Every year as the water warms from winter to spring the bass move up on top of humps and ledges and you can have a blast fishing top water baits. I know it sounds crazy but some of the biggest stringers in tournaments are caught on top water lures in early spring. A few years ago we did a TV show on top water fishing in early March with water temperatures between 49 and 53 degrees on a rainy cold morning. We loaded the boat with 4 and 5 pound fish and made the TV show in about 3 hours.
The key I believe to an early spring top water bite is two things. The first is bait. If there is bait on top of the humps and the bass are moving on and off these humps looking to feed you have a great chance of getting hit.
The next is bait choice. Two things come into play. The correct color choice is a must since many lakes are muddy in the spring. Contrasting colors like red are extremely important.
Noise is next. Bass are extremely sensitive to noise in the spring and noisy buzz-baits or spooks with BB’s in the body are great choices for reaction bites. Not only can you catch a winning stringer but it’s a lot of fun to see that early spring explosion in basically cold water in March.
Some of the other elements I look for in order to find the early spring top water bite is some left over grass or lily pad stems, or duck weed that still has a little life from the last year growth. Both of these natural elements hold bait fish and seem to grow on hard bottom humps or along edges of quick drops.
Bass in the early spring are always hunting hard bottom areas as they spawn in these hard bottom areas of the lake. Top water fishing this time of year just doesn’t get any better as the bass are hungry, aggressive and usually two pounds bigger as they are getting ready to spawn.
