.
Ricky
Vandergriff
(903)561-7299 office
(903)530-2201 cell
www.rickysguideservice.com
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