THE SPAWN IS ON

“When do you think the big bass will move up shallow to spawn on Toledo

Bend,” asked the young man standing at the counter with his son in tow

and a basket full of spinnerbaits and crankbaits.” The clerk just

shrugged his shoulders and responded, “Cash or credit.”

The answer should have been, “If you are still waiting you are already

late!” Shallow is a relative term that depends on the size of the bass

you hope to catch.Taking advantage of the spawn can equate to the

easiest fishing you will experience over the course of the year or your

best shot at the bass of a lifetime.

Seldom if ever, however, can you expect to reap the benefits of both in

the same depth of water.Easily, the most enjoyable aspect of the spawn

is watching female bass guard their beds and smaller males attacking any

intruders on inside moss breaks in one to three feet of water.The

unusually off-colored water has, however, limited this approach somewhat

thus far, but those fish are still there.

As a rule, the bragging size fish are not there however, and more

importantly, are not ever going to be there.That is why the angler that

seems to always catch larger bass often fishes the pre-spawn in 10 to 14

feet of water knowing the most prized females consider six to eight feet

of water to be shallow.A significant portion of those coveted ladies

will move no shallower for the annual ritual.

An unwanted cold snap may temporarily move a big fish into the thicker

grass or deeper into the confines of a flooded bush, but there will be

no retreat to deeper water at this point.If catching a trophy bass is

your goal you would do well to simply slow down your approach and

patiently dissect tighter hideouts in six to eight feet of water.

This does not mean that you can’t catch a double digit bass on T-Bend

dragging a Carolina rigged lizard in twenty feet of water or jerking a

Trap out of the moss on a shallow flat.For my money, however,fishing the

deeper end of shallow increases your odds of waiting for your long

awaited replica to arrive!

Carol Simon couldn’t wait to start the spring break and join her Uncle

Todd for a solid week of fishing Sabine Lake.“It has been cold in

Kansas,” said Simon and Monday felt like summer again.They started the

day in a foggy mist in rain gear and finished their day in shorts and

sunshine.

“I was disappointed that we never found the trout,” reported Simon, “but

we caught a lot of small bass and two limits of redfish on plastic

worms.The water looked really yucky, but it was still fun!”

Trey and Amie Smith made the most of a short three and a half hours of

fishing by besting the field in the Resilience tournament hosted on the

river Sunday evening.The Smith’s winning bag of five bass weighed 7.24

pounds.Trey said the fishing was tough, but they still managed to get it

done with a Talon quarter ounce spinnerbait.

While on the subject of spinnerbaits, I didn’t ask Trey about color or

choice of blades, but we have done far better of late on both reds and

specks with a quarter ounce spinnerbait as well.We are using Sea Shad

bodies in a couple of colors, but there is no doubt that the fish have

been more interested in a single smaller Colorado blade.

You don’t move much water with a blade that small, but larger blades, as

well as Willow leafs, have just not produced as well fishing the same

stretches of shoreline.Shad bodies are a salt water thing and I believe

a skirt would work just as well.River bass are still Plan B for us.

Things are shaking and baking at the S.A.L.T. Club in spite of the tough

bite on Sabine as the club just announced a new tournament series.The

first team tournament of the year will be hosted out of the S.A.L.T.

club house on March 24^th .

This is a team event with a $200 entry fee per team.Each team can weigh

in two trout and two redfish and you do not have to be a S.A.L.T. Club

member to fish.On March 17^th the club will host its member only event

with a $20 entry fee.

For more information or to sign up call or drop by Outcast Tackle in Groves.