By Chad Brauer

When the water temperature starts to rise, the days get longer, and the plants start to bloom, it is time for the bass to get ready to spawn.  For many, this marks the beginning of the fishing season and ends the doldrums of winter.  To me, it means the transition of bass from their wintertime areas to the spawning areas they use to nest, and what can be some of the best fishing of the year.

This transition takes place during different parts of the calendar, depending on where you are in the country.  In the south, the prespawn movement starts from January to March, whereas in the north, it may not come until June.  Water temperature often triggers fish to make the move from their winter hideout to the shallower spawning areas, but the length of daylight in a day is likely a bigger cause for the bass to make this move.  

So even if the water is still cold, bass will start to move closer to the spawning areas, though they may not go all the way.  On my home lake of Lake of the Ozarks in Missouri, the middle of March is usually when the bass start showing up near the spawning banks.  Often the water is still in the mid-40s, and the bass will be holding on the last deep water banks in the backs of coves.  On warming days, these fish will move close to the bank, on cooling days they will back into deeper water.

The routes the bass take from winter spots to spring areas depends on what the body of water has to offer.  The first thing I try to identify is where the fish want to go to spawn, and then I start working backwards towards where I think they spend the winter.  Somewhere along this route there will be some active fish.

Once I have identified where along the route they are, I can start duplicating that in different areas.  Much of this can be done on a topographic map before you even get to a lake, look for the shallow, flatter pockets then find a route that would go to the deeper winter areas.  Sometimes there are easy creek channels to follow from one place to the other, maybe even a grass line that they follow. Just keep in mind the starting and finishing areas, and the routes are often obvious.

Catching "prespawners" is often tougher than finding them, especially with the unstable weather that often occurs during this period.  Seldom can you catch these fish using the same methods in the same area for several days in a row.  Weather changes, water temperatures change, fronts come through, and there is little stability during this time of the year.  A fisherman has to anticipate these changes before they take place.  If I get on some fish, I automatically try to figure out what they might do if certain changes may occur.  Where will they go if it starts raining, or if the wind kicks up, or if the water color changes, or if water temps increase or decrease?  

I am always trying to plan for the coming weather and condition changes.  A great example is finding some bass on an inside grass line near the back of a spawning bay throwing a red Strike King Red Eye Shad on a cloudy, windy day.  If the forecast is calling for the next day to be calm and clear, I will of course be rigged up with the Red Eye, but I will also be prepared to fish something down in the grass like a jig, or be ready to throw something more finesse like a Strike King Ocho over the grass.  I will also be looking for where those fish may move to if the water warms or cools.

A big part of being successful during the prespawn is being prepared for changing conditions and then reacting to them.  Many days may require you to change tactics several times to keep catching bass.  If you plan for this it is not that big of a deal and you can still catch fish no matter what the conditions may throw at you.