Areas to Locate and Catch Early Spring Bass
Areas to Locate and Catch Early Spring Bass
By Todd Reed
Finally, the water has warmed up a bit, and not a slab of ice in sight. April is the kickoff to bass fishing in the state Iowa, tournaments are popping up, fish in the river systems are becoming active once again and the lake water is getting past that 45 degree mark. It is a great time to go bass fishing as long as you know where to start casting.
Iowa is a very diverse state when it comes to bass fishing. We have acre farm ponds, many 100 acre plus lakes, a few large natural lakes, a few large water reservoirs, countless interior rivers and streams and the two big rivers, the Missouri and Mississippi River. That is quite an array of fisheries, which all provide a great place for bass to live and grow. However, it is April, where is the best places to start? What type of baits should I be throwing? What kind of presentations should I go with for early season bass?
The Best Areas
Any of the above mentioned waters of Iowa can be great in the month of April. However. a few really rise to the top if we are focusing on catching bass. As the water temperatures get warmer the smaller bodies of water will warm much quicker. This being known, the farm ponds and those smaller lakes dotted around the state will be the best bet early. If you can find a shallow lake, that would be even better as the water will be a few degrees warmer. Another variable to these areas are rain and the runoff that occurs with it. Each lake has a watershed, or the acres of land that excess water that ends up in the lake. For example, Rock Creek Lake in Central Iowa is about 470 acres, and has a watershed of 27,000 acres. This translates to 57 watershed acres per lake acre. Another example is Lake Ahquabi near Des Moines. This lake is about 120 acres and has a watershed of 3,300 acres. This figures to be 27 watershed acres per lake acre. These numbers give us a quick summary about the water clarity in the spring. April is known for rains and when it rains, the lakes get muddy, this translates to tough spring fishing. Simply put if the fish can’t see your bait, they can’t bite the bait.
Depending on the amount of rain in the area will give you a good understanding of the water conditions. Something to take into consideration in the spring. The same goes for rivers, if an area hasn’t had a lot of rain, then rivers can be fantastic, however a rain shower in the watershed of a small river can mess up the spring fishing for several days. Sticking with the game plan of smaller lakes and ponds will help you get in the right direction of some early season bass. Pay attention to local rain falls and do some homework on the lakes you frequent. The research may turn you towards some new waters this year. Once you find a location that you like you must breakdown the lake or river. River system bass this time of year will still like the backwaters or areas with slight current. Lakes can be much trickier to figure out. Some general locations on lakes in April are the largest coves in any lake. The further up the cove you go the warmer the water should be, shallow water should make that equation true. Sunny days will warm those coves and bays quickly allowing bass to feed at a greater rate. If the weather turns soar, they can quickly migrate to the mouths of those same coves to get the deeper water of the main lake, which will be much more stable. Knowing this, the points of any cove are magnets for the bass to travel in and out of the coves. These are a great target in April, add some rock and you may have an area that keeps you busy for hours.
The Best Baits
I have always been a big proponent of location, location, location when it comes to fishing. No matter if you are looking for bass, crappie, walleye, catfish or bluegills, if they are not there you won’t catch them. With that said, once you find them in April you must be throwing the right types of baits to catch them. This time of year the bass are coming off a long winter, their bodies have been in a state of dormancy. They have lived much of the winter on small creatures and are just now building their bodies back up for the spring feed. If I could sum up baits for bass in April with one word it would be; small. During this time of the year the smaller profile baits will get you more bites. It is simply matching the hatch for bass.
One big reason for the small size is the two main types of food bass will be feeding on in April. Minnows and one-year old panfish. A bluegill or crappie that was hatched last spring will be about 2-3 inches this time of year. Crawdads, if they have arose from their winter dormancy are also only a few inches long. (Crawdads typically do not become active until water temperatures reach above 50 degrees) Keep this in mind in the early spring, small crankbaits, spinnerbaits and plastic lures all work well from day to day. The best bait today might be the worst bait tomorrow. Paying close attention to the weather patterns will help you find your “best bait”. As a general rule, if the weather is nice, go with faster baits such as crankbaits and spinnerbaits. When the weather is cooler or a cooling trend is present, go with slower baits such as plastic lures and jigs. The best colors will vary, but typically the water clarity is pretty clear in April so natural colors like white, brown and orange will be the best choices for lures. Live bait is always a good choice if you prefer that. Each day can be a new challenge during April in the state of Iowa, experiment and pay attention to the weather.
The Best Presentations
Much like the best baits, this can change very quickly in April. A warming trend will send the bass on a mission to find food, when this occurs give them a crankbait or a spinnerbait. The opposite occurs more often, a cold front, if this is happening slow everything down. Adjust the speed of your baits on the water temperature, if it is closer to 45 degrees, slow it down, if the water temperature is closer to 55 degrees, speed it up. Another thing to have in the back of your mind is a stop and go presentation.
This works well with any crankbait, especially a jerkbait. It gives the bass extra time to see and hear your bait moving through the water. If it can locate your bait and have some time to track it down, then your hook up ratio will greatly increase. The same goes for the tougher days when throwing plastic baits and jigs. If you are throwing these types of baits, make sure you are crawling them.
Most are designed to hop along the bottom of the river or lake floor. If you are not contacting the bottom you need to do two things to change that. First, go slower and secondly add more weight. A couple baits that fall in between a fast and slow type of bait are stickbaits and swimbaits.
These are those in between baits that bass can find irresistible. They flutter and dart in the middle of the water column and can be deadly during cold snaps in April. Simply throw these baits out and bring them back with an erratic motion, pausing often to allow them to sink like a dead baitfish. If wind is present you may have to add some weight to these baits. Split shot works, or finishing nails pressed into the plastic work well too. The best presentation can vary day to day or even hour to hour as the weather changes in April. Be flexible and try different things until you get some bites.
April is an exciting time to any bass angler. It is like Christmas for a 10-year old, the anticipation of that next trip to the river or lake to find your first or your 100th bass of the young 2019 season. Every hook set is pure adrenaline and I don’t know about you, but that feeling never gets old!
