With more than locations across the U. KOA Campgrounds offer a variety of ways to stay for campers and anglers of every style. When you stay at a KOA Campground for your spring fishing trip, you can expect friendly and knowledgeable staff, clean bathroom and shower facilities, level and clean campsites, laundry facilities and other standard amenities to make your visit comfortable. For even more fun for the whole family, many KOA locations also offer special features like playgrounds, pet parks, swimming pools, game rooms, water sports and more.
Each month, direct to your email inbox, we'll send the best camping news, tips, recipes and more, to enhance the camping lifestyle you love so much. How to Locate Bass in the Spring The most critical step for spring bass fishing success is finding the spot where bass are biting. Early Spring Bass Fishing Lures and Baits The best early spring bass fishing lures are those that can cover plenty of water and have a fairly steady presentation. Here are some of the best early spring bass fishing lures to try this season: 1.
Suspending Jerkbaits Suspending jerkbaits imitate baitfish that are dying or chilled from the winter, making them an excellent choice for colder days. Lipless Crankbaits Like suspending jerkbaits, lipless crankbaits also resemble winter-chilled baitfish and are another great choice for early season bass lures.
Jigbaits With Crawfish or Grub On warmer spring days when bass have migrated to shallower areas, jigbaits can be used along docks or rocky spots. Plastic Worms Small plastic worms, also called finesse worms, are a great choice for challenging fishing conditions.
Tubes When you are locating bass in flats or along ridges, soft plastic tubes are a great choice. Drop-Shot Rigs Drop-shot rigs are effective and extremely easy to fish with, making them an excellent choice for bass fishing with the whole family. Spring Bass Fishing Techniques The most successful spring bass fishing techniques will often involve slow presentation with subtle jerks, as the fish are still moving slowly in the cooler water.
Here are some of the best spring bass fishing techniques for each type of bait: 1. Best Technique for Suspending Jerkbaits When fishing for bass with a jerkbait, cast the lure over the top of the hump or ridge you are fishing.
Best Technique for Lipless Crankbaits One of the best techniques for spring bass fishing with a lipless crankbait is simply to cast a long distance and then reel in the lure continuously. Best Technique for Jigbaits Slow and low presentation is key for early season bass fishing with jigbaits.
Best Technique for Finesse Worms Spring bass fishing with plastic worms requires a similar technique as jerkbaits with an emphasis on the pause. Best Technique for Tubes When fishing with tubes, make a long cast along a ridge or hump and allow the tube to sink to the bottom. Best Technique for Drop-Shot Rigs Drop-shot rigs are one of the easiest lures to use for spring bass fishing.
Six Additional Tips for Bass Fishing in Early Spring Pairing the best early season bass lures with the best fishing techniques can hook a bass no matter where they are hiding. Here are a few more early spring bass fishing tips to set you up for success this season: Cast for repeat results: One of the best tips for early spring bass fishing success is to pay close attention to what works for you and what does not.
Because bass behavior will change frequently with the fluctuating weather and temperature in spring, each day on the water may call for a different approach. Once you find a technique that wins you a bite, repeat the same cast and retrieve to catch a few more. Fish out the area: Bass will often congregate in the same areas in spring — meaning if you catch one, you may catch a dozen more in the same spot. After your first catch, continue to cast along the same ridge or point.
If you do not get a second bite, try fishing the same area from different angles before moving to a new spot. Pay attention to water conditions: Fickle spring weather can make it challenging to locate bass, but by paying attention to the water conditions, you can find bass more quickly on each subsequent spring fishing trip. Once you find an area where bass are congregating, take a mental note of the water color, depth, temperature and bottom conditions.
Consider the location of the ridge or point relative to channels and flats. These details will help you track down bass more quickly next time. Watch for birds: When fishing with jerkbaits or crankbaits, watch for areas where birds are diving to catch dying baitfish.
These will often be spots where hungry bass are also congregating and where jerkbaits and crankbaits will be most effective. Use the wind to your advantage: On spring days when the water is clear, bass may see your bait too clearly and be wary of biting.
Wind can help to disturb the surface of the water to attract bass better. If you are not getting any bites on a clear lake, try casting when the wind picks up.
Fish the mudlines: If you are having trouble locating bass on a spring day, look for mudlines created by wind and waves. Bass will often hide along the edges of mudlines where they have the advantage over baitfish which are drawn there to feed on plankton. Using brightly colored lures, drag your line across a mudline from the muddy water into the clear water.
Bass will often strike just as the bait emerges. Here are just a few of the best places for early spring bass fishing across the country: 1. California Delta California is another state known for excellent bass fishing. Weight an already heavy lure with lead strips or tape so that, even after it bangs on a rock, it still sits on the bottom. These lures, and their close contact with the lake bottom, mimic crawfish scurrying across the lakebed, kicking up silt.
If you're heading out in the pre-spawning stage in early spring, make sure to have the gear necessary to check the water temperature, and the right lures to mimic the bass' favorite seasonal foods. Spring is a time of changeable weather, so pack lots of layers.
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GameKeeper Kennels. Mossy Oak Wellness. GameKeeper Butchery. Nativ Living. Mossy Oak Golf. Big Game. Land Management. Small Game. How To. Just make sure the bait is ticking the grass during the retrieve. Those same places are effective during the postspawn, but a topwater lure, Texas rigged worm or a wacky rigged soft plastic become better lure choices.
