That Magical Time of Year 2025

CraigBaugher reply :

Well, Kent, here is a rough article on Pre-spawn. But I have to tell ya, it was hard for me to write a general article on such a complex subject. Complex, because there are so many regions, water types, and species of bass that one article cannot cover the subject adequately -- well, at least in my opinion.

That Magical Time of Year

It is that magical time that bass anglers all over North America have been waiting for that time when they can see their first bass of the year cruise the shallows, and the new-year can truly be rung in pre-spawn.

As the snow is still falling in the north, the waters of Mexico are already brimming with pre-spawn activity, as water temperatures climb into the 60's. Here in the North the bass are still sitting in water 32° to 40°, and are now just beginning to make their way along the bottom structure towards the prime real estate of the North shores.

Regardless of where you live, the process is basically -- the same, with the biggest exception being the water temperature. In the North, the process begins when the water temperatures climb into the low 40's, in the mid-South the upper 40's to low 50's, and in the South, when the water reaches the mid to upper 50's.

The Process:

From the onset of winter, bass continuously seek warmer water. In this process, they eventually make their way to areas along the North and Northwestern shores that have clear waters with dark or rocky bottoms, in water (typically) 30 to 50 feet deep.

As the water continues to warm, (please refer to the illustration) the bass will work their way along the bottom edge from the main lake point to the secondary points and their cuts; which in the North means the mid 40's, Mid-South low 50's, and in the South upper 50's to low 60's. The important thing to note is, these temperature changes may be a subtle as two degrees in the North to four-five degrees in the South.

As waters temperatures climb, (upper 40's in the North, upper 50's in the Mid-South, and mid 60's in the South) the bass will move up along transitions and start cruising the shallows; at first to get warm, and then to feed. That is important for you to note; for when the bass first move up, the first day or so they will be less aggressive as they are warming; and throughout the pre-spawn are also quite acceptable to cold fronts meaning as cold fronts move in the bass will move back to deeper water.

Note: Bass ALWAYS move following transitional lines: where hard bottoms meet soft bottoms (Clay meets muck, or sand meets gravel, or clay meets rock); or where small rock meets bigger rock, or along edges (top or bottom) of a ledges or channel breaks, ridges, ditches, or impressions. Transitions also include some that are less obvious, like: where clear water meets dirty water, or where the thermocline meets structure or cover, or the thermocline itself, or where cool water meets warm water, or the edge of water current, etc.

Note: Not all bass migrate at the same time. Typically, the larger, older fish go first, followed by the smaller, younger ones.

Note: On larger lakes, this process may begin in the Western (shallow) end and work its way up to the deeper Eastern end over a matter of weeks.

Note: In Southern waters, this process can span over a 3-4 month period as the bass instinctually know they have a longer time to complete this process; where Northern bass will be a lot more aggressive as instinctually they know they may only have five or six weeks to complete this process.

As temperatures rise another 2°-3°, the bass will begin to actively feed prime targets will be around the reeds, docks, rocks, laydowns, brush, and stumps. This active feeding will continue until the temperatures reach the mid to upper 50's in the North, to the low 70's in the South. At which point, the males will stop feeding and start building their spawning beds and the females will move off to the first major drop (5' to 15').

Note: One of the reasons bass are such a popular game fish is, because they can always be tricked or forced into striking a lure. It is called a reactionary strike, and can be provoked out of anger, fear, territorial protection, or self-defense. One of the most productive ways, I found, to provoke a reactionary strike is to slowly bring your lure to within a couple of feet of the bass. Then burn the lure straight at the bass's head -- for if you bring a lure into the bass from behind, the bass will spook and swim off rather then turn and bite.

Lure Selections and Presentations:

In the early pre-spawn, when the bass are still holding on the secondary points and cuts, a wacky rigged Senkos, or a small skirted jig with a big pork chunk are two excellent lure choices. For each are slow falling lures that will thoroughly cover the entire water column, while staying in each strike zone a decent amount of time.

