Top Pre-Spawn Largemouth Tactics

March is well known for several reasons. The Ides of March were pretty important to Caesar. Basketball fans go crazy over March Madness. But to a bass fisherman, this time of year means bass are feeling the spawning urge, moving toward the bedding areas, feeding heavily and are much easier to catch. Pre-spawn season is here.

It also means you can catch them on a wide variety of baits and patterning them is easy. It doesn’t matter if you favor crank baits, spinnerbaits, jerk baits, a jig and pig or plastic worms, all are good. And topwater action, a favorite of most fishermen, comes into play and gets better and better.

As our days get longer bass respond by moving toward shallow, protected coves to spawn. They follow established routes like creek channels, break lines and points as they move, stopping on cover to feed. You can follow them and catch large numbers of fish, as well as some of the biggest bass of the year, along these routes.

When the water first starts to warm look for the fish on the structure and cover just outside the mouths of the spawning areas. Find stumps on a drop or point, a blowdown where the channel swings near the cove mouth and brush and rocks on points and the bass will be there.

Follow them to secondary points and steeper banks back in the cove as they move. Follow the channel back into the coves since that is what the bass will follow. Fish the key areas where the channel swings near a secondary point, where it runs along a bank making a steep drop and along the edges of flats where the bass feed.

Then look for stumps, logs and brush on hard bottoms near the back of the coves where they set up to bed as the water temperature approached 65 degrees. Gravel and hard sand bottoms are what attract the bass so concentrate on areas with those kinds of bottom.

Coves on the north side of the lake warm fastest due to the angle of the sun, and a breeze blowing across the lake moves warmer surface water with it. Check out the areas on the north side of the lake, especially if a light breeze is blowing toward them. Stronger winds stir up the colder water below the surface and don’t help increase the temperature, but wave action can make the bass feed on windblown points and banks.

Although bass are cold blooded and really don’t get uncomfortable from water temperature, they are more active in warmer water. Also, water temperature affects spawning time. Since stained water warms more quickly than clear water, look for stained to muddy water. A surface temperature gauge helps since just two to three degrees change can make a difference.

A three day warming trend is a classic time to find bigger bass moving very shallow to feed. Cold fronts move through often this time of year and then a warming trend follows. After a front drops the water temperature then it starts warming, the bass will respond by moving and feeding.

Since the bass are moving you should fish fairly fast, covering water until you find them. Spinnerbaits and crank baits work well to cover a lot of water looking for the areas they are holding.

When you start catching fish note the kind of area and bass should be in the same kinds of places in other parts of the lake. When you find concentrations of fish slow down and work every piece of cover thoroughly.

Choose your bait color based on water clarity. Use natural baitfish colors in clear water but go to brighter colors in more stained water. White spinnerbaits with silver blades work well in clearer water while chartreuse or red skirts teamed with gold or copper blades are better in stained water. Bigger baits are usually better in stained to muddy water, too.

With crankbaits use shad colors in clear water. Grays, light blues and silver are good. Chartreuse crankbaits show up better in muddy water, as do red and black baits. A rattle in the baits can be good no matter what the water color but are more important in stained water where visibility is less.

You can fish a spinnerbait at any depth but lighter one-quarter ounce baits can be moved slower in more shallow water. Go to three eights to one half ounce baits for deeper water earlier in the month. Try willowleaf blades in clear water and for fishing faster but use Colorado blades for slower fishing and in stained to muddy water.

Carry a variety of crankbaits, too. Some should be small and have smaller bills for water less than four feet deep. Bigger baits that bump the bottom in six to ten feet are needed earlier. Bumping the bottom is important. You are much more likely to get bit when your crankbait is digging into the bottom.

Square bill crankbaits have become very popular in the past few years. They bounce off wood cover better and are made for fishing stumps, brush and blowdowns. Most run several feet deep. Carry several sizes and colors and fish any wood cover you see with them.

Jerkbaits are known for clear water fishing but work well during the prespawn in stained water, too. Fish a pearl or silver bait and work it slower in colder water then faster and faster as the water warms. Long pauses between jerks will often make bigger bass hit.

A jig and pig is one of the best baits for March fishing. It can be fished around any kind of cover and is especially effective around rocks and clay where crayfish live. Black and blue baits are the norm in stained water with browns good in clear water. Try different sizes, from three-sixteenths to full one ounce baits depending on conditions.

Plastic worms fished on Carolina and Texas rigs as well as jig heads account for more bass than any other bait. A Carolina rig is good for raking gravel and clay bottoms while a Texas rig comes through cover better. A jig head worm is good around any kind of bottom or cover.

As soon as the water temperature hits the mid 50s try topwater. A buzzbait will catch bass in colder water than you might think and you can cover water quickly. You can fish it over any kind of cover. A popper or prop bait can be worked more slowly and a stick bait like the classic Zara Spook will catch pre-spawn bass. Topwater tends to get better and better as the water warms.

You can find the bass this time of year with your favorite bait. Start at the mouths of spawning coves and smaller creeks then work further and further into them. Hit key areas with cover. Watch the water temperature and concentrate in areas with warmer water.

Work fast until you find the pattern. Remember it can change during the day but when you find the fish in one area you should be able to go to similar places on the lake and repeat it.

Spinnerbaits are very versatile baits this time of year, allowing you to fish fast or slow around any kind of cover or bottom. They come in a wide variety of colors and blade styles to match anything you need.

Secret Weapon makes a spinnerbait that is a little different. The blades attach on a clip on shaft rather than the usual fixed clevis on the arm followed by a blade on a swivel on the end. This arrangement gives the bait a different sound and look as well as allowing you to quickly change color and size of blades and add or take away the number of blades on the bait.