01-14-12, 04:43 AM | #1 |
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Spring Tournaments
How would you fish a 1 day tournament in the early spring on a small local lake? You have 7 hours: the tournament starts at 7:00 am and weigh-in is at 2:00 pm. It is a 2 person tournament and you weigh a total of 4 fish over 15 inches.
Would you start shallow early in the morning with suspending jerk baits or or soft plastics? ...Or would you start on deeper points with crankbaits & spinnerbaits and wait for the sun to warm up the shallow water? |
01-14-12, 04:47 AM | #2 |
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I know someone is going to ask about other factors:
By early spring, I mean mid-April here in Iowa. The average lows are in the mid to upper 30's; the average high might be in the mid 50's. The water temp is around 47 degrees. The ice has been out for a month and it is another month until the spawn is in full swing. There are no weeds up yet, not even stuff starting on the bottom and the water is clear (6 to 8 foot visibility.) The lake is a small (480 acre) man-made lake with a dam and old creek channels. The max. depth is around 50 feet. There's not a lot of submerged trees or stumps. 500 Houses circle almost the entire lake, so there are a lot of docks which tend to be what I focus on. There are no creeks to speak of that flow into the lake, it's all run-off and spring fed. Also there are no real forage fish other than bluegill and smaller bass. Here is a link to an old thread with a map of the lake if it helps. The lake has pretty good numbers of bass in the 14 to 16 inch range with a few large bass up to 5 pounds. An 18 inch bass weighs about 3 pounds from this lake - in the fall tournament I caught a 20-1/4" bass that weighed 4 pounds and was the 3rd largest fish. Last Spring 1st place was 11 pounds, second place was 10-1/2 pounds and third place was just under 10 pounds. (You need to add a pound for for similar results in the fall.) My confience baits are: Spinner Baits & Texas-rigged Plastics (worms, wolly craw hawgs, wacky rigged weightless senko, Horny Toads) Semi confident: Deep diving crankbaits, weightless flukes and Carolina-rigged Plastics. No Confidence: Bass Jigs, lipless crankbaits, suspending jerkbaits, a dropshot. I know there are a lot of other variables like rising or falling temperatures, cloudy or sunny skies, windy or calm, etc. How would each of these variables change your strategy? Last edited by IowaBasser; 01-14-12 at 04:57 AM. |
01-14-12, 09:53 AM | #3 |
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Hey IB....I would pre-fish as close to tx as possible. Unfortunately your list of no confidence baits are likely to be the most productive. Try to put yourself in a pre-pre-spawn mindset. I'll assume that by then the water has already warmed up by at least 10 degrees, days are at least 1.5 hrs longer and the fish have moved up at least one level from their winter hangouts. The northwest shallows warm the fastest and are the preferred locations for bed making (if bottom composition is suitablr etc). I would focus on any key staging areas in maybe 15-20' between the locations marked 1-5b on your map. Be patient...figure 10 lbs will prob win...you've got 7 hours to catch 4 fish. Afternoon bite is likely going to be the best.
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01-14-12, 11:15 AM | #4 | |
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01-14-12, 11:57 AM | #5 |
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I can't start fishing till the last few days of April, here in Michigan.
Lipless crankbaits are my #1 bait that early. Immediate catch n release starts last Saturday in April. Last 2 seasons I've done real well with them at that time. IF you decide to give em a shot, concentrate on drop-offs (I anchor shallow and throw deep), and reedy areas. I treat the reedy areas the same way. Anchor up in the shallows and cast out beyond the reeds. Most strikes come right at the edge of the weeds. I chalk it up to the bass not wanting baitfish to make it to cover
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01-14-12, 12:34 PM | #6 |
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I would focus mainly on secondary points, especially on the North side of the lake because it should be a little warmer. I would fish the secondary points with jerkbaits such as Rogues and McSticks as well as a jig. If the sun is out later in the day then I would fish any rip rap or old boat ramps I could find because they will warm up and draw bass to them.
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01-14-12, 08:38 PM | #7 |
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Get a partner who is confident with jerkbaits and jigs. Then you could slow roll a colorado bladed spinnerbait or texas rig a lizard around secondary points and the first 1/3 going into the coves and any small pockets in coves close to the main lake. I'd look for rocks and laydowns to be holding most of your fish if they aren't suspended.
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01-15-12, 12:34 AM | #8 |
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Spinnerbaits and jigs. Start on the points and work halfway back in the coves. Go to another point and repeat. Fish YOUR strengths, period. Some people catch a lot of fish on jerkbaits and lipless crankbaits. Personally I would rather play golf than throw them but I still do well and sometimes win early season tournaments fishing my confidence baits.
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01-15-12, 08:32 AM | #9 |
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It would help if I could just get a partner who could Bass fish!
