When speaking with customers while working my full-time job at a small-town hardware store, I am often amused at the excitement of hunters and fishermen anticipating warmer spring temperatures.  

For hunters, the spring of the year equates to gobbling turkeys and the thrill of calling a mature tom into close gun range. As for fishermen, everything revolves around warmer weather and water temperatures. A few years back, before I had much experience fishing, I often joked with a co-worker that to fit in with anyone talking spring fishing, you must ask, what are the water temperatures, where did you put the boat in, and what did you catch your fish on?

If you asked those three questions, they would let you in on the conversation. Fast forward a few years, and I know those three questions are common because they are the most vital factors in successfully catching spring bass.

Water Temperatures

One of the reasons that many bass fishermen anticipate the spring of the year is directly correlated to bass transiting from their winter hiding spots to more active/open water as the water temperature increases daily.

When lake temperatures warm to between fifty-five and sixty-five degrees Fahrenheit, it becomes time for largemouth bass to enter their spawn and lay their eggs. This time of year is similar to the anticipation hunters feel when bucks begin to rut and toms begin to gobble in preparedness for their breeding season. The importance of water temperatures begins early in the spring when the water begins warming into the upper forties and low fifties. When this temperature spike transpires, the bass emerges from their winter hiding spots and start a massive feeding frenzy called the pre-spawn. Much of a bass’s activity around how warm the water has reached explains why many anglers base their small talk around the local hardware store on the water temps.

Best Lure Selection For Pre-Spawn Bass

During the pre-spawn, anglers must choose a lure that covers a large area of water and makes a lot of movement. Bass are eager to strike at bait because of their feeding frenzy in storing as much food as possible before spawning. During the spawn, bass can go several days without eating, which is why they eat more before. As bass begin laying their eggs, they become protective as well. Because of their increased appetite and the over-protection instinct of their eggs, a lure that creates movement can easily provoke bass into biting.

MLF Angler / Bill Lewis pro Mark Daniels Jr explains that he likes a square bill crankbait that resembles a crawfish. Smaller baits like crawfish emerge from their winter hides as the water warms. Since they are one of a largemouth bass’s favorite foods, a lure such as the Mark Daniels Jr Signature Lure SB-57 Crankbait from Bill Lewis is ideal for pre-spawning bass. “Whether it is grass, stumps, rocks, or any other cover, the square bill crankbait can go through it all without getting hung,” says MDJ. Mark explained that using a crankbait is a great reaction and search bait when fishing a large water area, trying to locate bass hiding away, and preparing to spawn. “When fishing a square bill crankbait, the key is not to get snagged,” says MDJ. To keep from getting hung up and letting the reaction bait work through the cover, Daniels Jr. uses a 7’ 2” rod, such as the Sick Stick from Favorite Fishing, and fishes quickly until he can locate bass in a specific area of cover.

Keeping lures that resemble crawfish is vital when fishing during the pre-spawn. A crawfish has high iron, calcium, and magnesium levels that make up its outer shell, and conveniently spring bass require higher amounts of these minerals for their eggs. Not only do bass like the taste of crawfish, but they are also crucial to the quality of their eggs during the spawn, thus being the reason to keep baits tied on that resemble these highly desired and protein-heavy foods. Soft plastics such as the 4” Yama Craw from Yamamoto Baits can also be an excellent choice when pre-spawn bass fishing. To gain an advantage, anglers should fish by slowly reeling with the 4” Yama Craws near rocky areas, docks, bridges, and bluff walls to imitate crawfish that commonly hide between those nooks and crannies of rocks. A slow-moving plastic crawfish causes pre-spawning bass seeking extra food to spend more time in these areas; when they see their favorite food slowly moving by, they often strike with aggregation, creating some of the best fishing that any angler can experience.