Lake Marion anglers catching plenty of bass heading to and from their beds

Spawn is a little late this spring, guide said, but the fishing’s still great

When fishing guide Inky Davis of Manning said largemouth bass are being caught coming and going at Lake Marion, he meant it literally.

“Right now, the largemouth bass on Lake Marion in both a prespawn and post-spawn situation,” Davis said. “As we head toward the full moon in April and even into early May, more bass will be going on the beds in very shallow water.

“We had a lot of bass bed during March – probably the traditionally big month for spawning largemouth – but the cooler water temperatures kept a lot of fish from moving in and spawning. Now that the water is warming quickly, more bass are moving into the very shallow spawning sites.

“Overall, the bedding situation is split more evenly this year, and I think that’s because of all the cool weather we had for so long. I’m seeing new beds being fanned right now, not complete, but the bass are getting ready. But the bass fishing is sensational for both quality and quality fish. We aren’t catching huge bass every day, but generally we’re catching quite a few bass, and odds are high we’ll hook some good bass I the 4- to 6-pound class fish most days. I’ve caught one over 10 pounds this spring, and there’s a bunch of big fish in shallow water right now. I expect that it will stay that way for the next two or three weeks.”

Davis (803-478-7289) said that with plenty of bass moving to slightly deeper water in a post-spawn situation and many more moving into the shallows preparing to spawn, fishermen have a great opportunity to find them in a number of different places and on be caught on a number of different lures.

“The No. 1 type lure for me right now is soft plastics with a Senko-type lure being very productive,” Davis said. “I’m catching bass on this lure in a variety of ways right now, from fishing the cypress trees to working weedline edges and also well back into shallow, matted vegetation. The big bass are often blowing though the vegetation to take the lure, which is a very aggressive and typical spring like pattern for Lake Marion largemouth. Plus, other soft plastics will work, such as Texas-rigged and Trick worms. On windy days, there are more options, and I’m doing really well with spinnerbaits. The wind and chop on the water seems to make the spinnerbaits more productive. Also, fishing further down the lake, crankbaits are also producing pretty well right now as well.”

Davis said the warming water has also made fishing buzzbaits in the shallows very productive.

Now is a great time for catching largemouth on Lake Marion,” Davis said. “It’s big fish time, as well as having the opportunity to get a lot of bites.”