Georgia bass fishermen dream of days like this in March. You get up early to head for the lake. The weather has been warm for several days with bright sun warming the water. When you get to the lake there is a slight wind blowing out of the west. You just know you are going to catch bass.
In early March bass in Georgia are really coming out of their winter doldrums, feeding heavily as soon as the water warms. They are shallow and will hit a wide variety of baits as they feed up for the coming spawn. By the end of the month some are already on the beds and others are cruising the shallow spawning pockets, searching for suitable bedding spots.
Even in bad weather the bass will bite in March. Heavy winds can be a problem for the fisherman but wind can be your friend, blowing baitfish onto banks and points where bass take advantage of the confusion of the shad to gorge on them. Cold fronts are a problem but the bass recover quickly, returning to feeding as soon as the front settles down.
Try one of the following lakes to have a great catch this month. You can fish just about any lure you like and catch fish if you follow patterns that are consistent every March in out state.
Oconee
My best ever catch of bass in a tournament was several years ago in March at Oconee. The weather had been warm all week and it was beautiful by the mid-March Saturday when we launched. I just knew I would catch bass, and I did, landing nine in two days that weighed 37 pounds. That catch included a 6 pound 15 ounce and an 8 pound 11 ounce bass on Saturday and a 9 pound, 5 ounce beauty on Sunday.
All those fish hit a spinnerbait slow rolled on riprap in Lick Creek. Riprap always attracts bass in March from the beginning of the month to its end. The rocks hold heat and warm fast from the sun and riprap on bridges are great holding areas as bass move up the creeks as the water warms.
Oconee is in the middle of the state on the Oconee River and has a lot of different kinds of cover and structure. The slot limit allows bass to grow and put on weight until they reach the 14 inch size limit that tournaments require and most fishermen observe, releasing the smaller bass they can keep legally.
Big houses line much of the lake and riprap seawalls cover the points and coves they are on. Clay points are common as are natural rocks, all attracting bass in March. Shad are the most common baitfish but bass also feed heavily on crayfish and bream this time of year.
A spinnerbait is a good choice in March. You can fish it fairly fast to cove a lot of water and the active bass are attracted to the flash. Use a chartreuse and white skirted bait with two willowleaf blades, one gold and one silver, and stick with a 3/16ths to half ounce bait. Cast it near rocks and reel it back at varying speeds to find what the bass want.
A crawfish colored crankbait like a #8 Shadrap is a good choice around rocks and clay points where mudbugs live. Cast it near the bank and try to bump the bottom as you reel it in. That erratic darting motion and puffs of mud from hitting the bottom attract strikes.
Main lake points through-out the lake are good but the ones near the mouths of pockets and smaller creeks hold the most bass. They stage on them and feed all month long. Near the end of the month a buzzbait will allow you to cover water faster and draw explosive strikes. Use a white bait with a silver blade and run it near any cover you see.
Hartwell
Lake Hartwell is a big 55,000 acre impoundment on the upper Savannah River. It has a variety of water color, with the main lake staying clear most of the spring but the rivers like the Tugaloo staining up from runoff. It has a wide variety of types of cover, from shallow creeks with lots of brush and other wood cover to rocky points. You can catch largemouth, spotted bass and redeye bass on Hartwell.
Jeff Jones is president of the Georgia BASS Federation Nation and does well at Hartwell, placing second in the Top Six there in 2010. He was top man on the Georgia team at the Regional tournament and went to the Nationals, competing for a spot in the Bassmasters Classic last year.
Bass move out of their deep winter holding area in the standing timber in early March, according to Jeff. They stage on rocky points and steep banks near the spawning pockets and can be caught there on a variety of baits. Roadbeds crossing spawning pockets are also key places for catching March bass.
As soon as the water starts warming bass start moving and, as the month progresses and the water gets warmer, they move further back into the pockets. Spawning pockets with standing timber in deep water nearby improves your chances since this is where Hartwell bass live in the winter.
You can catch spotted bass in the same areas but they tend to move to them a little later in the month and spawn in deeper water, so a cove with gravel and rock in six feet of water is ideal for them. Most of the time both species will be holding in the same area by the middle of the month.
Jeff likes a Lucky Craft 1.5 DD shad pattern crankbait and a Pointer 78 XD in ghost minnow for working the points and banks fairly fast. For a slower presentation he has a three sixteenths ounce jig head with a red crawler Robo worm rigged on it. These baits are best early in the month.
