All over the Carolinas, fishermen are prepping their boats, putting new line on their reels, sharpening hooks, getting ready for the joy that is spring bass fishing. And the next 10 weeks could prove to be magical for the anglers who understand what’s happening beneath the surface of their favorite pond, lake or river.
Bass spend the winter in relatively deep water. That may be 8 to 10 feet in a pond or river, 20 to 30 feet in a bigger reservoir. But at some point from the end of February through March and into April, they’re going to be moving up, feeding more, getting ready for the rigors of the spawn. Fishermen who can figure out the timing and location of those movements will be way ahead of the curve when it comes to being able to put bass – sometimes big ones – in the boat.
In the Carolinas, two veteran bass pros have unique views of the 10-week period that often marks the change from a bass’s winter habits in late February to the end of the spawn in May. Davy Hite of Ninety Six, SC, is a two-time BASS Angler of the Year and Bassmaster Classic and FLW Tour Championship winner who retired several years ago to become a fixture on Bassmaster TV. Marty Stone of Bullock, NC, is a four-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier with two wins on the BASS circuit and more than $900,000 in winnings between the BASS and FLW Tours. He retired in 2010 to become a TV analyst for Major League Fishing and is now in private business on Buggs Island, his home lake on the North Carolina-Virginia border.
When and where bass make their move from their winter homes toward the spawning grounds has been the subject of thousands of discussions between fishermen. Figure the move out, learn to track bass as they move from deep water to staging areas to the backs of spawning pockets, and you could wind up with regular catches that will impress all the neighbors.
Generally, Stone and Hite agree that two things influence the move more than anything else: the photoperiod – the length of daylight hours – and water temperature. As the water temperature rises and falls, fish will become more or less active, but as the amount of daylight naturally increases, bass are inexorably drawn toward the shallows.
“The biggest thing people miss is thinking that the water temperature determines where and when fish move; it’s the length of days,” Stone said. “Water temperature accelerates or decelerates the move. But when the days get longer, those fish are going to come to the bank, and in a hurry.”
The move may be at the end of February, but more likely in early March. Hite looks for the water temperature to move from the high-40s or low-50s into the mid-50s, but that’s a variable. He is looking for the general movement of aquatic life from deep to shallow.
“The way I go about it is with my electronics,” Hite said. “The water temperature will give you some idea, but you have to see where most of the aquatic life is. If you see bait in the main lake, in the main channels, in deeper water, they’re in a winter pattern. When you see some fish and bait moving into 5 or 10 feet of water, that’s telling me they’re starting to move, and I know I can fish for prespawn fish that are moving up.”
That first move, Stone and Hite agree, is largely a vertical one. Bass move a short distance horizontally, but a great deal vertically. They may move 20 yards from deep water to a main-channel point, but the move may be 20 feet into much shallower water.
“The first move is more of a vertical move,” Stone said. “I want to be fishing within the length of a good cast from the deep water where they’ve spent the winter. I think most people fish too deep this time of year. And it’s more the length of daylight that triggers that move. If the water temperature has an extreme move, they can beat their fins 3 or 4 times and be back where they spent the winter, because they’re still attached to that deeper water. Fish hate a sudden rise or fall in water temperature. Rising water temperature can intensify the move, and a sudden, hard drop will decelerate it, but not stop the move.
“But they’re going to pull up vertically onto places like the first rocky point they pass, the first boat dock, the first laydowns.”
Hite is looking for the first good cover he can find close to deep water. Those are the kinds of places he thinks bass are looking to hang around when they move out of deep water. He prefers some kind of vegetation, but rocks, stumps, docks and laydowns may all fit the bill.
“If I’ve got fish located that are moving up, staging in certain areas, they’re easier to catch because they’re feeding, and because you can find heavier fish ganging up,” Hite said.
Stone keys heavily on those first places the bass stage, then on similar spots as the bass move back in creeks toward spawning areas.
“Around the first of March, I am always looking for corners close to deep water. I’m asking myself,” he said, “‘Are they halfway back in creeks and pockets or a third of the way back. If I’m in a creek, are they on the first point or the first 50-yard stretch of the bank, or are they in the dead back end? It’s a big horizontal move, and it can be triggered by the baitfish moving. If they’re on those corners, they’re going in or coming out – or setting up. They’re there to eat in a big way.
“I think the biggest waste of water is the area between that corner and the back end. Those are the places they’re feeding. They don’t want to be caught in-between. It’s like the express lane at Wal-Mart. They’re done shopping, and they’re trying to get to the car; they aren’t stopping along the way.”
Hite follows bass movements by following the movement of forage. He wants to see shad or herring on his depth finder. He wants to see bream cruising the shallows of a pocket. If they aren’t, he’s wasting his time.
“When bass start migrating back to pockets, I’m going to go into shallow pockets, and if I don’t see much life, I’ll get out of there,” he said. “It’s a real telling sign to go into a shallow pocket and not see bluegill and other fish; you know the bass haven’t moved in. If the bream or baitfish have moved in, the bass will be there.”
Bass may stage for a longer period of time, or they may hold on the edge of flats a longer period of time if bait is present and there’s plenty of cover where they can set up ambushes and feed as they see fit.
Hite said one thing fishermen need to realize is that the move from winter to the spawn isn’t consistent between different lakes, even different areas of lakes. Put simply, major moves of fish may take place, but some bass will be ahead of or behind the curve.
“The fish won’t move all at once,” he said. “I don’t know any major fishery in the country, lake or river, where all the fish are doing the exact same thing at the exact same time. So if you like to fish in deeper water or fish for spawning fish – and all those prespawn fish in-between – you can usually do either one.”
His lure choice reflects where he thinks the bass he’s targeting are in the process.
“I like to start 10 feet deep with a crankbait like a DT-10, then a jerkbait, maybe a vibrating jig and a Mop Jig – and as it gets warmer and fish get close to spawning, a Senko,” he said. “I like to start with crawfish colors, and as the spring progresses, I like to go to bluegill colors, then to shad and herring later in the spring.”
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