Fred Raby
fraby@hook1.com
hook1.com
"FISHING WITH FRED"
Covering Tidal Waters And Impoundments
"Post Spawn Tactics"
What to do where to go, what to throw? After the spawn, and often in the spring we face heavy rains, fish in transition, and high water. We, the fishermen have to adjust to these facts and reason what will it take to put fish in the boat.
After the spawn the female will move off the bed and transition back to their 'home territory'. Sometime during this transition they will feed aggressively to replace the energy spent in the spawn. If we are lucky we will be at the right place and time to 'cash in' on this, but most of us will miss it. That is when we have to change our approach to catch a fish. The male will stay near the spawning bed and with the fry after they hatch for several days, guarding them. They are not actively feeding, but will take a bait if they think that bait threatens the fry.
I recently fished a tournament on Lake Seminole and the conditions were exactly what I have described above. While prefishing I caught three nice fish. Two on junebug Salt Liz and one on a spinnerbait. I have accomplished my goal…to find some fish for Saturday. When I returned Saturday morning I found the condition of the water had changed and so had the attitude of the fish. The water had risen and gotten more stained. I knew I had fish in the area and other areas I had scouted were not is as good shape and had not produced fish so I decided to stay where I was. Now, how do I catch a fish?
I thought about a Homer Circle article "the top 10 reasons bass hit'. Hunger, anger, protection, reaction, feeding frenzy, aggression, opportunity, etc. Protection jumped out at me. It is post spawn, I had seen several balls of fry so why not attack the fry in hopes that the protection instinct would take over.
I tied on a Bang-O-Lure and started working the grass edge. I would work the bait hard close to the edge then start over. This aggressive action near the fry was irresistible to the bass protecting the fry. That night I found some of my buddies had developed a similar pattern. They were 'dead sticking' a fluke under the balls of fry and catching some decent fish. Sunday I worked the same pattern and had a lot of action, I caught 6 fish and missed several more. I also lost a couple of big fish, but did manage to put the lunker of the day in the livewell.
Throughout my fishing lifetime I have often referred to the Homer Circle article. It has helped me put a plan together numerous times. If you can find a copy, it is well worth reading and keeping in mind when conditions change, which seems like everytime we fish.
Good luck, I hope this helps.
Fred