As the bass move more shallow Jeff switches to a regular Lucky Craft 1.5 crankbait but sticks with the same jerk bait. He also likes a white Shaddie Shad soft jerkbait and a five sixteenths ounce Bi Hawg Jig with qn Okeechobee Craw Net Bait trailer.
The best places in March are the creeks and pockets off the main lake from Big Water Marina to Mary Ann Branch. You can fish this area without running all over the lake and the water tends to stay more stable, not mudding up with rains.
Lanier
Lanier is a 40,000 acre lake just outside Atlanta on the upper Chattahoochee River. It is famous for its big spotted bass, clear water and deep structure and cover. Spots turn on in March, moving into more shallow water where they are easier to catch for most fishermen.
Mike Millsaps is well known on the tournament trails in Georgia and has had some incredible catches at Lanier, like a five fish limit weighing 23.5 pounds in a couple’s tournament there. He says the big spots are easy to follow in March.
As the water warms early in the month the big spots move out of the deep structure and cover and work back into spawning pockets, holding on any cover in the pockets as they move back. Early in the month they will be near the mouths of the pockets and by the end of the month on the cover near the backs of the coves.
Boat docks are the key to the cover and most spawning pockets are lined with them. The bass will also hold on stumps, brush, blowdowns and rocks. Mike likes the lower lake below Brown’s Bridge and will catch some largemouth there, but most of his catch are spotted bass.
You need only three baits for March at Lanier, according to Mike. He throws a Team Diawai TD Minnow jerk bait, a one eight ounce Money Maker jig head and worm, and a Blademaster Jig with a Zoom Chunk.
Pick a pocket on the lower lake, start on the outer point early in the month and work back, hitting all the cover you come to with those three baits and you will catch fish. As the month progresses start further back in the coves and pockets and work all the way to the back. By the end of the month start in the back and work out until you find where the bass are holding. It will be consistent on most other similar places.
Lake Harding
Also called Bartlett’s Ferry, Harding is a small Georgia Power Lake on the Chattahoochee north of Columbus. It is a deep, rocky lake near the dam but has many shallow flats in the river above the mouth of Hawalakee Creek. Grassbeds are common on the lake, with water willow the most prolific weed.
Harding has produced good largemouth and spots over the years but spotted bass are most common now. There are lots of small bass in the lake and a limit of five spots weighing six pounds is not unusual. It is a good lake in March to catch large numbers of fish.
Nick Roberson lived near Harding and fished it often until recently. He weighed in a five fish limit weighing just over 22 pounds there a couple of years ago. He also has an 8 pound, 8 ounce largemouth from the lake.
After a warm winter Nick often finds bass on the beds up the river in oxbow lakes as early as February, and they are usually spawning heavily in March there. Bass in the river oxbows spawn a lot earlier then most people realize, according to Nick. The bass on the lake will be spawning by late March most years.
Several baits catch bass in March and Nick will have a Jawbreaker jig and pig, a jig head worm, a Senko, a spinnerbait, a crankbait, a topwater bait and a jerk bait tied on this month. The Senkos and spinnerbaits work best in the oxbow lakes where there is a lot of grass and he drops the Senko into holes in it. The spinnerbait is worked through more open grass.
On the main lake throw the crankbait, spinnerbait and jerk bait on rocky points and around docks. Fish the jig head worm in the same places but work the jig and pig in brush and other wood cover. Use dark colors in stained water and lighter browns in more clear water.
Blackshear
Lake Blackshear is west of Cordele on the Flint River and it just looks “bassy.” Cypress trees, grass beds and stumps are everywhere and all hold bass. Huge shallows up the river warm early and attract bass to them in March.
Jim Murray, Jr. is a well known Georgia pro fisherman and he grew up on Blackshear. He guides on Blackshear, Seminole and Eufaula and makes lures with his Custom Bass Tackle business at http://custombasstackle.com/
In March most of Blackshear bass will be prespawn, feeding around shallow cover, so stay in shallow water to catch them. Cypress trees and grassbeds are the key and Lee fishes for them with a three eights ounce chartreuse and white spinnerbait with Indiana blades and a eight inch green pumpkin Zoom lizard behind a one eight ounce sinker or a green pumpkin Senko rigged weightless.
Lee will go up the river above the bridge at Veterans State Park and fish pockets and backouts, hitting all the grass beds and cypress trees in them. Points and edges are best and he fishes them fairly fast, looking for active bass.
Isolated cover is where you are most likely to catch a fish so trees out from the others, a tree or clump of grass on a point or a single clump of grass on a bank a few feet from other grass is best. Make repeated casts to isolated cover.
These lakes will all give you a good chance to catch bass this month. Choose the one you like best and get on the water.