First notice the first signs of finding an area that's full of spawning bass we want to catch as many as possible and really enjoy the moment. But this is also the time when you can double down. What I'm getting at is you can pull out your larger swimbaits or a big Texas rig plastic worm or a jig with some bulk and really get after catching a really big string of fish. When you start catching numbers of fish you know you have lots of female bass in that same general area and you have found the sweet spot. Many tournament anglers will catch a limit of fish and then switch their entire approach focusing on upgrading there catch and putting together one of the biggest bags of their life. This is one of those few times when you can actually premeditate catching some bigger if not trophy size fish in a certain area. With this being said be armed with the basics spring tools such as a Senko, plastic worm, jig but also have your swimbait rod ready and some type of sight fishing tool with you at all times. Sight fishing and a big swimbait have produced more trophy bass in the Western United States at this time of year than most all other techniques combined. I'm not telling you that it's not a good idea to take a big swimbait and cast it throughout an entire reservoir at this time of year what I am saying is once you locate some male bass that have moved into a shallow area to spawn you really want to focus your efforts on applying the swimbait in those particular areas. It can visit the area two or three different times during the course of the day but you're trying to increase your percentages by staying in areas that you know female bass are using as the male bass are in shallow water building nests. Once again on this is the mental preparation that you decide upon prior to going to the lake. This is your time of year. This is the time of year you can catch the bass of a lifetime so put some thought into it prior to going to the lake. Understand if you do find spawning fish that you have located one of the sweet spots in the reservoir and that there are good fish in the area also. This is what we all anticipate and look forward to you as bass anglers. Don't just begin catching bass and enjoying the day Well spring is finally here and without question this is the most anticipated time of year for all of us who enjoy the sport a bass fishing. Lots of fish moving around and lots of fun opportunities for all of us to enjoy at this very special time of the season. Let's concentrate on the mental side of things as we try to put together some strategies to maximize our production during this very magical time of year. As most of you know there are a large majority of people that will catch the biggest bass of their life during the spring of the year. For some areas of the western United States it's still in a solid winter pattern and quite a bit of the west is still surrounded by some pre-spawn conditions. What I am getting at is we have a lot of bass in the water that are at their maximum size as they've been eating throughout the winter and the females are loaded with eggs getting ready for the upcoming spawn. This is the time when bass anglers pick up there Western Outdoor News and see pictures of largemouth bass that absolutely blow our minds. It's that incredible time that we all look in the paper and say wow that's such an incredible fish.
With that being said there are a few things to keep in mind to give you the best opportunity at catching the fish of a lifetime. First and foremost bass do not come up all over the lake once the spawn begins. No matter where you fish in the western United States every body of water will have one very small spot that the fish will come up in first. Whether you're fishing in South Florida or Southern California it's all the same. Every lake or impoundment has a sweet spot where the very first spawners move in and begin the spawning ritual. Now of course most of us have read that northwestern corners of a reservoir will receive the most sunlight and warm-up quickest and service as sunlight to fertilize eggs on a spawning bed. And for the most part this is true. Trying to be focused on where the fish first come into shallow water on the particular reservoir that you fish. A small example where I work on a daily basis at Lake Casitas in Ventura California the northwest corner of the lake has a couple of areas called Station Canyon and Deep Cat. These two areas always produce the very first spawning bass each and every season and have been that way for 30 years. The same is true on the reservoirs that you fish there are small areas on a reservoir that fish will always come up in first. Early in the season you want to focus all of your efforts or a majority of your efforts in that area. This is the time of year that you will use your eyes for great majority of your success in the west. Listen I'm the biggest Lowrance electronics fan in the world. I absolutely adore my Lowrance HDS units. There's the lifeblood of my business as a fisherman. But this is one of those few times of the year that your eyes can be one of your most valuable assets. Whether you were a fan of sight fishing or not you have to spend time standing up in your boat looking into the water for any visual signs of fish bedding in an area. If you see any activity even if you're not a sight fishermen you can still set the boat down and cast and comb that entire area and enjoy tremendous success. These very fish first fish that you see can be some of the biggest bass of the year. By noticing some spawn activity especially the first signs that fish are spawning in an area can allow you to sit the boat down and really focus on that area and fish it thoroughly. This is a time of year where you really want to slow the boat down once you found some fish that are using a portion of the lake to spawn in. Especially if it's the first signs of spawning that you've noticed. Once you get in those areas really sit the boat down and fish with confidence. What I'm trying to get at is the fish are not all over the place in that area. They're focused in certain locations in that area. You can literally make a tremendous bag of bass out of a very small area at this time of year. Of course all of us when we and continue moving the boat down the line as you may have just fished your way through the best area of the entire reservoir. Once the spawn really gets into full bloom this technique really doesn't apply. Once the spawn is in full force in the months of April and May bass will appear all over the lake and the sweet spots could be in any number of locations. This is just one of those key times of the year that you really need to focus on what's happening during the course of the day and realizing that you may have fished yourself into one of the best areas of the lake and quite possibly one of your best fishing days. Too many anglers at this time of year go out and catch a couple of fish in a particular bay or flat in shallow water and don't really realize that they have fished their way into one of the best locations but they're not really focused on what's happening around them and they actually leave the fish behind.
So as you get ready to approach this spring season try to use these simple rules. A good starting point would be the northwestern corner of the reservoir or impoundment that you fish. It at least gives you a starting point. Try to focus your efforts on western and northern shorelines. Be prepared, have all of your big bass weapons with you in the boat at this time of year. You can start to put away your deepwater jigging spoons and ice jigs and other weapons you use during the winter. You're making sure that all of your best swimbaits are ready to go and that your site fishing weapons are rigged and ready to go also. Utilize the plastic worm, jig and Senko as they are famous at this time of the fishing season. Remember these bass are trying to spawn. They're looking down. Bye down I mean they're looking at the bottom. They're looking for spawning areas. They just spent an entire winter for the most part looking upward. So many of our western reservoirs the fish spend the winter out in deepwater in the middle of the lake chasing schools of shad. For the most part the fish are done with that and are now focusing on the spring spawning season. It's one of those few times where the bass for the most part are very focused on looking at the bottom and attacking baits that are bottom oriented. Use this basic approaches to early spring fishing as it can produce the bass or limit of a lifetime.
Byline: Anglers that have questions for Rich can always reach him at RichTauberFishing.com. For anglers in Los Angeles they can visit with Rich personally at the Fred Hall Long Beach fishing tackle show March 4-8 in his booth Rich Tauber Fishing located in the 400 isle