For this post we’re going to talk about seasonal bass
behavior specifically where you can
locate largemouth bass from season to season why
they’re there and also some good bait to
catch them on as conditions change from
season to season
Vasko on the move in part two of our
beginners guide we pointed out the bass
have just three primary concerns food
survival and reproduction all three also
greatly contribute to seasonal movement
for food a bass must follow migrating
food supplies for survival they must
seek ideal water temperatures and oxygen
levels in for reproduction
they must spawn in areas where eggs can
hatch successfully water temperature
oxygen levels light penetration and food
supply these are all driving factors
fall winter spring and summer the Four
Seasons
except an ambassador Sheen is actually
more like six behavior is pretty diverse
in the spring when bass reproduce so it
makes much more sense to divide this
period further into three different sub
seasons pre spawn spawn and post spawn
so let’s start breaking this down season
by season beginning with the fall
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the fall season begins with a movement
from deep summer sanctuaries to
shallower water as temperatures begin to
cool baitfish play a huge role this time
of year on typical reservoir style Lakes
school debate like shad will migrate
into the shallower tributary arms where
they become extremely active shatter
constantly on the move in the fall often
roaming in slightly deeper areas of his
creek arms for most of the day then
retreating the shoreline cover in the
evening with so much activity bats have
numerous opportunities to feed and they
take full advantage of it you can expect
bass to be located in a variety of areas
but the common denominator is always
nearby bait fish structure found where
Creek arms open into the main lake like
shallower humps large flat and main Lake
points where all areas where bass can
lie in wait for schools a bait to bunch
up as they move by also shad will push
further back into tributary arms as
water temps continue to fall and bass
will follow so fishing nearby coves and
secondary points near the mouths of
these creeks can also be productive
you can expect bass to be holding the
various cover in these areas like boat
docks timber and grass lines because
bait fish are so prominent your choice
of lure needs to reflect that shallow to
medium running crank baits and willow
leaf spinner baits are probably the most
effective baits
this time of year a lipless crankbait or
even at top water popper style bait can
also work wonders did you happen to find
bass in a feeding frenzy near school of
shad shad are not fully grown this time
of year you’ll have more success with
smaller profile baits also they suspend
so you typically want to make sure to
keep your baits off the bottom color
will mostly depend on water clarity with
natural colors working better in clear
water and flashy colors working better
in stained water from one of the most
active seasons of the year to the most
inactive season of the year winter cold
weather pushes bass and shad to deeper
Maine lake areas where water
temperatures are more stable and less
cold compared to shallower water before
we continue let’s clarify that bass do
not hibernate they don’t stop beating
they don’t stop moving in the winter
they simply do much less of each bass
are cold blooded which means their
bodies take on the temperature of their
environment cold water slows their
biological processes and they simply
require less food and have less energy
for movement less movement is a big
factor in where and how you’ll catch
bass this time of year expect them to be
located around structural areas with
steep depth changes like creek channel
drop-offs
or rock ledges which allow them to cover
depths quickly without exerting much
energy main lake humps submerged
roadbeds
standing timber and deeper water these
are all high percentage locations and
you’ll likely find them grouped up this
time of year a slower presentation is
usually needed in the winter since bass
feed far less frequently and are less
willing to chase Bates Bates like jigs
spoons and grub style plastics rigged on
jig heads can be hopped slowly along the
bottom and are great at probing deep
vertical structure crank baits and
bladed baits like under spins work as
well especially during warming trends if
you’re in need of a search bait and
wants to cover lots of water quickly
don’t discount the lipless crankbait
which tends to single out more active
fish in clear water a jerk plate also
makes for a great search bait it is
considered one of the more effective
winter baits the first big warming trend
marked the beginning of what has to be
the most exciting diverse and sometimes
confusing season spring bass lead their
winter sanctuaries and begin the process
of reproducing which involves building
up energy in the pre spawn working to
hatch eggs in the spawn and then
recovering from the stress of
reproduction in the post spawn the
interesting thing about the spring
season is that all three of these sub
seasons are often happening at the exact
