Catt

Apparently you don't grocery shop! @JustBassinThru That's a buzzbait with a willowleaf blade attached. Ain't gonna get much vibration out of that.

There are few experts more capable of unlocking the mysteries involved with the spawning ritual and debunking the myths than Ken Cook. And it is by borrowing from his insight, as well as that of other spawning specialists (pros like Shaw Grigsby and Guido Hibdon), that the average angler can begin to lock onto the spawn with consistent success. The key is gaining an understanding of the behavioral basics and timing of bedding bass. We act like we know that the males precede the females to the spawning areas, explains Cook, a six-time B.A.S.S. tournament winner. But I don't think that is true because both sexes seem to get very aggressive and very food-oriented during what we call the pre-spawn stage. The come out of the cold winter and the water warms up and their metabolism kicks in. Both sexes really become aggressive as feeders. Then there seems to be a time frame in which the females become less interested in feeding, but the males continue to bite because they pick up the aggressiveness of the spawn. Both are focused on the spawn right on through the spawning period. The females kind of back off of feeding and become less aggressive as the hormonal changes in their body take place as they prepare to actually lay their eggs. Conventional knowledge indicates that the male bass builds the nest, fans it out and guards it (zealously). Generally, a good male that is aggressive and active will attract more than one female to his nest and spawn with each of them. Along with that, an active female will spawn a number of times and, in most cases, ina number of different males' nests. She moves down the shoreline making it with different males. The male sits in one spot and waits for more females to come by. I think that is sort of a hedge (on the part of the female) against an infertile male spoiling the hatch of a good fertile female. So she spread her eggs around and he spreads his fertility around. That ensures a higher success rate for that spawn. That is important knowledge for fishermen, because most people think that once the female leaves the bed, only the male is left. It is true that the female only guards the nest for a short time before moving away, but other females will come to that nest. The other thing to keep in mind is that this isn't a long, drawn-out process. Once the water reaches the upper 60 degrees, which is ideal, it only takes about three or four days for the eggs to hatch. I think the male will spend about six weeks on the beds as the females rotate through, but the whole spawning season happens over three full moons, bringing a new wave of spawning with get full moon period. Cook emphasizes that understanding the spawning habits of the female bass will significantly improve your chances of catching some of the biggest bass of the year. He believes that the female often moves on and off of the bed to deposit more eggs (hatchery studies support this claim). Few females drop all of their eggs at once. Instead, they expel a portion and then move off to a nearbybreakline, bush or grass edge. It is this sporadic purging of eggs and the ability to spawn with different males on several nests that keeps the annual spring bedding season from being severely impacted by large tournaments. Texas Parks & Wildlife Department biologist Clarence Bowling says studies have shown that a female (when handled properly) will simply locate a bed and an available male in the area where she is released and complete spawning. GET A LOCK ON THE SPAWN By Tim Tucker

Exactly ?

Nuthin that hasn't already been discussed here before. Some of y'all need to read early research done by Clarence Bowling Texas Parks & Wildlife biologist. Other publications on times are eerily simalor to Poor Richard's Almanack, which Benjamin Franklin began publishing on December 28, 1732.

Water temperatures of 55° or higher we are talking spawn...bass on beds. Pre-spawn starts long before 55°

Both the Team Lite & Tournament Lite are slightly shorter in height. When I switched from Calcuttas to low profile I had a hard time with ergonomics. I had tried Diawia & Shimano, couldn't get comfortable. I happen on Lew's by accident, sent my Calcuttas to DVT & needed something to fish with. Went to Academy & they had Lew's LFS on sale, bought two. Like em when I went back to Academy they were out, bought a MB. Then the Team Lite, MP, & Tournament Lite. I find Lew's work best if you ignore setting the cast control knob to adjust side play. I do old school & adjust it to slow the lure dropping to the floor. Start with the brakes in neutral & adjust to taste.

FYI: Bass do not swim around with a thermometer in hand! There's way more than temperature involved in this whole pre-spawn/spawn process.

I have the Tournament MB, Tournament MP, Team Lite, & Tournament Lite. Zero issues ?

Lew's Tournament Lite ?

Clear to stained ?

If your body of water is big enough that you're waiting for that push into the creeks. Guess what? There's a resident population already in the creeks. Care to guess which ones move up first?

Been preaching that here for years.

Gold, black back, orange belly I like a 6'9"-7' Medium, Fast baitcaster.

Procuring your own bait.. I tell Aiden, stay out of my tackle & procure your own! Down here we can procure our own but with the vast number of places that sale live or frozen bait it's easier to buy it.

My oldest grandson says it's Pawpaw's job to cause hate & discontent! He will make you think about why you believe what you believe. With deer hunting I see tracks, dung, scraps, & an occasional glimpse of deer. With fishing the only way to verify the bass are there is to set hook on everything!

@Kyle S Our DSG vacillates between selling fishing tackle & hunting supplies to not having any. Field & Stream is 1 1/2 hrs away, haven't been in there in 6 months. Academy here is good about cross the counter exchanges with receipts. Problem with our Academy is you can check in, ya just can't check out!

My grandson has a H2O XPRESS Ethos HD Micro 7' Medium Heavy Fast. It's a couple years old & he's logged hundreds of bass on.

Cause inquisitive minds wanna know

If I wanna see nature I'll walk out my front door, 35 yds away is a bayou, 15-20 minute drive I'm totally away from civilization. I wanna set hook on something!

Where the front is coming from gives us an idea of what to expect. Artic front; Northerner, extreme temperature drops, snow, sleet, rain. Can be accompanied by strong winds. Pacific front; early year they starts out as cold fronts then gradually warming. Rains = floods Tropical front; warm fronts coming out of the Gulf of Mexico, depending on time of year tropical storms to hurricanes possible.

If I truly wanted to find "gems" I would be looking in the $100-200 price range.

Allstar Classic $49.99 H2O Express Mettie $49.99 Field & Stream Tech Spec Black $55.99 Lew's Laser SG1$59.99 Lew's Speed Spool LFS $99.99

Monday on the Big Pond Fish both deep and shallow. Out deep we are scanning in 20-30' looking for shad. Once we find shad, we are stopping and throwing a 6th Sense Fishing spoon and Alabama rig at them. Up shallow we are targeting grass in 3-12' with a trap and chatterbait. Our better bites came on a chatterbait caught on the grass edges.

I like to compare bass fishing to deer hunting. When I say deer hunting I don't mean setting in a stand over looking a feeder. I'm on the ground, rifle in hand, stealthily moving through the woods. My fish finder is tied to the end of my line.

Depends on what caused the change. I mentioned in another thread we're dealing with a lot of cold rain. How fast does it take, how fast is the runoff?