If you've been bass fishing any decent period of time, you've probably been told that the spawn is the best time of the year to fish for bass. People love to fish for bedding fish. Its easy, the fish are aggressive, and anybody who can place a bait on a saucer-sized target can catch spawners. I'm here to to tell you why the spawn is NOT the business!
First, the spawn is a cycle. Pre-spawn,spawn, and post-spawn. When the water hits about 52-53 degree, bass will start moving out of winter zones into shallower areas. Why is pre-spawn a better fishing opportunity than the spawn? There are multiple reasons:
Spawning fish are concentrating on reproduction. They are skinny, worn and ragged from making beds and guarding them. Pre-spawn fish are typically much fatter and healthier fish.
Pre-spawn fish move in schools. If you find one pre-spawn fish, chances are there a few more in the general vicinity.
Pre-spawn fish are actively feeding in preparation to spawn.
Pre-spawners make better tournament fish. Not only are you helping conserve the resource by allowing the spawning fish to do their thing, pre-spawn bags will be larger 95% of the time.
But pre-spawn isn't easy to categorize as a process. Every lake has its own rituals. Fish in a deep canyon reservoir will move into pre-spawn much slower then fish in a shallow, vegetation filled lake. Pre-spawn is all about relativity. A fish that has spent all winter in 60' of water at DVL might move up to 30' when the water temps hit the 55 zone. In relative terms, thats a significant move. In contrast, in a lake with a average depth of 10', the fish will often stage in groups in shoreline cover because the water might be 5 degrees warmer up shallow then it is in the deepest portion of the lake.
A big misconception is that all fish spawn at once. Bass move up in waves. The first wave will typically arrive when the water temp hits 60 degrees. But waves of fish will move up throughout spring and early summer. During cold springs, bass may spawn into July. Because of this, for 3-4 months of the year there are always pre-spawn fish available. There may be 30 fish on the bank spawning in April, but chances are there 100 staged up awaiting their time.
Pre-spawners are weather-dependent fish. Once a bedding fish is locked on its bed, a cold front won't typically push it off. But a pre-spawner is very much reacting to the current conditions. The biggest mistake people make is they assume when a cold front comes in the fish will head back to the wintering holes. Once again, relativity is the key. If you are catching fish in 15-20' before a cold front, those fish aren't going migrate back to 60'. Pull out to similar structure or cover that is deeper. If you are catching them at 20' on humps before a front, fish humps in 30-40' after the cold front blows out. Likewise, if you are flipping fish in 5' pre-front, find cover thats relatively deeper (8-10') to fish post-front. Vice versa, a week of stable and warm conditions will have fish staging closer and closer to the spawning flats.
Think obvious when analyzing staging points. Early in prespawn, you will find fish relatively close to winter holes. Mid-way through the pre-spawn, you should start looking for obvious areas. This might be the 1st secondary point going into a creek arm, or the last tule point before a flat. In the last stages of prespawn, fish might be literally yards from the spawning areas. Its not uncommon to see fish grouped up at the first significant ledge or point that is directly adjoining the spawning flats.
Pre-spawn fishing is frustrating. Sometimes its the best fishing of the year, other times its miserable. But if you can find the fish and learn their movements, you are much closer to catching them than you realize.
