Hey,

i am looking to fish for largemouth bass when they are their biggest and easiest to catch from shore, so spring? Would they spawn in winter? I usually use a 4 inch keitech, is there anything u should use that might work better for bigger bass? In lakes near me, people use big glidebaits for the big ones, but I dont know how to use it, and would it work on spinninng gear?

fishing lake tappan in nj if that helps at all

i found some spots on lake oradell where i saw loads of bluegill beds, would that be a good spot to target? I know there are many more beds throughout the lakes, i just havent fohnd them yet. 

Read the current post Fishing for pre spawning the tackle forum.

You can also go to the Search tool upper right corner on the forum pages.

Tom

1 hour ago, WRB said:

Read the current post Fishing for pre spawning the tackle forum.

You can also go to the Search tool upper right corner on the forum pages.

Tom

I dont see it when i search that, can you put the link in this thread?

 

Late winter/early spring is a really good time to target big fish, and they will be at their heaviest. Go early, up by you, late February through early April, but you want to be early, rather than late. If you are seeing baitfish near shore, and catching dinks, you missed the best part. Hard to beat a spinnerbait, but most baits can have a place. 

3 hours ago, Deleted account said:

Late winter/early spring is a really good time to target big fish, and they will be at their heaviest. Go early, up by you, late February through early April, but you want to be early, rather than late. If you are seeing baitfish near shore, and catching dinks, you missed the best part. Hard to beat a spinnerbait, but most baits can have a place. 

Perfect i will definitely do that. Are there any specific spots of the lake that i should target at this time? I will not be able to fish lake tappan until my summer break starts, but i will probably fish near my school. At the lakes by me i have found some spots that have tons of bluegill beds, are those where the bass would be? 

1 minute ago, Gregorym38 said:

At the lakes by me i have found some spots that have tons of bluegill beds, are those where the bass would be?

Typically, if the bluegill have started their spawn, the majority of the bass will have already spawned. Not all, but most. I’ve had excellent luck post-spawn fishing edges of bluegill spawn colonies. 

30 minutes ago, Gregorym38 said:

Perfect i will definitely do that. Are there any specific spots of the lake that i should target at this time? I will not be able to fish lake tappan until my summer break starts, but i will probably fish near my school. At the lakes by me i have found some spots that have tons of bluegill beds, are those where the bass would be? 

The bass will stage or move up and down with the raising water temperatures (and longer days) Where to fish depends on the specific body of water, but I start at at obvious transitions, there is a couple of ways of looking at it, but I start about where 8 feet goes to 5 feet, if that's not the thing, then where 5 feet becomes 3, if that's not the thing then up tight, if that's not it, then I go look deeper, and if that's not it then time for pizza. As the season progresses, and I have some data points, it makes it easier to decide where to start along that route. Walk the perimeter if you can, the beginnings of nests will be able to be seen much earlier than the actual spawn (I've seen them as early as late February here) look for cleared spots the size of a tuna can or so. Bigger females and some males will move up first, but a lot of times you won't know they are there, and they can be skittish. After a warmup, and then cool down, a good bite can be had by targeting fish that will bite readily but won't move far or at all from where they are staging. Now I know how Randy B. feels...   

9 hours ago, Gregorym38 said:

I dont see it when i search that, can you put the link in this thread?

Look at the Fishing Tackle forum, near the bottom of the 1st page Fishing for pre spawn. I would add a link but not my thing.

Tom 

PS, Search for 1 or 2 key words “pre spawn”.

@Gregorym38 @WRB 

I linked it a few posts up. 

2 hours ago, Jar11591 said:

@Gregorym38 @WRB 

I linked it a few posts up. 

??

I assume you read the thread posted above.

Northeast NJ I am unfamiliar with. Looks mostly to be Rivers and that is a different ball game. Lakes and ponds the replies above apply.

It’s been a cold year so far that impacts water temperatures warming into the mid to upper 50’s ideal for pre spawn female bass. 

You found bluegill pie plate size beds, bass beds should be in the same area except a little deeper and 3x the size.

If you cruisers, bass swimming along the bank not interested in lures the spawn is about to start. A few weeks before that those cruisers are staged deep nearby, usually a second at point or any point close by.

Bass need wind protected areas to spawn similar to the areas you found bluegill beds, except they like something to protect  them like a boulder, a dock post, any wood in about 5’ to 1 1/2’ deep.

Rivers have current that changes the locations. Thing current protected area.

From shore I would fan cast starting next to the bank in front of you and continue making a fan casting pattern all the way around near the bank behind you covering the entire area.

Lures that work good uphill are good. Texas rigged soft plastic 8” Berkley Power Lizard or 9” Power worms for example.

Tom

18 minutes ago, WRB said:

Northeast NJ I am unfamiliar

Lucky you....  

9 hours ago, Deleted account said:

Late winter/early spring is a really good time to target big fish, and they will be at their heaviest. Go early, up by you, late February through early April, but you want to be early, rather than late. If you are seeing baitfish near shore, and catching dinks, you missed the best part. Hard to beat a spinnerbait, but most baits can have a place. 

