E-mail
Written by Jim Davis   

Find the Path to Spawning Grounds

Pre-Spawn

Jim Davis Bass Fishing
Delta Pre-Spawn
Bass are predictable creatures. When the days start getting longer and the sun has more time to warm up the water the fish begin to get into that breeding preparation mode. This is considered pre-spawn. Adding to the pre-spawn modes are the moons. As we begin to move towards the full moon the fish move up even further and continue to prepare for the spawn. During this pre-spawn time the fish feed actively which makes for some of the best fishing of the year. An added bonus of this time of year is that the fish are usually full of eggs which adds to their over all weight.

Find the Path
Since we know the fish are going to be pushing up to shallow water for spawning, targeting these fish becomes relatively easy. Find the areas where the fish are going to spawn, then work your way to deeper water. Moving first to secondary points and then to main lake points and finally arriving at the deeper water. This is the path the fish are going to move along towards their breeding grounds.

Jim Davis Bass Fishing
Good Day!
Utilize local knowledge and maps to build these paths. If you know the water and have experience with local spawning areas then you have a good starting point. If you don’t have that local knowledge then get a good topographical map and look for shallow flat areas where the fish are likely to spawn. Start with those areas and find the path back to the main lake areas. It’s basically a connect the dots game from spawning area to secondary points to main lake points and on to deeper water. Use this approach and you will find the fish.

Working the path
The path I just described was built working from the backs of the coves out towards the main lake. When fishing this path work it in the opposite direction. Start on the main lake point and work back towards the breeding grounds following the path we created earlier.

Jim Davis Bass Fishing Start by working the main lake point shallow. I personally like to keep my boat in approximately 30 feet of water and throw up to the bank. I then methodically slice up the point continually moving deeper until I find the depth the fish are staging at. I then work that area pretty thoroughly before moving on to the first secondary point. Arriving at the first secondary point I repeat the process keeping my boat in as deep of water as possible and dissecting that point and moving to the next.

Big Bait Approach
I firmly believe that the bigger fish eat bigger baits. Therefore, I will often work the path with a swimbait. My swimbaits of choice for this time of year are Optimum, Mission Fish and Osprey swimbaits. I work them in the lower half of the water column targeting the cruising fish. At times they will eat higher in the water column, but generally I don’t target those fish because lower half of the water column is where you'll be most consistent finding fish.

Editor’s Note: Jim Davis finished second in the Angler of the Year race in the 2005 Bassmaster Western Open series qualifying him for the 2006 Bassmaster tour. Jim won’t be fishing the National tour in 2006 but instead will remain in the west fishing Angler’s Choice and the Stren Series tours. Jim is sponsored by Ranger, Evinrude, Optimum Baits, SwimbaitNation.com, Quantum, Pro Worms, Minnkota and Lowrance.

Bass West Magazine

 

Sponsors

Image

MONSTER Deal