(Editor's note: The following is the eighth in a series of fishing tips presented by The Bass University. Check back each Friday for a new tip.)
While other anglers may downsize in the cold temperatures of late winter and early spring, Jason Christie prefers to stay with big baits.
“They don’t want to eat a bunch of meals” at that time of year, he said. They’d rather expend limited energy on a big gizzard shad or an oversized crawdad. Accordingly, when his competitors turn to finesse tactics in the pre-spawn, he continues to power-fish.
He defines the pre-spawn broadly as the time when bass come out of their winter patterns up until they go to bed, so while they may not yet be in their bedding areas, he’s always aware of the end point of the journey.
He’ll gauge how deep or shallow, and how far along their route, they’re likely to be, based on three main factors: The moon phase, warm fronts and the increasing amount of daylight. It’s a “perfect storm,” if you have all three, he said, noting that he doesn’t care “if the water is 37 degrees,” some fish will move up shallow to feed on the presence of a full moon.
Of course, not all fish move to the same places at the same time. That’s why smart tournament anglers will locate key staging areas, places where the fish can move shallow or back out deep depending on conditions. On a traditional reservoir, that could be a point that intersects the channel, while on a river it could be a stump in 5 feet of water.
If there’s a particular stump or dock where you always catch a fish or two this time of year, you’ve found a staging spot, he explained. His “perfect scenario” is found in a main creek arm, where there’s a turn in the creek channel that forms a big flat. Even better if there’s a big brush pile on the ledge and it’s on the south bank so the north wind hits hit.
Once he finds those key staging spots, he uses three main tools to get the job done early in the pre-spawn.
The first is a jerkbait, like a Rogue, which he fishes on a 6 1/2-foot medium action Falcon rod with 12- or 16-pound Sunline fluorocarbon, depending on how deep he wants the bait to dive.
His second choice, particularly when he encounters water visibility of about a foot, is a spinnerbait or a Chatterbait. He fishes it on a 6-foot-10 rod with 22-pound Sunline. He used to use 20, but said that he doesn’t like to retie, and doesn’t think the fish are line-shy, anyway. He retrieves it with a 5.6:1 gear-ratio reel, the only time he uses a reel that slow except with big crankbaits.
His third choice, when he has slightly clearer water and/or slick conditions, is a swimbait.
“If I can get away with a jighead, I’m going to throw a jighead,” he said, but if cover dictates a more weedless approach he’ll use a Trokar belly-weighted hook. He likes it heavy so he can keep the lure moving. With the open hook, he uses a fairly limber-tipped rod (“Two thirds meat and a little bit of bread on the end”) but with the belly hook he goes with a slightly stiffer stick. In either case, he generally relies on 16-pound Sunline fluorocarbon and a faster reel to catch up with bass that knock slack in his line.
As the fish progress closer to spawning, if the water’s up in the bushes he likes a jig, usually a rattling version, although he’ll go to a silent one if the fish are heavily pressured or the water has less stain. Otherwise, he keeps it simple, flipping to as many targets as possible, or swimming it through grass like water willow.
“What else do you say?” he concluded. “You get a jig on, you go flip and you catch big ones.”
To see Jason’s full video seminar on pre-spawn power tactics, subscribe to The Bass University TV.
To see Christie's full video seminar on this topic, subscribe to The Bass University TV.
