Articles/Tips

Bald Spots

By Dave Ramlow, Sportsmen Bassmasters

It's spring, and fish are on the move. Pre-spawn and spawn, while the windows may be small, can be incredible. Toss a weightless, boring looking piece of plastic, from 3' to 7' long, into shallow water, and results can be amazing. If only it could last all year!

Post spawn. A whole different animal. Where the heck did they go? They were everywhere last weekend, and they seem to have disappeared. Spinner baits may pick off some small male 'cruisers', running in packs of 3 ' 6 fish, in the 8' ' 10' range. Not the excitement you're after. At this time, you may want to look for cooler water, and hope to find a few fish still thinking about dropping eggs and feeding heavily. Or, you can find the fish that were here before.

Where are they? They're still close by. They are holding a little deeper, not yet on the weedlines, but on flats. They could be anywhere, but you can still find them. They need to eat, but they want the safety and serenity of heavy weeds. Look for 'light' spots on the flats, areas of thin or no weeds. Could be a few rocks, hard bottom, some sand or maybe a tire or old log? Hungry fish will be nearby, just outside the bald area, awaiting an easy meal to slide into their own little lunch bowl. Good bait selections include plastic worms, a great spot for wacky rigs. Or try Carolina rigged tube bait, dragged through the open area. Your fish haven't all gone away, they just want you to work a little harder then they did before.