Hey guys so I am getting frustrated. I have noticed a trend of mine over the past few years. I can typically catch good fish when the water is in the 50's. However as the water continues to warm and hits the 60's I start to struggle a lot, and at best will have a lot of smaller fish but struggle to get any size. Typically in the 50's I am catching on jigs, spinnerbaits, lipless, the normal things for this time of year. Then when the water gets a little warmer I cannot buy a bite in the same places I was catching before, nor in places similar. Typically these places are on banks going back into shallow coves and flats, places I would think they are trying to spawn in eventually. What advice do you have for fishing when the water is warming up this time of year? Thanks!

I have the same problem.. the fish just disappear for me until they hit the backs of coves... So that tells me they are transitioning, i just dont know where lol

Soft plastics T-rigged worked uphill instead of downhill in the 6' to 10' depth range and jerk baits in the same break depth range should produce bass that are transitioning.

Tom

Move & cast. Keep moving. Transitioning bass are difficult to locate, but if you search those back coves all the way out to deeper water, you should connect with them. I'd recommend a hard jerkbait. Something flashy, like an X-Rap hot head pattern.

Sounds to me they're moving back into the creeks to spawn, I'd start looking at the secondary points and the outside bends of the creek channel and any other structure back in the creeks... Also you say your catching small ones along the banks shallow back in the coves, that also tells me the spawns on because the the bigger males are making beds and the females have but one thing on their mind as do the bigger males thus leaving all the bucks not able to spawn... Have you tried to see if fish are on beds when this is happening? Or is the water too dirty where you fish?

If you can find the spawning flats the females tend to cruise out to the first break with cover after they spawn.  The will usually hang there for a little while and are susceptible to presentations that don't require alot of chasing (drop shots, senkos, flukes, and even jerkbaits).  The males will tend to guard the nests for a little while after that they will start heading out deeper. 

Thanks guys for the replies! I have not seen any beds at all yet. The water I fish is pretty dingy so it can be hard to sight fish, but as much water as I covered the last 2 weeks I believe if they were bedding I would have seen at least a few beds by now.

If your water is dingy and the water temps are in the 60's, you may be dealing with a lot of post spawn fish. In the lakes around me, we have a few that have less than 1ft of visibility and once the ice goes out the water warms SO much quicker in those stained bodies of water, so naturally the spawn happens a little earlier on those lakes. I realize that 60 degrees is 60 degrees no matter what the stain is on the water, but ive found that the darker water really entices the fish to spawn sooner. So IF that is the case, post spawn fish can be really tough to catch for numerous reasons. Big females will move deep and become very lethargic due to the stress from the spawn. Males will follow fry to protect them, taking them off of their normal structure patterns. This may not be the case on your lake, but im just throwing something out there that may have some validity to it. Most of the time we have the right baits and approach, they just aren't there. 

Thanks I appreciate that!

What you are experiencing are the different phases of pre-spawn. When you were catching fish with water temps in the 50's, both males and females were cruising those spots for two reasons; to feed and to check out potential spawning sites.  By the time those temps rise into the 60's, their focus shifts more toward spawning and the males and females will start pairing up looking to build nests. The males will stay fairly shallow and the females will venture in and out of the shallows until the actual spawn takes place.

Do like the females and go from the potential spawning areas to the nearest deeper water in your search for them, that is if you want to catch less aggressive fish (read fewer fish, but bigger).

Leave the trolling motor down and fish it all . Bass are both predictable and un-predictable . Some days they will be stacked in the back  of coves and the next days they are stacked at the entrance .  Find some major structure with spawning cove near-by and fish the whole thing .

 

This is a spot I fish a lot in the spring . See the major point and two coves by it . I just fish it all .

 

enlarge it and you will see .

PS my cousin and I won six thousand dollars here during a September tournament .