As the bass move up and onto the shallow flat, they may be easily spooked, and since the water is clear, long casts work best for the average angler. Lipless crankbaits, flat-sided shallow divers, and spinnerbaits are all good selections. Make long casts past obvious cover, and bring the lures back over the targeted area in a stop and go erratic retrieve. More experienced anglers who can make long pitches with little to no splash, may prefer to use floating worms, soft jerkbaits, and tubes.

Once the bass become more active, topwater lures, (such as buzzbaits, spooks, and poppers) produce well. But my personal favorite lure for this time of year, which technically is not suppose to work, is the Mann's 1-Minus wide wobble crankbait. All three of the largest bass I have ever caught (8.75, 8.89, 9.02), all came during this time of year, burning a Mann's 1-minus over stump fields and rocky bottoms in water 2-3-feet deep. My typical rod setup for this presentation is a 7' med heavy, fast action trigger rod with a 6.1:1 reel, spooled with 12-lb., test fluorocarbon line.

roadwarrior reply :

Thanks Craig.

This is a very thorough piece you have written. I 'll be interested to see comments and questions that an article like this is sure to generate.

Good job!

bassnleo reply :

Nice post / article. Most Spring or spawning articles speak in generalities and don't mention that Northern bass start their moves at a often much colder water temp than do their Southern kin.

I yearly find this to be true. I have found that Spring Northern bass will be feeding heavily in "pre-spawn" mode at temps in the low 40's and have seen spawning fish in the mid to upper 50's. Many articles say generally that bass spawn in the 60's or 70's, that may happen here later in the spring with the late spawners, but in my observations the vast majority of Northern spawning activity is done by then.

Thanks for the good read.

senile1 reply :

That was a good read, Craig. As bassnleo stated, I appreciate that you differentiated between regions and the various temperature ranges at which bass begin to move up in those regions.

Valascus reply :

Excellent read Mr. Baugher. Very informative, easy to read, yet full of important information. Taking the time to break things up by region will help. Thanks for the great article.

guest reply :

Wow great stuff Charlie. The lake I fish most of the time has a side with a beach on it and right before the beach the shoreline has a hard bottom and lots of rocks with weeds all mixed in. The sun shines on that side first.By trial and error and using the depthfinder Temp Gague we have found that side to be as much as 8 degrees warmer than any other part of the lake

From early spring to early summer we always find A LOT OB BASS (none very big) some keepers, in that spot It has been hot like that for years now.

Hey Can I copy your stuff to put into my notebook It is really useful to me

Muddy

CraigBaugher reply :

Quote
Hey Can I copy your stuff to put into my notebook It is really useful to me
Muddy

Well, that is probably the first time someone has asked me that, they usually just do it, of course you can.

guest reply :

Thank You Craig, sorry I wrote Charlie in first post, over 50 and too much fun in the 60's disease!

I will cut parts of it out for persnoal use in my note books Thanks for your genorosity

Muddy

Zel... reply :

Excellent read and the picture is worth a thousand words.

SPEEDBEAD. reply :

Great info, thanks for the article.

Minuteman reply :

Nice. I too like the notes about North/South timing differences. Many times when reading or watching fishing tips I have to try and sort that out myself. Never really thought much about the fact that since our prime time in north is shorter, that the fish would be in more of a hurry to spawn.

Cigarlover 1 reply :

Great read. Thanks for noting the differences between North and South spawning. Very much appreciated.

Daniel My Brother reply :

Craig,

Thanks for a great post. I'm a little curious why bass prefer the north shore of the lake during pre-spawn. I've heard this before but have never heard a reason why.

Thanks again!

BASS fisherman reply :

good, no that's one hell of an article Craig! Thanks alot for taking the time to post it.

senile1 reply :

Quote
Craig,
Thanks for a great post. I'm a little curious why bass prefer the north shore of the lake during pre-spawn. I've heard this before but have never heard a reason why.

Thanks again!

