Hey yall I live in VA here the water temp is about 55 degrees or so. I have gone a few trips with little success. I don't really know what to look for. Does anyone have any tips on where I should be looking? I am a young angler so anything helps. I know that in the spring bass are moving up to spawn, then spawn then move back to deeper water. I'm just confused on what to look for now and what baits to use. Thanks

One thing to look for is northwest coves and banks with cover or hard bottom composition. The points leading into those areas are staging areas where they should be holding until it is time to move up shallow. There are already fish on the banks around here and probably some early bedders according to some of the local reports. Good luck and I'm sure you will get more good info from other member.

Do you have a boat or fish from the bank?

Do you have a boat or fish from the bank?

I have a boat

Tom Young's Cosmic clock.

 

Fish the bottom, the middle, and the top *at the right locations* with your favorite baits in your favorite colors.

I just went out yesterday and found the same water temps. just north of you in MD. After about an hour of fishing I started hitting banks with wood cover and started smacking them on a small square bill crankbait. As usual, the bite came on the pause or after the bait deflected off cover. I just uploaded this video of me fishing yesterday on YouTube. If you check out the type of cover I was fishing and the bait I was using, it might give you another option to try if you haven't already.  Good luck! 

 

Nice job fry!

 

I was out there on saturday for the first time and got blown all over the place and no fish.  I am headed back this weekend and hope to find some of those nice bass you caught.  The little of the lake I did see makes it look like a great lake to fish!  

Nice job fry!

 

I was out there on saturday for the first time and got blown all over the place and no fish.  I am headed back this weekend and hope to find some of those nice bass you caught.  The little of the lake I did see makes it look like a great lake to fish!  

Thanks!  It's an awesome lake; I'm sure you'll find some! It's been windy for the past 4 days and today was no exception.  I went out again and caught 2 dinks and a pig. I'm uploading the video now...

I just went out yesterday and found the same water temps. just north of you in MD. After about an hour of fishing I started hitting banks with wood cover and started smacking them on a small square bill crankbait. As usual, the bite came on the pause or after the bait deflected off cover. I just uploaded this video of me fishing yesterday on YouTube. If you check out the type of cover I was fishing and the bait I was using, it might give you another option to try if you haven't already.  Good luck! 

 

 

Dont wanna hijack the thread, but nice video. I enjoy watching average joe fishing videos. No product pushing, just fishing. Looked like a fun day. What kind of boat is that?

I went out today for the first time in Southern WV and caught 8 bass on a rapala shadow rap, all were very soft hits that came along the bottom in about 12-15 feet of water. They were laying down holding at the mouths of inlets or small coves. I positioned my boat directly in the mouth and fished jerkbaits and crankbaits parallel to the shoreline in the sides of the coves and inlets. Water was around 50 degrees and stained from a lot of rain the past few days.

Dont wanna hijack the thread, but nice video. I enjoy watching average joe fishing videos. No product pushing, just fishing. Looked like a fun day. What kind of boat is that?

Thanks man! It's a Pelican Bass Raider 10e... 

I caught all of my fish today out of a Pelican Bass Raider 8 

Get a topo map and do some reading on seasonal patterns.

Every cast should have a purpose. When you start catching fish , you will know why .

Are you targeting largies? Any smallies or trout there? If largies, northwest part of the lake if the water temps are in the 50's. Slow moving baits, jigs or grubs would be my choice. Lots of parameters for sure.

Right about now, I'll take any water that is not solid, and start there LOL. Soon, soon, 10 days or so and the ice will be gone here.

Once the water temp hits 60 id go pick apart shallow isolated cover. Flippin jig, texas rig straight tail worm, creature bait and shaky head

I have had a ton of success this year with lipless crankbaits while the water is in the 50's. I just reel with a stop and go method and the bass kill it on the fall when I stop the reel. It works great at several depths. I fish it with 8 pound mono to try to get as much depth as quickly as possible while I stop the bait and it helps you to throw the bait much further. I personally like the red eye strike king lipless baits for their fast wobble on the fall.