same time as bass do not spawn uniformly
that’s in the pre spawn stage begin to
move closer to their desired spawning
locations as bats leave their deep
winter spots they will migrate back into
tributary arms using structure and cover
exclusively as navigation points
so fish any structural features between
winter spots and likely spawning grounds
that’s become more and more active as
temperatures warm and they also tend to
stick tightly to cover as they make this
journey spinnerbaits crankbaits lipless
crankbaits ChatterBait it all worked
quite well this time of year work these
baits faster and faster as temperatures
rise to cover water quickly slowing down
along the way and isolated cover like
brush piles and stumps with a jig or
Texas rig in lakes and reservoirs the
red rattle trap has become known as the
primary pre spawn baits as crawfish
become a prominent food source in late
winter to early spring when bats are
ready to spawn male bass move on to
spawning grounds which are often
shallower hard bottom flats and when
protected areas females wait nearby
until they’re rounded up to drop their
eggs and the male is then left to defend
the nest as the eggs hatch we’ll go into
more detail in our biog devoted
entirely to spawning bass but a variety
of baits can be used successfully during
this phase soft jerk baits like a fluke
jigs lizards and ribbon tail worms are
just a few that work well keep in mind
though that bats are often not drawn to
your lure as food this time of year it’s
much more likely they are reacting
debates based on their protective
instinct of the nest a couple of
important notes about when and where
bass spawn expect to spawn to kick off
in the northern parts of the body of
water first because these areas
typically warm faster since they’re
protected from colder north winds
also water clarity is important for
spawning fish as the right amount of
sunlight is needed to successfully hatch
eggs so on Mercury Lakes you can expect
spawning bass to be in shallower water
on clearer lakes you might see this
occurring at deeper depths the post pond
is where things can get tricky faster
and full recovery mode after spawning
which usually puts them into sort of a
funk females will often be suspended
under cover not far from beds like boat
docks submerge brush or lay downs and
you’ll have to rely on erratic action to
get them to bite baits like a jerkbait
swim jig or a colorado leaf spinner
baits are great options males are more
active and stick to nests briefly to
protect fry bluegill imitators or even a
top water walking bait around nests can
work great here also the shad and
bluegill spawn occurs not long after
bass spawn in similar shallow protected
areas so choose colors to match whatever
bass are currently feeding on watermelon
reds pumpkin colors are all great
choices for South plastics as well as
natural colors like sexy shad for
spinner baits or chatter baits
the summer heat pushes most baths back
to deep main leg sanctuaries where
temperatures are cooler and shad are
plentiful deep main lake river channels
ledges and humps are common locations
you might think this sounds a lot like
winter except this time of the year bats
do remain active they are a warm water
fish after all and can thrive in the
summer
however extreme heat is a stressor so to
compensate summer baths typically will
feed aggressively but only a short burst
Jiggs Carolina rig soft plastics drop
shots deep diving crankbaits are all
great deep summer baits timing is often
critical so if you happen to locate
deepwater bass that aren’t currently
feeding resort to much slower
presentations another critical component
of summer bass fishing is depth because
there is such a thing as too deep lack
of light penetration and insufficient
oxygen levels become an issue the deeper
you go fishermen often referred to
something called the thermocline as the
barrier to which bass will not descend
below for the purposes of this biog we
can say that on clearer bodies of water
bats will often be deeper than our lakes
with stained water but be aware that a
sort of dead zone can’t exist at the
deepest depths
what about shallow summer baths several
ecological factors prevent the majority
of bass from setting up in shallower
water which you will find some of them
their focus on shaded cover for shallow
summer baths you will always have your
best luck in the early morning and late
evening when bass might be tempted in
defeating around highly vegetated areas
or bait to hovered as I’m sure you’ve
figured out by now we can never fully
predict bass behavior with blogblogblog% accuracy
because there’s just too many different
variables that can change even our our
much less season to season but make it
really tough so by applying seasonal
techniques to your fishing you can
effectively and efficiently eliminate
unproductive water on any body of water
that you go to so we’re talking about
making a highly educated guess here
that’s going to greatly increase your
chances of catching fish quickly and
catching more of them as the seasons
change thank you so much for watching
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Bobbing for Bass 