I always thought the reason the north shore is preferred, in the northern hemisphere, is because the sun "crosses" the southern sky in the winter due to the earth's tilt. So the sun's rays are partially blocked by trees, the bank and dropoffs on the southern shore and the water there doesn't receive as much heat. The northern shore, on the other hand, receives these rays directly, and as a general rule, will warm quicker. In the southern hemisphere, the opposite, or southern bank will receive these rays first, again due to the tilt of the earth and the sun's location being in the northern sky during winter.

Also, cold northern winds are blocked by trees, banks, and dropoffs on the northern shore in the northen hemisphere, and cold southern winds from antarctica are blocked by the the same obstacles on the southern shore in the southern hemisphere.

I believe these are rules of thumb. If a lake doesn't have the proper structure for bass to spawn on the northern shore they will choose some other place.

Raul reply :

the waters of Mexico are already brimming with pre-spawn activity

Heck YEAHHHHHH !!!!

PS.- Note the extensive use of indicating that I 'm extremely happy.

senile1 reply :

Raul, I was thinking about you when I made my last post. I'll bet all the banks are warm in mexico.

Hookem reply :

Woo Hoo is right, Raul.

Already sight fishing here in Central Texas on some of the warmer lakes. We have had a very mild winter with last weeks temps in the 70's.

That is until the recent 7" deluge with tornadoes Saturday followed by 4 days of ice, sleet and snow with temps not above freezing.

That'll push them off beds. But hey, back in the 60's come next Monday.

Enjoying spawn from Jan thru June in Central Texas. 8-) ;D

Raul reply :

There 's a small submerged island here in my everyday lake at the end of a huge flat, right now it 's under 4-5 ft of water, the island is located right next to the main river channel, I predict they will be there during this month and this weekend I 'm going to pay them a visit, after 6 weeks of no fishing and a big bunch of new japanese baits that need to break in needless to say I 'm eager to go and I 'm ready for some trubble. Gotta call the compadre and prepare the trip.

Siebert Outdoors reply :

great read and illustration. I noticed that you labeled everything on the map. Not only do you explain temps and transitions, you also pointed out main lake and secondary points. Hint hint to some asking about the differences.

So whats next on the article list. I'll be waiting for the next one.

CraigBaugher reply :

Quote
So whats next on the article list.

You tell me, what do you want?

5bass reply :

Quote
So whats next on the article list. I'll be waiting for the next one.

No need to wait GMAN,this website is FULL of great articles on pre-spawn and spawn fishing. Here's a link to one of them......

http://bassresource.com/fishing/prespawn_fishing.html

The BassResource articles are endless and packed full of useful information.

Catt reply :

Not bad at all

CraigBaugher reply :

Thanks everyone!

I know it was more of a fact sheet than an article, I just struggled too much with how I could address all the issues in a general format. Because in reality, ponds fish different than lakes, lakes fish different than reservoirs, reservoirs fish different than rivers, etc., then deep lakes versus shallow ones, and spots versus smallmouth versus largemouth versus Floridian Largemouth. Then the north verus mid-south versus south versus, then there is tidal waters, and great lakes, because they all fish totally different.

Low_Budget_Hooker reply :

Good stuff Ctaig, thanks.

Just a reminder, as 5bass noted, the pre-spawn and spawn articles in the library are probably the best batch of articles here (IMO). All this stuff is covered in a few of them but it's good to see it again.

Funny, Alot of folks up here are talking pre-spawn. lol. Old man winter sure has lots of people fooled this year. many think we forgot winter,....it just hasn't come yet!

Siebert Outdoors reply :

[quote author=fivebasslimit link=1169047102/20#21 date=1169077675

No need to wait GMAN,this website is FULL of great articles on pre-spawn and spawn fishing. Here's a link to one of them......

http://bassresource.com/fishing/prespawn_fishing.html

The BassResource articles are endless and packed full of useful information.

CraigBaugher reply :

[quote author=GMAN link=1169047102/20#25 date=1169223963

Craig, One I would like to see from you is jigging in deep structure. Bass Jig not spoons

12704

That Magical Time of Year 2025

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