When the water’s up in river-fed lakes and bass are stirring at the approach of the spawn, it takes special techniques to catch big fish consistently.
Frigid weather and cold water had put a damper on catching winter bass, but as the water started to warm, fish began to move up and head towards the flooded trees.
Terry Bates of Greenville knew the time was about right for his spinnerbait, so he tied one on and went fishing on Lake Ferguson. Bates slung a 1-ounce spinnerbait out and began to slow-roll it back, but he didn’t get too far.
Wham!
A lunker bass slammed the spinnerbait as it passed a partially submerged log, then bore down for the timber. Bates was ready, quickly snapped the rod back and turned the bass on a dime, much like a rodeo cowboy would turn a calf. The bass fought wildly, but Bates slowly wore him down and brought him into the boat.
“In February, when it starts warming up — when the water temperature gets above 50 degrees — you’ll get a migration towards the trees,” Bates said. “If you can get in on the first prespawn wave, it can be an unbelievable spinnerbait bite. You may not catch a ton of fish, but the ones you catch are going to be huge.”
Bates’ best five bass caught on one prespawn trip weighed 30 pounds — all on the spinnerbait. If conditions stay the same, then the first wave of prespawn bass moving up typically lasts about two weeks.
Prespawn on river lakes
Bates, a retired fisheries biologist, has used his enhanced technical knowledge about fish behavior and spawning tendencies to his benefit over a lifetime of tournament angling and guiding.
“A lot of people think bass all spawn on the ground, or on the bottom,” Bates said, “but that’s not true with bass on river lakes. If it were, then we’d not have many good spawns or many fish, as a result of all of the springtime flooding.”
If you know anything about river-fed oxbow lakes, you know that the action can be fast and furious, and that the river lakes get replenished with fertile nutrients and quality bass almost every year.
“After the water gets into the timber or keeps rising, the bass are forced to look for good prespawn sites to prepare to spawn, so they’ll key on floating logs or floating log piles, anything that floats up and down,” Bates said. “If you find a big log in the middle of an opening it’s a good place to get bit. The key on the floating logs is that there needs to be some water on top of a portion of the wood structure so that the bass can lay their eggs when they’re ready.”
Bass will relate to laydown logs and tree limbs that are in the water as well.
Jerkbaits
“Sometimes, jerkbaits are deadly during the prespawn,” Bates said. “I prefer a hard-body jerkbait this time of year, and I like treble hooks that will help with a secure hookup. When it’s cloudy I’ll use a jerkbait with a gold and black back; if it’s clear, I’ll use chrome with a black back. There’s just something about the jerkbait that the bass like when they’re in the prespawn mode.”
The prespawn bite on river-connected oxbow lakes can occur any time between mid-February and the first of May depending upon the water temperature, stability and a number of other things according to Bates.
“The fish will relate to the logs and floating structure about 6 weeks, and then they’ll be gone,” he said. “The water is usually really clear and will stay that way through March. You can see a jerkbait 4 feet deep, and the bass are keying on that flash.
“I’m going to position my boat so that I can throw past the end of the log and twitch it and just ease it up to the log. More often than not, he’ll hit it on the first pass through.”
Bates likes to work jerkbaits with a twitch-twitch-pause retrieve and let them float up slowly; those suspended bass can’t stand it. Most of the time, you’ll only catch one fish per log, but it will usually be a big one.
“Normally, when you’re on that pattern, just go to an area where you have lots of structure in the water, with logs and brush, and you’ll find the fish,” he said. “You might be in 25 feet of water and catching them 2 foot deep, but I usually like to try them 5 to 6 feet deep and just try to get a feel about what depth the fish are in. Then, it’s simply a matter of presentation and execution.”
Suspended fish
Another thing Bates encounters during periods of high water during the prespawn is suspended bass.
“The fish will sometimes suspend in the top of willows in about 8 feet of water, and they’re not active,” Bates said. “Normally, there will be some fish under the willows, suspended, so we’ll use a ½-ounce jig or ¼-ounce tube or Brush Hog. Anything with tentacles will get hung up easier.”
Bates likes to pitch a jig or Texas-rigged plastic bait into the area where the fish are suspended and let it fall about 8 feet, then reel it in and pitch it in somewhere else. If bass are suspended and they bite, it will happen on the fall, not on the bottom, so there is no reason to let it fall 20 feet.
On one trip when the water was about 20 feet higher in the willows than normal, Bates found bass suspended under brush tops or along the trunks of the willow trees. He was using magnum tubes rigged Texas-style, and they were nailing the lure as it fell in the 6- to 8-foot range. If they suspend, they can’t resist a plastic bait falling on their heads.
“I like a green pumpkin, watermelon or candy colored bait on a clear day,” Bates said. “They may not be chasing and feeding actively, but when you drop it on their head, they’ll eat.”
In one Lake Ferguson tournament during the prespawn, Bates won with a 5-fish limit that weighed 26.99 pounds. Almost every angler fishing had success with catching quality bass, as a 24-pound sack didn’t even make the money. Now that’s great fishing anywhere.
Prespawn, post-spawn bites
“You need to remember that the bass will spawn in waves on most lakes, and that means there may be some bass on a pre-spawn bite and some on a post-spawn bite after the first batch are done spawning,” Bates said. “After that first group actually spawns out, they’ll suspend in the trees and around brush, laydown trees and thick brush.”
Bass that have spawned want to stay where they can rest easily and attack any prey that may swim past unawares as they build up their strength and energy. As a result, you may find an area that has the potential to have bass in both stages of the spawn. Bates likes to cast into the middle of the brush when bass get in there, and the bite can be amazing as well.
“Lake Ferguson, Whittington, Lake Lee, Chotard and Albemarle are all similar and good places to catch prespawn bass on (these) patterns,” he said. “River-fed oxbows are different than most lakes, but the bass in these lakes will spawn in a similar manner, and the prespawn is often fantastic for catching quality bass.”
Spinnerbaits
“Spinnerbaits are a universal lure for the prespawn and a great technique almost everywhere you find prespawn bass,” Bates said. “I like to fish a 1-ounce chartreuse/white spinnerbait with two No. 4 willow-leaf blades, which keeps the bait down near the bass. Those small blades allow me to slow-roll the lure.
“There’s nothing fancy about fishing one of these spinnerbaits, but I always use a trailer, and I never fish a tournament without a trailer hook.”
Bates is targeting bass in the 3- to 5-pound range during the prespawn; therefore, he’s going to use a big lure, and there’s nothing much better at enticing bites from bass in brush and logs than a slow-rolled spinnerbait.
If you’re looking for some fantastic fishing, spool on some stout line, grab a few of your favorite spinnerbaits and jerkbaits and head to the nearest river-fed oxbow. The action may be fast and furious if you use some of Bates’ favorite prespawn tactics.
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