spring
y
ou’re cooped up all winter long and the household projects keep piling up! You want to start on them; but you have those visions of that bass coming out of the water with your lure in its mouth. You have been watching Bassmaster, roland Martin and Hank Parker, just to name a few, throughout the winter and they’ve been catching fish, while you’ve been stuck working in or around the house. You’ve put new line on, greased up the reels, checked the rods, went through the tackle to see what you ran out of last year, then you start reading about the new stuff on the market. it’s the angler’s anguish, it’s the same story each year– you need to buy stuff. You were told you were going to Need it – gotta’ have it. Well that’s what keeps the tackle stores afloat! Now that you have gotten all that out of the way - let’s go fishing. You call your buddy up and convince him to go. You hook up the boat, you have all the information you need from the web and now it’s time to get that 30-lb limit that you keep hearing about. You slide the boat into the water and start idling out of the marina. The cool morning air hits your face and you are ready to go. You gun it, the boat comes up on pad and you are off for your day for the 30-lb bag. When half of the day has gone by and you have two fish in the boat, this is not your idea of a great day. You look to your partner and you ask, “What is going on. We should be whacking them.”
by randy prinGle
Story & Photo
fever
let’s stop here. This is typical spring fishing. it has it highs and lows. remember, 30-lbs is great; but not everyone is catching that kind of limit. it hits you hard. You realize you have “Spring Fever”! it takes more than baits to catch 30-lbs. Several things need to be done for a great day – i don’t care if it is spring.
As an angler, preparation can make or break your day. Before you do battle with Mr. or Mrs. Bass, you will need some intel. let’s start with the water temperature. it is just about the most important information you can have. each part of the body of water that you fish could have temperature variances that are very important for you to know. Warmer water, active fish – cooler water, less active fish. it is one of the easiest fishing rules to understand. Finding that warmer water in the spring is fairly simple, you need to know your north, east, south and west directions. Knowing this will put you on the sunniest side of the lake. it is important for you to know that the cooler water is in the shade the longest during this time of year. Here in Calif., the south facing north banks are going to be your targeted area. Keep in mind, that these areas still
34