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REEL STORIES
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Prespawning is upon us
Iknow the weather has been a little on the nasty side lately, but believe it or not the largemouth have been looking forward to this all winter long.
If you have friends who fish for largemouth you will notice almost every catch they show a picture of is a bass that is larger than normal with some fish over five pounds - even from the guys who don’t normally catch that quality of fish.
What is happening is the first of the spawning fish are moving up towards shallow structure and putting on the feedbag in order to fatten up for the upcoming spawn. The water temps are playing with the 50-degree mark which makes some of the early fish move up.
You can catch them by pitching soft plastics to the bank and working the lure down the drop offs or you can throw a crank bait parallel to the bank and work it to deeper water.
One of my favorite baits is a Rattle Trap this time of year because I can cast it a mile and
work different water depths with the same lure. This allows me to cover more water with one cast.
What you are trying to do is search for those early spawning fish by covering a lot of water and at various depths. You need to pay attention to the water temps now more than any other time of year because a change of just two degrees one way or another could mean the difference between a great day or a zero.
Once you get your first strike you need to slow down and look at the area that the fish came from. What is the water depth and temperature? What kind of retrieve was it fast or slow? Look at the details of the area and try to match the details in other areas, but make sure you fish those spots thoroughly before moving on.
The fish are there for a reason like a spawning flat is nearby or deep water is close. Look for the details and use that to find other areas that have similar features and that will put you on some of the biggest fish of the year. This time of year you can catch huge fish and sometimes they are in shallow water while other times they are out in deeper water.
I like to focus on single, isolated structure like a log on an outside bend or a bush that overhangs into deeper water. These little details are sometimes the key to a fish of a lifetime.
Don’t forget that the ponds heat up first so if you have a small body of water there can be huge fish in it. The biggest largemouth I ever caught was in my kayak in February on a Rattle Trap in less than two feet of water in the middle of the day so if you are looking for a personal best get out and start hunting.
Now is the time to do it.
Mike Sweeney is a columnist for The Daily Advance in Elizabeth City and a regular contributor to Eastern North Carolina Living.
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