Bass move into the same types of areas to spawn on highland lakes, says Missouri pro Brian Snowden, but gravel becomes much more of a factor.
Also, spawning activity frequently occurs a little deeper than it does on most lowland lakes, especially if the water is clear. If he suspects the fish are hugging the bottom, he'll switch to jig-and-pork combinations in crawfish colors. Allow the crankbait to strike objects, he adds, and pause momentarily each time the bait bounces off the bottom.
Topwaters are Snowden's favorite lure for taking postspawn fish that are moving out of the coves and recuperating on points and rock shelves. The biggest difference is that breaklines are used for travel routes from deep to shallow instead of creek or river channels. They also follow underwater points, or points of grassbeds, and use changes in bottom composition as their highways from the breaklines to the spawning areas.
One of the best places to find bass staging during early prespawn is on an inside turn of a sharp dropoff, especially if that turn occurs alongside a point or a major flat. On lakes that freeze, prespawn activity begins the moment the ice thaws.
And, just as they do on reservoirs, bass will make short forays onto shallow flats or dark bottom bays during warming days and stable weather. Although they generally don't spawn on black, mucky bottoms, they will lounge there because the water typically is several degrees warmer than other sections of the lake.
Natural lake bass also are attracted to man-made canals cut off the main lake. Again, warmer water is the main attraction, although these canals can be havens for bedding bass. They also bed along gravel shorelines, on the backsides of established weedbeds and against rocks or logs littered along tapering flats.
Many of the same techniques used on reservoirs apply to natural lakes. Jerkbaits and tube jigs are good choices early in the season while crankbaits, spinnerbaits or lipless crankbaits can produce big bags when the bass are roaming the edges of dropoffs, grassbeds or flats.
When bass move into shallow, ultraclear bedding areas, they get skittish and become less likely to chase baits. That's when small finesse baits, fished on light line and presented with long casts, are most effective. Popular baits include wacky rigged stickworms or trick worms. Also, try split shotting centipedes or small worms. During postspawn bass back away from shallows, especially in clear water. They don't go far, and in many cases, you can find them along inside edges of weedlines growing between spawning areas and deep water.
Topwaters and finesse soft plastics, especially wacky rigs, are best lure choices. Rivers often offer some of the best early spring fishing because their waters warm rapidly and the spawning cycle occurs sooner. Furthermore, because largemouth in rivers tend to be shallower throughout the year, they become more active. Go with bright color patterns in stained water and natural patterns in clear water. The crankbait should run deep enough to bump bottom. A jig tipped with a plastic craw is another good option to slowly explore an area.
Use black and blue in stained water and pumpkin or watermelon in clear water. Bass will begin looking for the warmest available water and start to move into the shallows as soon as these areas warm under the spring sun.
Shallow, stained lakes will warm the fastest, and bass in these waters will move shallow earlier than those in deeper, clear lakes. Look to the northern sections of a large lake, particularly south-facing shorelines that are exposed to the sun for long periods of the day and protected from cold northern winds. Protected, shallow coves will also retain water that warms quickly in the spring. Avoid shaded areas and areas exposed to wind that will mix the water. Once the water temperature in spawning coves is above the degree mark, bass will move shallow and spawn.
However, water temperature in the shallows can change rapidly—literally overnight. A cold front can chase the bass off the beds and send them deep until the weather stabilizes. If you were catching them a foot off the bank before the cold front, try 5 to 10 feet off the bank and closer to the bottom after water temperatures drop.
You will see spawning beds on the warmest, most protected sections of the lake first. Bass spawn in shallow water on a hard bottom, preferably next to some sort of cover like a stump, dock piling, tree or bush, which helps protect them from wind and predators.
Some bass are spawning while some are still moving up. So when shallow bass are unresponsive, target the bass that are staging in deeper water. Though bass in shallow water are often more aggressive, they also experience more angling pressure than bass holding in deeper water.
Shift your focus to the mid-range fish and you will be rewarded. Article: Jigging for Largemouth Bass. When you see the smaller male sitting on the bed, know that there may be a large female waiting somewhere nearby—fish the deeper water leading up to the spawning bed for a shot at this bigger fish.
When the time is right, the female will move up and spawn, only holding in the shallow water for a short period of time. If you choose to target bass on their spawning beds, it can be very easy at times. The less you are seen by the bass, the easier it will be to get them to bite. Low-light conditions and wind will help camouflage you. The most basic way to fish for bedding fish is throwing a 4- or 5-inch Texas-rigged soft-plastic bait past the bed and slowly moving it into the bed.
If the bass picks it up, wait a second and set the hook. After the spawn, the larger female bass will move off to the outskirts of the spawning area to recuperate from the stresses of the spawn while the smaller male protects the eggs and fry. After the bass spawn, bluegills move into the same areas and set up shop. This is a great time to catch big bass. Bass will wait at ambush points during bluegill spawning and readily eat lures worked past these points.
The best spots are shoreline points on either side of a spawning cove, shoreline pockets, the front and sides of a downed tree, dock, or any kind of large structure near the bluegill beds.
When you find early season bluegill beds, know the bass are somewhere close. Post-spawn bass hold in shoreline cover as the spring weather stabilizes. Weed lines have not yet set up, so bass are keying in on trees and brush.
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