"The idea is to make decisions and act on them -- to decide what is important to accomplish, to decide how something can best be accomplished, to find time to work at it and to get it done."
-Karen Kakascik
The task of choosing a place to fish can be a daunting task, especially on a new or large body of water. On your home lake you may only fish a handful of spots without moving around, it may be a convenience issue. I know I have fished close to the launch just to get more time on the water instead of driving way up the lake. Many of us fall into patterns of fishing where we have caught fish before without taking into account the current conditions. The goal of any trip is to catch fish and by breaking down which species your going after, seasonal influences, and current conditions, you can put yourself in a position to do just that.
If your just getting started fishing for bass, all of the information can be overwhelming. Simplify your approach until you find out what you are comfortable fishing. Stick with high percentage areas like points or bridges, these places will hold some fish year round. If you plan on fishing competitively and want to be successful, you will have to learn the intricacies of these little green fish and be able to think on the fly to catch them when point hopping will not do. That starts with the seasonal approach.
Largemouth bass follow fairly predictable seasonal habits that can put you in their general vicinity. “Migration” is a term that is used a lot, but you need to understand that bass do not have to move very far like ducks to migrate. Most bass have a fairly small home range that will rarely be over a mile or two. They will have shallow water to spawn and deeper water to feel safe, the migration will happen between these two along any definable edge. An edge could be a drop off, a ditch, a row of trees, a fence line, road bed, basically anything different the fish can follow between seasons. We can get even more specific by breaking down the four major times of year.
Spring:
Longer periods of sunlight and rising temperatures will start to tip off the bass that it’s time to look for thinner water for their yearly love fest. They will begin to pile up in staging areas. Look for large areas that are less than 8 feet deep, also known as flats. On a map flats will have their contour lines further apart than more vertical structure. After a flat has been located, concentrate on the places where the flat drops off into deeper water with some kind of feature that makes it different. Any cover you find on these breaks have the potential to load the boat. The northern side and upper end of reservoirs are the first places fish spawn because the water warms there first. Once the water reaches 55-60 degrees, the bass will move up to shallow water in droves during heightened lunar periods. Hard bottoms are best and the fish will rarely be found below the depth at which sunlight can penetrate. So the dirtier the water the shallower they will be. Tributaries that are protected from cold North winds are a great place to start your search. As spring progresses into post spawn, the bass will follow the same migration routes back out to deeper water. The fish are normally sluggish right now and tend to suspend by vertical cover- dock pilings, stick ups, or anything different around their migration routes. You can catch these fish by using reaction baits if they are guarding fry. My favorite is a Zoom Horny Toad.
Summer:
Summer patterns will begin to take shape once the water exceeds 75 degrees. The first place most bass stop on their way back out to the main lake is slow tapering points. Some bass will stay on these points all summer long and just move up and down the point as conditions dictate. Many other fish will move to more channel oriented structure. Look for humps, points, saddles, ledges, drop offs, weed beds- that are within a hundred yards of a creek or river channel. Figuring out what depth the fish are using is crucial any time of the year and this is especially true during summer. When you leave the ramp, keep your eyes on your sonar to determine what depth most of the fish are using, including bait. You should see a general depth that is pretty consistent. Now you want to find some structure that intersects that depth. Water clarity will affect the fish and the activity depth level. Bass will hold at the lower end of the light penetration spectrum. This allows bass to be hidden from most bait and where they can still see. Another consideration is the dam schedule. A lot of bass here in Alabama are conditioned to feed when the upper dam releases water, they stack up on these structures and put on the feed bags. This is when you want to be on your spots fishing and not moving around.
Fall:
Once the water temperature drops below 75 or a rapid drop of more than 10 degrees, bass will line up at the buffet for their fall gorge. They will start to move into the creeks and are more baitfish oriented now than any other time of the year. They tend to be scattered out now so fish fast until you locate them and then refine your pattern. Long slow tapering points are great early in the fall and offer fast action before the fish move up tributary arms. The general rule is that the further you are into the fall, the further the fish will be up the creek arms. In early fall start at the main lake or secondary points. Look for shad flipping, if you don’t see any activity move further up until you find them. Don’t sit and fish a spot if you’re not catching fish. If the fish are there, they should be active. Also keep your lure higher in the water column, save the bottom bumping lures for when you have located fish and they stop biting your quicker presentation.
Winter:
Bass again move out to the main lake or deeper parts of tributaries when the water gets close to 50 degrees. The clearer the water the deeper they will be. The deepest I have caught them was just over 30 feet, but I have heard of people catching them over 60 feet deep on some really clear lakes. The fish will be very lethargic during the colder months and will relate to vertical structure that is close to but not directly in the current. Creek channel ledges, bluff banks, and fast sloping points are all prime time wintering holes. Bass hold on these spots so they can move up and down in the water column without having to swim very far. Slow moving lures are a must right now and most people fish suspending jerkbaits or grubs on light jig heads. The biggest factor during winter is water temperature. If you can find water that is a little bit warmer than the rest of the lake, even a few degrees, you stand a good chance at getting bit. The mid to lower regions of the lake are usually a good starting point and areas that are protected from the north wind and contain a lot of rock will warm up a little quicker during the day. I had a tournament on Lay Lake on January 1st this year and won it with 3 pounds and some change. If you go out now and brave the elements you have to be prepared for a couple of bites or none at all. During that particular tournament I practiced two miserable days without a bite. I did find that Beeswax Creek had abundant bait fish and the water had more clarity and was three degrees warmer than any other place I could find. In the end I was the only person who caught two fish and my partner came in second with a 3 pound spot.
By figuring out the seasonal setting you can eliminate a large segment of the lake and put yourself in the vicinity of where most of the fish should be. These are not written in stone and you can catch some fish shallow or deep any time of year if you spend enough time. The key is to be in high percentage spots for the given time of year to make the most of your time on the water. Keep a journal of where and when you caught fish on any body of water and you should be able to return and catch fish when given the same set of circumstances. Get out of your comfort zone and do something different, tournaments are not the time to learn new skills. Your practice time and fun fishing is the perfect opportunity to go explore and get out of the habit of beating the bank. This general outline should help get you started on finding more fish all year long.
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