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Why the Florida Bass Pre-Spawn is Personal-Best Time

They're not just anywhere and everywhere, but somewhere, they're gonna be thick.

Why the Florida Bass Pre-Spawn is Personal-Best Time
A lipless crankbait will get the attention of pre-spawn bass. (Photo by David A. Brown)

It’s simple math. The biggest fish in the lake are moving to their shallowest positions of the year and the need to feed puts them in a snappy mood. Sounds like the perfect storm of opportunity, and it definitely can be just that. However, if it were that simple, everyone would set a new high mark on every trip.

The fact is, these fish are undertaking their year’s most important transition and, while they definitely strap on the feed bag, they’re a little on the moody side. They’re not just anywhere and everywhere, but somewhere, they’re gonna be thick.

To find these behemoths, you have to consider their seasonal movements. Unlike states with deeper natural or manmade lakes, Florida bass rarely make a lengthy prespawn journey.

Some of the fish do, in fact, winter in offshore waters, but “offshore” in Florida might be 8-12 feet of water, with their spawning zone going about 1-2.

In many cases, the fish that spend most of their year shallow simply duck into a canal, move to the inside grass lines, or swim from the dock’s deep end to the sandy shallows. Whatever their plan, prespawners know they have to fill their bellies to help fuel their egg development.

For anglers, that means a higher likelihood your potential PB (personal best) will open up and take a bite.

big bass
Crankbait fishing for pre-spawn bass. (Photo by David A. Brown)

The Waiting Room

Before committing to the beds, prespawn bass will stage on prominent structure/cover outside their spawning areas. That could be a shell bar, grass point, or an outer line of cypress trees flanking the main stand. In any case, the best stopping points are located close to deeper water and hold lots of food for big fish with big appetites.

Find the right spot outside a spawning bay and you have a sure bet with lights-out potential — and the likelihood of reloading.

Case in point, during a 2023 Bassmaster College Series event at the Harris Chain (late January), the young anglers wowed the crowd with several sizable prespawners. The four biggest each broke the 10-pound mark, with two teams catching whoppers that went 11-5.

Modern electronics, largely forward-facing sonar, will reveal key areas and the giants lurking there. Nothing wrong with a subsurface recon, but you’ll find a lot of your big prespawners by fishing for them.

The Right Bites

The prespawn puts a premium on moving baits, simply because covering water is a crucial part of this dynamic season. Lipless baits are one of the top choices for working an area with peppy retrieves, or snagging grass and snapping the bait free. You’ll also want to keep a squarebill handy for bumping through wood cover—and pausing for an enticing float-up taunt.

Bladed jigs have become one of the most popular prespawn search baits, thanks to their blend of flash, vibration and profile. Weight is determined by depth and, while the 3/8- to 1/2-ounce baits get a lot of playing time, keep a 1/4-ounce model handy for probing skinny areas. Same goes for swim jigs. It’s a sensible back-up bait when the fish start shying away from the louder, more intrusive bladed jig.

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Another productive option for covering water, a 4- to 5-inch swimbait rigged weedless on a wide gap hook, can navigate the nastiest cover to tempt fish staging in the holes. Hollow bellies or solid body baits work, but if you need a little more casting distance, using a light belly weight helps.

bass fishing
Prespawn fishing for Florida bass. (Photo by David A. Brown)

Often, this strategy will reveal early spawners that move up shallow, stake out bedding preferences and fiercely guard their territory. You’ll often draw some of the most aggressive bites of the season, but some fish will simply wake and boil on your bait in an effort to scare off the intruder.

Even if the fish doesn’t eat the swimbait, that territorial display will mark the area for a focused effort. Flipping/pitching a Texas-rigged craw, creature bait, or stick worm will help you dial in the sweet spot.

In open water or sparse vegetation where treble hooks face minimal threat, don’t hesitate to throw a big glidebait. Bites may be few and far between, but when that rod bends, it’s the fish you’re looking for.

bass being held up
Prop baits are high effective on pre-spawn bass. (Photo by David A. Brown)

Slow Down

Along with those speedy baits, don’t overlook the prespawn appeal of dragging Carolina-rigged lizards or creature baits across shell bars and through new-growth vegetation. Another old-school killer is the prop bait, which can work wonders with short gurgling bursts, followed by patient pauses. (Try tweaking the blade angles for different sputtering and experiment with a larger back hook for a tail-down posture.)

While you’re covering water, don’t hesitate to pick up the flipping stick to probe laydowns, grass points, stumps, cypress knees, or dock posts. The fish do a lot of moving this time of year, but they’ll occasionally tarry on a favorable spot and gobble whatever crosses their radar.

Note: Fall-to-early spring will bring several cold fronts that leave clear skies and high pressure in their wake. These “bluebird” conditions will pull back the prespawn progress for a few days as the fish wait out the harsh brightness. Once a front passes, the bass will look for the nearest sun-shielding cover—pads, docks, heavier grass—outside the spawning area and you can bet most of those staging prespawners simply backed into these canopies.

Patiently flipping/pitching Texas-rigged baits in and around this cover often rewards you with a bonus bite. Your chances definitely increase with time, as fish hiding from post-frontal conditions grow hungrier.<?p>

Soon as the clouds return and high pressure dissipates, it’s game-on.

Deal Closer

Despite the prespawners’ generally aggressive disposition, this is still a transitional season in which moodiness is hardly rare. Even without those post-frontal conditions, fish occasionally miss a bait.

Whether it’s poor aim or a lackluster effort, a fish that shows enough interest to take a swing typically will try again when presented with an easier target like a wacky-rigged or unweighted Texas-rigged stick worm. It may not be as exhilarating as those moving baits, but a bite is a bite and during the prespawn, any bite could be your biggest.




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