Normal high for CT is 60 now.  In general lately, temps have been below average with nights in the upper 30's.  The water temp is around 53.  This weekend is gonna be almost 90 and sunny.  Do the bass make drastic moves to shallows or do they just become more active where they were before.  How much do you think the water temp will increase in a shallow protected cove?  Will bass all the sudden build beds or do they need more stability?

I have seen water temperatures rise as much as 4 or 5 degrees in just a few hours. Every lake is different though. Usually the coves or banks on the north/northwest side of a lake will warm quickest. Also the clarity of the water affects how quickly the water warms up.

With colder nights it takes water temperatures even longer to get to that magic number for that particular lake. The magic number in most of the lakes I fish is between 65-70 degrees. That is when I start to see LMB is the shallows starting to spawn or if it is sunny, just warming up. Again, every lake is different. The bass in northern states may start spawning in lower temperatures.

Good Luck

Still working on it.

If I could say anything universal it would be that temperature is very important to bass. But overhead protection is number one. The bass prefer to be out of sight. At my ponds there are ospreys, pelicans, great blue herons, night herons, cormorants, mergansers, and kingfishers not to mention anglers on a daily basis. With clouds though the bass openly cruise (hunting). That threat is obviously abated to some degree, or maybe just more worth the risk to hunt.

Beyond that major constraint, bass love heat. You'll need to fill in the blanks on your water, or better, your particular piece of water.

Please tell me what you see. I'm all ears.

-Paul

Lillypads, lillypads act like little heaters in colder water. There will be bass in the lillypads.

I was out on the water here in Ohio on Saturday. It was sunny, the lake was dead. Until we got to the lillypads. In just a few feet of water they were there. We had a great day, in less than 3 feet of water.

Surgin, I see the same thing here -sans pads. It's the protected (from wind and main lake water) shallows that heats up, and heat is the draw.

I've seen it under a variety of overhead cover types. What's constant is the protected shallows that heat rapidly.

Surgin, I see the same thing here -sans pads. It's the protected (from wind and main lake water) shallows that heats up, and heat is the draw.

I've seen it under a variety of overhead cover types. What's constant is the protected shallows that heat rapidly.

Yep, Exactly what he said, protected, shallows with pads.

good question fishizzle, I was wondering the same, as the forecast is just about the same here.  I'm hoping that warming on Thursday and Friday get the bass active by the time I head out on Saturday, but I had no idea how big of an impact it will have on them.

Hit 80 today. Shorelines were CRAWLING with bass -a mix of pre-spawn cruisers, heat soakers, and hunters. See the "blind bass" thread for a description of bass hunting bluegills in an 18" deep protected cove.