What stage should the bass be in now like pre-spawn what? any information on bass habits this time of the year would be great..THANKS!

i read in your profile that you are from maryland.  with that assumption in mind, your fish are probably in winter phase right now.  pre-spawn is probably at least 2-3 months away depending on weather conditions.  there are some other guys on here from maryland who may be able to help ya with location-specific strategies.  but the main thing i'd do is read the many seasonal articles on this site.  they're great!

Also, to continue what hawg caller said, may I suggest getting the three videos or DVDs, Bigmouth, Bigmouth Forever and the Feeding Habits of Bass.

These will help you learn about your adversary and their habits.

Wet & Wildlife Images

P.O. Box 480

Silver Springs, Florida 34489

800.661.4286

Excellent productions and very informative.

P.S. The bass in Maryland are deep and are staging near structure  where they are just relaxing and waiting for warmer water to arrive.

Pre spawn is the time of the seasonal calendar when the bass move from deep winter cold water period to ledges near spawning sites and stage. The basic water temeprature for pre spawn is between 55 to 58 degrees, the bass will start to roam the flats about 60 degrees and move up to spawn around the first full moon when the shallow flats reach 62 degress or so at the depth the bass spawn and may continue until the water is about 65 degrees. Pre spawn is the magic period when the big bass are feeding aggressively. Keep you eye on the water temperature, not your calendar.

WRB

aka; Oldschool, TBH