Bass now on the move

Jacksonville Progress

May 06, 2008 11:06 am

— By Jerry Miller
Progress Columnist
The majority of bass have completed their spawn and are in transition. Most of the bass are in post-spawn. Post-spawn has often been referred to as either feast or famine. Some bass will remain shallow as long as good cover is available and forage is nearby.
There will be a few isolated pockets or areas that will still hold spawning bass. As long as surface temperatures remain in the 70s bass should remain shallow. When surface temperatures reach about 84 degrees, most of the bass will move to summertime structure.
Right now bass can be difficult to pattern because they are in transition. I’m already seeing some bass schooling on shad near mouths of coves. Around boat houses you can catch bass in the one to two pound range on Bandits, shallow running crankbaits, jerkbaits, flukes and worms. Many of these bass are suspended near the outside edge of boat houses.
There are lots of fish attractants that have been planted around the lake. Some are brush piles and others are made up of PVC pipe and haydite blocks. In this situation I like to use deep running crankbaits like the Fat Free Shad, DD22’s and heavy spinner baits like the Nichols’ 44 Mag in a shad color. Then go to a jig or Texas rig worm and favor the Berkley 7” to 10” Power worms. When the bite is slow you have to really, really slow down your presentation. Since the surface temperatures are now in the 70s there should be a lot of bass that are shallow.
The month of May is also great for topwater fishing. Many lures will work, especially the Yellow Magic. A buzz bait will catch you some of the larger bass that are still shallow. I use a black color for low light and a shad pattern the remainder of the time. I’ve been experimenting with the New Rage soft plastic buzz bait and really like the action. It features a fat body and a bulblous, wobbling tail. I favor the smoky shad color. This type of buzz bait really comes through heavy cover easily.
To locate some of the post-spawn bass you have to find the migration routes of the spawning bass. This means backtracking from the points, flats, pockets and high spots back towards the deeper summer spots.
I often fish the first prominent break line out from the spawning area. The pros tell you to look for a spot on a spot. If there is a sharp creek bend near your spawning flat with stumps then you’ve found a spot on a spot.
I also like to fish shallow docks near deep water. Some fishermen prefer to continue fishing the shallows.
A Nichols’ Salty Mother lure works good around shallow cover. Alternate between shad colors and bream colors. The month of May is a good time to try a variety of lures and cover a lot of water. Eventually you should be able to pattern the fish and end up with a good day of fishing.
Miller can be reached at gonefishing813@peoplepc.com