Post by fish2win on Feb 11, 2023 13:59:52 GMT -5
Looking back over the years in my diary I will have to say that February is arguably the best big fish month of the year. I always get at least one 5 lb smallie in Feb and 3 lbders are abundant, A good example of this was last week end when my nephew won a tournament at Loudon, he had 4 smallmouth that weighed 21 lbs.
March is a transition month and many guys have a lot of trouble fishing fish until near April, So read and think
You have been catching fish deep on main lake points at winter. These fish have not moved but there feeding places have, They will move up shallow on the ends of the points and feed in less tan 10 feet of water. There primary forage will be shad or alewives so there activity level will increase, The very best bait you can us to trigger strikes from these fish is a jerk bait, Jerk baits at Norris can be a year around lure but , especially at night in the early summer when smallies and walleye will gobble them up but pre spawn they can be deadly. I prefer a suspended bait and the Smithwick rouge has been very good, Very you movements and often a broken cadence does best,
There are a lot of things you can do to a Jerk bait to help you effectiveness, Pay attention to how the fish are hooked and it will tell you a lot about what may provoke more strikes.
If the fish are hitting the back hook and being hooked on the outer part od the mouth you may be slightly to shallow or retrieving to slowly, Changing you cadence is easy but how to make it suspend deeper. Try placing a single suspend dot just behind the middle hook. If you sense that a wider wobble imitating a fast fleeing of the bait is needed try placing a suspend dot right behind the rear hook. This will make the bait have a wider wobble, You can tell this is needed if the fish are hitting the middle hook. Lastly if the fish are hitting the first hook and getting it deep in their mouth you may want to put a dot in front of the first hook. This will change the depth the bait dives on each jerk and allow it to suspend deeper.
This will continue until the water temps begin to hit 60 in the deeper sections, This will put the fish on a prespawn mood and they will begin to move into the shallow areas that they will eventually spawn in. They will move back slowly stopping a places along the way the offer cover depth and bait, Now its spinnerbait time. Once the water approaches 68 degrees they will be bedding. Usually late March early April, The bigger fish spawn first and this is not happening all over the lake at the same time.
I hope this helps someone get a big fish, That what this board is all about, Dan had a great day based on Smokepurples report and Smoke used an earlier report of mine to figure out his pattern. We have several members that don't post they just read. Would it not be even better if everyone shared. Thanks to all who do. F2W
March is a transition month and many guys have a lot of trouble fishing fish until near April, So read and think
You have been catching fish deep on main lake points at winter. These fish have not moved but there feeding places have, They will move up shallow on the ends of the points and feed in less tan 10 feet of water. There primary forage will be shad or alewives so there activity level will increase, The very best bait you can us to trigger strikes from these fish is a jerk bait, Jerk baits at Norris can be a year around lure but , especially at night in the early summer when smallies and walleye will gobble them up but pre spawn they can be deadly. I prefer a suspended bait and the Smithwick rouge has been very good, Very you movements and often a broken cadence does best,
There are a lot of things you can do to a Jerk bait to help you effectiveness, Pay attention to how the fish are hooked and it will tell you a lot about what may provoke more strikes.
If the fish are hitting the back hook and being hooked on the outer part od the mouth you may be slightly to shallow or retrieving to slowly, Changing you cadence is easy but how to make it suspend deeper. Try placing a single suspend dot just behind the middle hook. If you sense that a wider wobble imitating a fast fleeing of the bait is needed try placing a suspend dot right behind the rear hook. This will make the bait have a wider wobble, You can tell this is needed if the fish are hitting the middle hook. Lastly if the fish are hitting the first hook and getting it deep in their mouth you may want to put a dot in front of the first hook. This will change the depth the bait dives on each jerk and allow it to suspend deeper.
This will continue until the water temps begin to hit 60 in the deeper sections, This will put the fish on a prespawn mood and they will begin to move into the shallow areas that they will eventually spawn in. They will move back slowly stopping a places along the way the offer cover depth and bait, Now its spinnerbait time. Once the water approaches 68 degrees they will be bedding. Usually late March early April, The bigger fish spawn first and this is not happening all over the lake at the same time.
I hope this helps someone get a big fish, That what this board is all about, Dan had a great day based on Smokepurples report and Smoke used an earlier report of mine to figure out his pattern. We have several members that don't post they just read. Would it not be even better if everyone shared. Thanks to all who do. F2W