 

Mid march is usually our ice out.  Early to mid april hits 45-50 degree water temps, so for me that's when the prime early season starts.  That said, I think we're largely ice free right now and barring a lot of consistent cold (nothing in the 10 day forecast) it might be an early one for us this year.  Here's to hoping!  I'm away the second two weeks of May this year, so if everything happens 2-3 weeks early that's all the better for me.

 

6 hours ago, Gregorym38 said:

Perfect i will definitely do that. Are there any specific spots of the lake that i should target at this time? I will not be able to fish lake tappan until my summer break starts, but i will probably fish near my school. At the lakes by me i have found some spots that have tons of bluegill beds, are those where the bass would be? 

 

If your break starts in may, you've missed a lot of pre-spawn stage.  Mid to late may is prime spawning time around here.  Your two lakes being shallower and fed by stormwater runoff I'd expect them to warm pretty quickly.  Your school is more trenton/philly area?  Go fish the central jersey WMA lakes in April.

 

2 hours ago, WRB said:

I assume you read the thread posted above.

Northeast NJ I am unfamiliar with. Looks mostly to be Rivers and that is a different ball game. Lakes and ponds the replies above apply.

It’s been a cold year so far that impacts water temperatures warming into the mid to upper 50’s ideal for pre spawn female bass. 

You found bluegill pie plate size beds, bass beds should be in the same area except a little deeper and 3x the size.

If you cruisers, bass swimming along the bank not interested in lures the spawn is about to start. A few weeks before that those cruisers are staged deep nearby, usually a second at point or any point close by.

Bass need wind protected areas to spawn similar to the areas you found bluegill beds, except they like something to protect  them like a boulder, a dock post, any wood in about 5’ to 1 1/2’ deep.

Rivers have current that changes the locations. Thing current protected area.

From shore I would fan cast starting next to the bank in front of you and continue making a fan casting pattern all the way around near the bank behind you covering the entire area.

Lures that work good uphill are good. Texas rigged soft plastic 8” Berkley Power Lizard or 9” Power worms for example.

Tom

 

NNJ does have a few rivers, but there are a ton of lakes here.  The difference to a lot of places is that they are mostly smaller (sub 1000 acres and lots of sub 500 acres) and there are lots of natural lakes.  We have some man made reservoirs but even then, the biggest we have is 2700 acres, followed by 2100 acres, then 1500 acres.  Lots of clear water (2-10' visibility normally), lots of weeds, even down to 20', and a good bit of pressure from anglers and pleasure boaters.

 

1 hour ago, Deleted account said:

Lucky you....  

 

Agreed.

43 minutes ago, casts_by_fly said:

Agreed.

 

I'm sure if you look really hard, you'd find someone for whom the combined smells of an Elizabeth refinery, the Arthur Kill, and Chinese food is somehow tolerable...

I house sit near Old Bridge sometimes, and on all but the coldest winters catch bass this time of year in small water up that way, used to fish near High Point and Stokes way back when, but haven't been up that way in ages. There used to be a lot more ice in the winters back then too.

Spends lots of time in the area for work in aerospace defense business, not bass fishing.

Tom

One problem with the lakes are that no kayaks or boats of any sort are allowed on the lakes, so i cant really use fish finder to see the structure. And yeah i think i come back home early may, so i will probably explore south jersey. I only really know one lake, greenwich lake. 
yeah there are a ton of lakes the top left of nj, unfortunately im on the top right

The optimal time is prespawn, which starts late winter.  It doesnt take very much warm weather to get them to push shallow.  That warm spell had the fish concentrated and heavy on the feed.  That doesnt mean it needs to be warm for the fish to start moving.  The shorter nights and longer days let the fish now what time it is.  

The prespawn almost always begins in Feb here, depending on the weather.  If you really want to get the heaviest fish possible you shouldn't start any later then Valentines Day.  

You want to look for shallow water with close access to deeper water (relative to average lake depth).  Bridges, spillways and boat ramps are a good place to start.  

As far as what to throw, it comes down to preference.  Personally a chatterbait is by far my MVP for numbers of good prespawn fish.  I start out fishing a chatterbait more like a jig, slow and on the bottom and I speed up slowly as the water warms.  You just dont want to miss that initial transition bite if at all possible, thats why its best to start early.  If you manage catch that early transition bite, it makes it far easier to predict the mood of the fish instead of going in cold.  Also the first fish pushing shallow are often the largest in the lake, so the chances of hooking a pb are in youre favor.

  

I see a good amount of discussion on this thread about the timing of the prespawn. For those in Missouri, especially central Missouri, when do you believe the super-early stages of prespawn begin? Tentatively, I can expect to be here in MO through about late Feb and wondering if I can catch 

the very earliest parts of the prespawn before I depart. 
 

Seems like larger lakes are going to stay thawed through the winter or at least for a while, fingers crossed. 
 

Obviously I am not very familiar with the typical climate of Missouri.