2/21/2015 Curing your Cabin Fever Or Nuts and bolts of planning your Springtime fishing by the staff at bigbassbaits.net BIGBASSBAITS.NET of Marietta GA is the place to go. The Georgia-based company which touts itself as a leader in custom painting lures, is now making available to you the same baits as the professional fishermen. They are dedicated to producing the highest quality custom lure. Styles and patterns that the pros have been keeping under lock and key. Ok, for most of us, the lakes we love to fish are about to freeze or already have 2 feet of ice covering them. So fishing is narrowed down to drilling holes in Ice or emptying your bank accounts to go down to the lakes south of Disney World. Living in the frozen world of Wisconsin/Michigan for my first 25 years, I thought everyone went in their house in October and came out in March. Every year, after the first six weeks, day by day a disease called Cabin Fever attacks. At this point, you will do anything to get reconnected to the warm sunny days of catching fish. Guys and Gals, turn off those old TV reruns of Bill Dance catching nothing but 5 lb bass on every cast. Get out your tackle boxes and lake maps and put together your game plans. How are you going to attack your favorite lake as soon as it defrosts. The following program was created by me and my staff of professional fisherman at bigbassbaits.net to help you plan. 1. Where to fish 2. How to fish 3. What to fish with 4. How to find bait fish All four factors are based water temperature, water color, water currant, weather and wind and how to use them to your advantage. Each area of our country awakens from winter at different times so we broke it down into two sections: Pre-Spawn and Spawn. We did not included post-spawn, but will share that program and time proceeds. Pre-Spawn Where to fish: *50-60 degrees water temperature *when you find the bait fish, you find the bass. *Fish areas where wind or current is pushing the bait fish *deep water close to flats *follow main lake creek channels. These are bass water migration routes. You must think of the creek channels as the main highways for bait and bass to travel from deep to shallow and vise versa *follow main lake channels back into main lake, river or creek arms Start at the front of the (sunny side/windy side) all the way back until you find the fish. Remember, one side of the creek may be only two degrees warmer, but that is where all the fish will be. *concentrate on wood/brush piles-blow downs – secondary points. Pre-Spawn How to fish: *cover a lot of water *Fish fast until you find aggressive bass and then slow down *spotted bass feed very heavy in spring vs. large mouth bass. Pre-Spawn What to fish with: This is the time when my boat deck is loaded with up to 14 rods The following is my order of importance or what to use first. a. www.bigbassbaits.net - Suspending Jerkbaits b. Crankbaits Guide Tip: All hand-painted, custom luckycraft style fishing lures from www.bigbassbaits.net have the best, hottest colors. We start with red, then go to orange and then to Yellow Chartruse. c. Next : Reaction type baits such as rattletraps, lipless crankbaits (silver blue/orange) d. Chatter bait (chart/gold/silver) Guide Tip: Our newest deep diving, heavy weight chatter baits that help you move big swimmer baits around deep creeks and channel ledges. e. Spinner baits (1/2 colorado willow) match blades to bait size Guide Tip: Look for spawning bait fish. First thing in the morning (once you find the fish) then back off one cast length. Now slow roll your spinner bait through the fish and prepare to get your rod or arm broken, because that’s where the big ones are. THE NEXT 5 BAITS WE USE AFTER WE FIND THE BAIT AND THE BASS, AND I WORK THEM VERY SLOWLY f. Jigs/plastics ½ big trailers g. Carolina rigs /short leaders with lizard/speed worms h. Floating worms i. Shakey/back j. Buzzbait/fluke Pre-Spawn Special Factors *Rain: research patters from past years (critical) *Water color: Ideal – slight stain Find the warmest water temperature Water level areas that won’t affect fish if it goes up or down *must be stable *Current: Remember, with current fish are active and go shallow No current, fish tend not to move and stay deeper *Wind: Wind pushes top layers of water which is the warmest. Hit points-pockets that have wind blowing in it the most. Spawn: Where to fish *60-72 degrees water temperature *look for areas shielded from spring cold front northerly winds *areas that are in sunlight all day *areas that have hard sandy bottoms *areas that have the warmest, clearest water or bends. *most of the time, the lower end of the lake, fish spawn first, then the middle and them the upper end. Last for 4-6 weeks Spawn: How to fish *IMPORTANT: Do more hunting than fishing (location is everything) *boat position is critical *Moon phases – critical. There are 2 waves. Full moon - biggest wave. New moon - smaller wave Spawn: What to fish with *60 to 72 degrees water temperature *Now I have reduced my rods from 14 rods to 6 rods As before, this is listed by level of importance. a. PLASTICS - Lizards, Brush hogs, creature baits, tubes, senkos b. LOTS OF SCENT - Rattles, color – white c. Long cast on light line d. TRICK – Rig one rod with lizard on 8lb. Get the bass going crazy and then throw the same bait back in the nest shallow 1-5 feet on 20 lb. line. e. KEY – Sun on your back if possible Spawn: Special Factors Biggest bass spawn deeper 5-8 ft Watch the rain cycles. No rain – bass move out /Lots of rain – bass move in unless the water is dirty Spawn: Water Color Clear water with shelter Critical: No movement. Water that doesn’t have movement will warm up faster Spawn: Current Zero if possible Spawn: Wind Find protected area, especially from the north. Ok, now it’s time to head to the very back of the lakes, pockets and coves. Our staff hopes this program will help you start planning your first fishing adventure this year. I don’t know about you, but there is nothing better than buying the hottest, new fishing tackle on a cold winter day. A perfect way of curing cabin fever! The crew here at bigbassbaits.net also want to help you plan a trip down to our world, Lake Guntersville or our other great lakes in the southeast. Do you have a favorite bait? Lucky bait? We invite you to check out www.bigbassbaits.net We hand paint, custom fishing lures. We have your favorites for less than half the cost of retail, we can design special lures for you or you can tell us what you want to create. We specialize in repainting your baits that are beat up. Let us paint a current, hot color pattern on fishing lures that are just gathering dust and save you big bucks. You can reach Big John at 770-262-2468 or email him at Bigbassbaits.net@gmail.com. He loves to talk fishing!