Fishing Tactics
Here
Spring has Sprung...
from Ralph Manns
3/4/2012 2:58:08 PM
Rated:
...in North Texas near Dallas. Surface water in the local lake, Ray Hubbard, was 55F in the main lake and up to 61F in the very back of wind protected areas of the marina. I managed five tournament keepers, most on a diving jerk bait, and a few bass had migrated toward the back walls of the marina where they traditionally spawn every spring.
Unfortunately, the local marina owner/operator is making "improvements." He has blocked-off a large section of the once productive inside rip-rap with new boat dock floats. He has dumped dirt and slag over the most productive spawning shoreline rocks and it seems that the area may have been ruined for spawning. We'll See???
Worst of all, he has decided to extend part of that shoreline about about 25 feet into the marina waters. A seawall is being built that extends beyond the old spawning shelf and now will put a vertical wall in 4 ft of water (lake nearly full) over a mud and silt bottom. It will be interesting to learn where, if anywhere, the returning bass spawn this year.
Where are the local bass clubs that routinely fish Ray Hubbard??? I do wish we anglers had a large enough public voice to limit the tendencies of marina operators and shoreline homeowners to ruin shorelines, often by extending their property lines by simply filling-in public water, or by removing the woody debris that provides much of the valuable shoreline cover. I can think of a dozen places on L. Fork that I watched being ruined by marina operators and homeowners over the years.
Surface waters of local ponds have also hit 60-61F . On March 3 a pair spawned in my backyard. Both bass are now guarding the nest area. I wonder how long the female will remain.
I fished the pond yesterday for a couple pf hours. in intermittent sunlight I was able to spot several cruising males?, but nests were hard to seen. Perhaps because it is a little early yet for the first spring full moon (March 8) spawn. The pond was 3 feet low last fall and through most of the winter, but is now full (thanks for some good rains).
This leaves a large expanse of bare shoreline water outside a ring of milfoil and coontail. I managed four adult fish and many dinks casting a weightless Senko blindly to the inside weed edge. It's an effective technique when nests are hard to locate.
For the record, I don't often fish nesting bass. I'm uncomfortable teasing the valiant guards, but I've done so at times in the past to learn more about bass behavior.
Think this is long and wordy??? It is -- but I've grown tired of the relative inactivity of the "tactics" page.
from RJR 3/4/2012 4:43:57 PM
I am in southeast MO, and the lake I fish mostly, Clearwater, is about 100 miles south of St. Louis. Thursday, the main lake was 51 to 53, and back on a 100 acre shallow flat in the upper end it was up to 59. It sure has been a great winter for fishing around me. I have fished Clearwater, Wappapello, and a little 100 acre lake with some great success. All of the more popular Ozark Lakes have had great winters also. Yesterday at Lake of the Ozarks, in a 100 boat T, 20lbs got 17th place.
from Randy B 3/4/2012 8:58:26 PM
and to celebrate the iceout, I cast a jerkbait(zip) and a rattletrap from the dock. it was 32 degrees in the air and I guess the water is just above the same.
I had ice building up on my rod tip and piling up on my gloved finger where the line was touching my glove.
I only stayed out there about 30 minutes due to poor clothing choices.
I caught one pike.
from RJR 3/5/2012 7:52:01 PM
I fished the little 100 acre lake today. Mainly because the wind wasn't blowing 30 mph and I just wanted to go for a few hours. We had been catching them all winter basically out in the middle of the lake in 10+ foot of water on channel breaks. Today couldn't buy a bite out there and moved in closer to the shore lines. Hammered them on shad raps in 5 to 6 foot of water. Crappie had been hiding all winter, but they have moved up on the banks also, caught several of them eaters. Watched a guy stand on the bank and catch several, he said he caught 30 the other day. Spring is springing for sure.
from Ralph Manns 3/5/2012 10:54:12 PM
I often point out that there is a bell curve describing bass behavior. There is what most of the bass do, and there is what some bass do.
the pair that spawned together on 2 march are still holding at the nest 3 days later. The male sits right on top of the eggs, but the female simply patrols back and forth about five feet out from the shore and the nest. I tested her with a bit of bass food.nm She still isn't interested in eating, apparently still carrying the sharp focus on spawning that limits feeding. it will be interesting to see how long she remains with the male.
I suspect that this full moon came to early for most of the bass in the pond. The pond is a food-poor environment, with inadequate forage to support its adult bass population. We stock tilapia in hopes that the extra small fry will better feed our bass, but the bass under about 15 inches remain skinny through most of the year. These skinny bass spawn later in spring if they spawn at all, as they must eat to build enough sperm and eggs to do the job after a winter of privation.
Early spawns are the privilege of well-fed bass.
from 31Airborne 3/8/2012 3:14:16 PM
I'll read every word, dood. This was awesome. Keep'em coming. Please.
from Spooled Again #9650 3/8/2012 8:27:19 PM
LMB's, cats, and crappie are in 3 foot deep water starting the spawn with water temps from 56 to 60, but please do not advertise this umkay.
SA
from Tubejig 3/10/2012 7:49:14 AM
You write and I'll read.
I do not post here often but I read here often.
You also correct about the inactivity, she ain't what she used to be.
Going fishing now.
from Ralph Manns 3/17/2012 4:48:19 PM
15 days ago we watched our first spawning of the spring. Today it appears that the male has abandoned the nest or fry. That early attempt apparently ran afoul of a drop in water temperatures to 57-58 F on March 4-8. Although the pond surface water water has since warmed back up to 65-68 F, apparently it didn't come soon enough.
Several years ago I watched a successful nest after water dropped to 55 F but that year the water warmed again more quickly to 60 F. That nest didn't hatch for 17 days.
We had a funny winter in my area of TX. The pond never cooled below 53F. I suspect that the metabolism of our pond bass remained high, while the food was scarce all winter. The male that spawned appeared to be one I fed all winter, so he had ample energy reserves. Although I spotted a few cruising, fairly skinny males since March 2, I've seen no other nests.
I suspect the pond bass ran too low on fat reserves to spawn as soon as the water hit 60F. If they can't now get enough food, we may have a poor spawn this year. We currently have an overabundance of European milfoil and coontail. This likely made the feeding over-winter even more difficult for our smaller bass.
Today I again looked for nests. I only spotted one cruising bass, but large bluegills were scattered along the shallow shoreline. There was no sign of prey-sized bluegills. The water is clear (Secchi viz is about 3 feet), so we have little plankton and it's too early for most insects to emerge. Only our largest (3-6 pounds) bass are likely to have eaten well enough this winter. this likely explains how my weel-fed male found a healthy and cooperative female.
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