pre-spawn bass

I've grown up bass fishing but I have never really targeted bass during pre-spawn, i'm to busy catching those paper mouths then. I dont usually pick my bass rods up until late april but this year i may try to break some crappie fishing up and replace it to try and catch a few big girls before they drop their eggs. With the good fishing being a month or so out i figured i would stir up a pre-spawn conversation. Whats a favorite technique you like to use during this time of year? Weather it be what kind of lure, presentation, or what areas do you target? Points, bluffs, flats, etc?

I like shoreline with deep water near by. My favorite lure is a Yum wooley hog tail because for some reason the fish love it. Gene Larew used to make a 4 in fry years ago and the fish loved it but haven't had them in years.

Green crawfish crankbaits on and around shallow humps and shallow dropoffs near deep water. Crawfish crankbaits on clay banks can be good too.

Would you guys throw those now or later? What would be a good technique to try now? I may be going Sunday and its going to be cold so I figured I would need a slower presentation like a jig or jerkbait.

Prespawn fish move more than at any other time in the year. A warm sunny day will bring them shallow and a cold front will push them back deep. Most fish around these parts havent gone prespawn yet with the water in the lower 40s. When the water gets around 50 youll find some starting to move up. For now theyre still full blown winter pattern. What that is will vary from lake to lake

I don't think you'll catch any prespawners until around the last week of Feb and into the first week of March. My favorite time to pitch the good old jig around laydowns, gravel slopes, and stumps. Good luck and be safe.

[QUOTE=fishinfreak;508577]Would you guys throw those now or later? What would be a good technique to try now? I may be going Sunday and its going to be cold so I figured I would need a slower presentation like a jig or jerkbait.[/QUOTE]

If I could find a 45 degree sloped clay bank with some sun shining and a little wave action going on with it I wouldn't hesitate to throw a Bomber Model A green crawfish crankbait on it or something similar.

[QUOTE=Fishin is life;508579]Prespawn fish move more than at any other time in the year. A warm sunny day will bring them shallow and a cold front will push them back deep. Most fish around these parts havent gone prespawn yet with the water in the lower 40s. When the water gets around 50 youll find some starting to move up. For now theyre still full blown winter pattern. What that is will vary from lake to lake[/QUOTE]

I'll be on rough river Sunday and I'm going to crappie fish most of the time but I'll bass fish for a little bit. I'm planning on throwing a jig, jerkbait, and possibly slow roll a spinnerbait. Does that sound like a good game plan?

[QUOTE="fishinfreak;508589"]

I'll be on rough river Sunday and I'm going to crappie fish most of the time but I'll bass fish for a little bit. I'm planning on throwing a jig, jerkbait, and possibly slow roll a spinnerbait. Does that sound like a good game plan?[/QUOTE]

Fish that jig slllooooooooooow. That doesn't work fish a shakey head slllooooooooooow.

Listen to " sweetwater's" advice. It's all about the water temperature. They like the 50's to 60's range. So before the water reaches that range the bass will start moving from winter areas to a spawn area. Staging on points visible and underwater points on the way to spawn areas. Not all bass spawn at the same time. Some bass have farther to move from their winter vertical edges to spawn areas those are the ones you will find staging on points along the path to spawn area. Other bass will need to only move a short distance from deeper water to a hard bottom spawn area. They seem to have been in the 20 feet range the last couple of months according to what I have seen and friends of mine have reported. So that would be a good range to start from and follow a path to nearest hard bottom spawn. They are catchable right now. Try the Alabama rig in the cooler water. I can refer you a friend of mine forum article with pictures that have been catching bass all winter on the A-rig.

Right now...your jerkbait over humps, underwater points, along rip rap, over brush piles. Fish it slow, I like a double jerk followed by a long pause. Also I pinch a small split shot on the front treble to make it suspend with its head down, I even like it to sink very very very slowly almost suspended. My favorite color is clown in clear to lighly stained water, I don't fish 1 in dirty water.
Also a crankbait around rip rap that gets alot of sun with a little wave action is deadly this time of year. Colors range from what water color your fishing but I love a red craw in stained water and a green chartuese craw or brown in clear water.