Hey..

What happens to the smallies when the Ice retreats and the water warms up to about 40-45? where will they be?  ;D ;D

When the water hits 45-50 the NY smallies are already thinking about spawning, but on many of the lakes I fish the water might not even get up to 50 till june, and hit a high of 70 in the summer...If you have creeks that smallies spawn up in, the smallies will sit at the tributary mouth over the first real structure until warm rain brings the water temps up then they usually head up the creeks...I target any warm runoff spots on Seneca lake and get some of my best brown bass of the year during this period. Right after ice out when the water 35-45 they are still stacked in wintering spots along bluffs and breaks into deep water and can be hard to catch because they usually suspend...I'll use a Bass Pro Enticer hair jig with a zoom tiny chunk, and try an x-rap as well. I personaly like it best when the water gets to 50 and the smallies really start cruising the flats. The best lure is swimming a green/pumpkin zoom fat albert grub so that it just about kicks up dust along the bottom, sometimes you can get an entire school to chase it to the boat!...my backup lure for this pattern is a craw rat-l-trap. Good luck! 8-)

The ice out range is usually 40 - 45 degrees, at which point smallmouths in lakes will start to move out of the deeper water - on warm, sunny days - and start to travel their "roads" toward the spawning areas. A few warm days will send them all the way, but not to spawn....rather to gobble up some of the prey species taking advantage of the warming waters.

You can find the bass on the deeper edged to these flats once the ice has receded. Tubes, blade baits and jigs are great. Once the water gets up to 48 - 52, they'll start to go over the "lip" more frequently, until the water there warms sufficiently for the spawn to begin. This is when hard jerks really come into their own. Just do not forget to bring along some Senkos!

I don't fish the spawn myself; rather I find fish at other stages of the progression, during this period. It's just a "thing" with me - I'm just against bed fishing. (I do not believe it harms the population, but it does kind of seem like "shooting fish in a barrel!") This is not difficult either. All bass do not spawn simultaneously. Some are always pre-spawn and you can even find some post spawn, once the temps get into the upper 50's.

Hope this is of some help.  

I just thought of a spot on Lake Roosevelt, northwest of Spokane, where there is rocks on shore, and about 20 feet out from shore, There is a nice drop off in about 15 feet of water, going to about 25-30. I caught some really nice amounts of smallies in this spot on just jigging a live nightcrawler.. I do belive some senkos or tiki sticks would work great here. let it sit on the bottom for about 20 seconds, then jump it... Same with nightcrawlers. THIS IS MY SECRET SPOT! hahaha....  ;D ;D