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Opening Day of Bass Season"Want To Come Along?"by Loren Davidson1992 Minnesota B.A.S.S. State Champion
I have waited all winter for this day! How about you? Do you want to come along? Do you know what lake we should try? Do you know what the best tactics are to use? What will it take to have a successful day on the water? Here is my plan. I am going to take out my collection of lake maps. We will be looking for a lake that has warmer water than most others in the area. That means a fairly shallow, stained water lake. When we have several lakes picked out that fit that criteria we will take a very close look at the northwest corner. That is where the warmest water will be. It gets the most sun in the spring and it will not be affected by the cold northwest wind. If there is a back bay off the main lake in that northwest corner, I know we have found our starting spot! When we hit the water that morning we will head straight for that bay. Once inside, it is time to look for cover next to the shoreline. The first lure we should use is a 3/8 oz. white or chartreuse spinnerbait. It will allow us to cover water quickly and efficiently. We should be able to pick up a few active fish. We will be running it by any type of cover; lily pads, weed clumps, downed trees, etc. The water next to the cover will be warmer than the open water due to the heat absorption of the cover. The bass will be using the cover to ambush any prey that goes by. If we find any cover that looks like it may hold a bigger fish, You can pick up one of my other rods that has a tequila sunrise colored lizard. I will have the lizard texas rigged with a 3/0 VMC hook and a 1/16 oz. bullet sinker so it will penetrate the cover. Now, pitch that lizard right into the cover and let it slowly sink to the bottom and let it sit there for eight to ten seconds. Then jiggle the rod tip a little bit so the lizard will quiver but not move. (Are you getting tense yet?) The bite will be subtle so watch the line very close. There! Did you see the line jump? Reel down and set the hook, hard. Wow, a three pounder! (Sorry, I’m getting a bit carried away!) After fishing tight to the cover for an hour or so we should plan to move off the bank a bit, to the inside weedline. It will be time for a strategy change too. Now our lure of choice will be a pumpkinseed Power Slug. This is a very effective spring lure. When you slowly twitch this lure along the inside weedline it is a perfect imitation of an injured bait fish. Bass cannot resist it! Since the sun is getting bright I will be throwing a Rapala up on top of the weedline while you work the edge. The “jerk-jerk-pause” retrieve with a jerkbait is the one that works best for me in the spring. This way you can get the biters that are cruising the weedline and I can catch some fish that are further back in the weeds. After we have had our fill of those smaller bass that tend to roam the shallows in the spring, we should plan to look for some bigger bass. I know that the bigger bass, which are usually the females, will be staging in the deeper water. We will start moving out of the bay and begin to look for the first breakline to deeper water. Now. I’m going to break out the big guns! I plan to use my seven foot Quantum IMC707FJ heavy action rod, twenty pound test Stren Magnathin with a half ounce pumpkinseed jig with a Power Craw or a black/blue jig and pig. We are looking for four pound plus bass and these fish will tear up light tackle! Some of these females will still be in pre spawn and will be staging on the first breakline waiting for a male to coax them into the shallows to spawn. The biggest females always spawn first so they will be in a post spawn situation. Either way we can expect the bigger fish to be relating to the deeper water. If we need to, we will keep moving out beyond the mouth of the bay until we get a good break in depth. These big fish will need to be coaxed into feeding, so we will have to fish slow. The jig and pig is a crayfish imitator and if we drag it on the bottom, those big ones will be happy to get an easy meal that they do not have to chase. You cast along the break and I’ll throw into the deeper water beyond the break. Remember to keep the jig on the bottom, these fish will eat but they don’t want to chase anything yet. Did you get a bite? If she missed it just drop it back on the bottom and let it sit. She will think she injured it and she’s looking at it right now to see if it’s alive. Now, just quiver that rod tip a little. She’s got it! Set the hook! Set the hook! Whoa, that fish is five pounds easy! I’ll get the net! (Sorry, there I go again getting carried away) With all this talk about fishing I’m ready to go right now! Why don’t you go home and sharpen those hooks and put on new line so you will be sure that when that five pounder hits you can boat her. I will do the same and we can talk some more about our trip later.
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