Knapp: Using cover to your advantage to land largemouth bass in the spring
The thick, branchless beam of the tree extended perpendicularly from the lake’s shoreline, from its exposed end to where it disappeared into the depths.
I cast a short-armed spinnerbait up to the bank, the lure entering the water within inches of the shoreline. A turn or two of the reel handle tightened the line and activated the motion of the No. 4 Colorado blade, instilling a distinct thump that transmitted back into the handle of my casting rod. A moment later the vibration was interrupted as a 2-pound largemouth bass intercepted the lure, a fish that gave a nice account of itself in the 52-degree water before being landed.
The experience took place recently on a local lake. My friend, Sid Brown, joined me. The objective of the outing was to ply the shallow wood of the lake in search of bass that had moved into the cover during a recent warming trend. A half dozen similar bass were taken before we put the boat back on the trailer.
Fishing for lake-dwelling bass during the spring can be outstanding, but it can also be challenging. For one, the fish are often on the move, migrating from deeper basins that offer the stability to survive winter to shallower zones that provide food, and eventually, proper spawning habitat.
One type of cover that has the potential to attract early season bass is found in wood, primarily shoreline trees that have either fallen into the water naturally, or were intentionally dropped to provide added fish cover. The latter are often cabled to the stump to keep them in place.
It’s not surprising shoreline wood of this type — commonly called laydowns — hold bass. Food can be found there in the form of minnows and small sunfish. The wood can absorb heat, which potentially can warm the surrounding water. And as an ambush predator, wood furnishes a myriad of options for which a bass can bask in security, ready to pounce on unsuspecting prey.
Also, early in the season other forms of cover such as submergent weeds have yet to develop.
How one approaches fishing shallow wood is dependent somewhat on the attitude of the bass. If they are willing to chase — i.e. move from cover to overtake a lure — lures that move horizontally such as spinnerbaits, Chatterbait-style bladed jigs, swimming jigs and squarebill crankbaits are good options.
They can be bounded off cover, which will often trigger a strike from a bass. The action of a squarebill-style crankbait helps the angler to work the bait through woody cover.
When bass are not willing to chase, or the laydowns are such that horizontal baits only scratch the surface of potential fishing holding cover, it’s wise to slow down and pick the wood apart with vertical presentations such as Texas-rigged plastics or skirted bass jigs.
In general, expect to find bass in a more aggressive mood when the weather is favorable, such as during a warming trend when water temperatures are on the rise. The evening twilight period may also see a positive movement.
Conversely, the bite may be tougher, calling for the need to slow down, during cooling periods such as the aftermath of cold fronts.
Jeff Knapp is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle.