I partner with my father who's not much of a bass fisherman. He's a walleye chaser; typically with live bait. He owns a house on the lake, and the tournament is for home-owners and a guest. I sit in the front of the boat and he normally drags a plastic crawfish from the back. He's got a bad shoulder and doesn't like to cast much. LOL ...He's always trying to talk me into trolling; after-all he occasionally catches bass when trolling for walleye! (trolling is legal in this tournament. With the exception of no live bait, we only have to follow Iowa fishing laws - not only could we troll, but we could troll with 2 rods each!) We've fished 2 of these spring tournaments; and 2 in the fall. •The first spring the conditions were miserable: April 1st and a cold front came through (29 degrees at launch time with wind and rain.) We didn't catch a single fish. •The 2nd spring tournament the conditions were better, but still tough. Dad got skunked and I caught about half-a-dozen bass; only 1 met the 15" legnth requirement (just barely.) •We do OK in the fall tournaments: 2 years ago we probably caught 50 pounds of fish - too bad the biggest 4 only weighed a total of 9-1/2 pounds! I caught 3 of the keepers and my dad caught 1. •Last fall was our best finish: 4th place. I caught all 4 keepers, but my dad lost a 2-1/2 or 3 pounder right at the boat that would have given us a solid 2nd place finish. Even if I could replace my partner, I wouldn't. These tournaments have been very special for us. Last edited by IowaBasser; 01-15-12 at 08:38 AM. |
01-15-12, 08:46 AM | #10 | ||
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Thanks for the advice, only problem is that at this time of year the lake is BARREN! Zero weeds have started - I mean none at all! In the fall we do OK concentrating on weed beds, weed edges and deep weed lines; but in the spring there is just nothing to hold fish. Also there is very little submerged brush. The fish that I catch in the spring are usually in the very, very ends of the small bays or around docks. |
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01-15-12, 09:08 AM | #11 |
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I'm going to try some of my non-confidence baits a couple times before the tournament this year - hopefully I can catch a couple fish on each to give me some confidence in them.
•Lipless cranks: The main points are way too deep for my comfort level: 25-40 feet, so I'm gonna give secondary points and deeper creek beds a try. I'll probably look for something in the 15'-20' range like kennethdaysale suggested ...near the few spawning locations I know. Or would you fish the 15'-20' range of the points even if they drop off into 30 feet of water? •Suspending jerkbaits - probably around some of the very-few submerged timber I know of and between shore and secondary creekbeds in 8 to 12 feet of water. •I might even try a drop-shot if I have confidence that there are fish in the area! How important are your electronics in these conditions? ...Do you abandon your plan if you don't see fish on a point and go to an alternate plan looking for fish on the depthfinder? (for drop-shot and lipless cranks) |
01-15-12, 09:47 AM | #12 |
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IB...Question Does this lake have a HOA or management commitee? Are you allowed to sink man-made fish attractors..ie christmas trees-pvc structures? If so its not to late to do it NOW for a spring event. I've put down trees and seen them holding fish in 24 hrs! Of course the benefits will last for years.....if you can try and do it at night. In a lake like you describe you will be amazed at how just a few well placed brushpiles will consisiantly hold fish.
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01-15-12, 12:40 PM | #13 |
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Yup... they have a HOA, no Christmas trees or fish structure is to be submerged by anyone other than the official fishing committee.
A couple of years ago the committee sunk a bunch of fish structure. They were plastic drainage tiles looped and tied together. The drainage tile is hollow - and once sunken, and filled with water, they don't show up on a depth-finder... except for the very thin plastic, they have the same density as water. My dad watched them sink one across the bay from his house. Though he knows about where it is he can't locate it on the electronics. They sank about 10 total, and we only have an idea where the one is. Last edited by IowaBasser; 01-15-12 at 12:48 PM. |
01-18-12, 08:48 AM | #14 |
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My original intent of this question was to ask what you fish first based on time of day? The tournament starts at 7:00, which is just about sunrise. (You can see pretty well at 6:40) I know early morning is good fishing in mid summer and even in the fall - but early spring I've never had good success until about 9 or 10 am.
7:00 to 9:00 Start right off cranking points in 8'-15' of water? 9:00 to 11:00 Maybe try some submerged brush piles 11:00 to 2:00 Check the small bays that have been getting sun all morning? I plan on being flexible. Hopefully I can put together a pattern and let the fish tell me what to do - I'm just looking for "plan A" |
01-19-12, 01:55 AM | #15 |
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7:00 to 9:00 Start right off cranking points in 8'-15' of water?
sounds like as good a plan a as any
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01-19-12, 07:35 AM | #16 |
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Stick entirely with westerly bays,rocky shallow and points,first thing in the morning thank the good lord for getting you thru the night,then sit down drink some coffee and watch the sun rise.The fish will tell you which of those they want if they want.Early in spring deeper on the points,the later the shallower and bumpy ride on the rocky road.
If the bank is lined with sunning turtles you got a good bank,to early for that and back to the point. That first foot of water from the bank they will hug as much warmer than the rest of the water if rock on the west bank ive caught fish on buzzbaits when it said 51 f where boat was at,pick a fairly shallow bay as well if you can. Last edited by lilmule; 01-19-12 at 07:44 AM. |
01-22-12, 01:31 PM | #17 |
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Throw a jerkbait on the points than a square bill crank bait as you move back until you find the fish. I've also had a lot of luck with a wiggle wart early in the season. In the clear lakes I fish you have to play with the color a bit but once you figure it out you can smash them. Usually a green or orange is key. Just depends on the day. Another note on jerkbaits very color type specific as well. Some days a silver xrap will wear them out other days it has to be a pointer. My personal favorite is American shad or arorua blue. Only thing that sucks about them is they are 15 bucks a pop.
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