As Spring slowly unfolds, bass anglers fishing throughout all of Alabama’s man made impounded lakes, have by now, dug deep into all their tackle boxes looking for every lure imaginable, to hopefully help them fool one of mother nature’s biggest bass.
Rightfully so, with most of the lake’s bass populations now scouring the lakes shallows and most bass, both male and female, are now very suceptable to about any enticing offering…especially topwater lures of all kinds!
So what is it about a noisy, topwater lure (especially during the mid-spawn to post-spawn period), that attracts some often very vicious strikes usually taking place on or near the waters surface? There are many factors.
* Hungry, Bedding Bass - Sure, these bass get hungry when they are again really into the annual rituals of the spring spawn often for weeks at a time. Courting, preparing the beds, laying the eggs, protecting the newborn baby bass fry, and then, when their young are all let loose, all on their own in their new underwater world…is when the feeding really begins.
So at any time these male and female bass can be hungry and topwater lures simulate an easy-to-catch meal, one when well manipulated that may fool a big bass into striking, maybe out of “sheer hunger.”
While, often for weeks at a time, these bass are in and around the lake’s shallows bedding and hiding around any available wood cover, rock cover, bottom irregularieties and especially now they are mingling with other big bass all hanging around the lake’s new growing, oxygen-rich aquatic weeds.
* Protecting the Newborn Baby Bass Fry - Before letting these inch-long baby bass leave home, to explore their rich new world all own their own, both parents will fight off any intruder to the finish. Especially the bigger bass, the female. She is going to be close by this black ball of bass fry, every minute. Which means she is always near the waters surface and very likly to hit a topwater lure…at about any time!
* Instinct Strikes - No matter where an angler consistantly bass fishes throughout all of our Alabama lake’s varied bass-holding cover, they are triggering some often very vicious, “instinct strikes” whether they know it or not. So anglers must remember, to constantly make countless casts, from every angle possible, with a variety of topwater lures.
This is what just may trigger that “instinct strike” from one big old bass, that lure just came to close to…too many times! So if you really think there is a big bass holding in or around that shallow water piece of cover, by all means fish it hard! You may just aggravate it into striking after many, many casts. Or, you may just be making her mad.
* Mad Bass - Its true, no matter what time of the year you fish in shallow water big bass are very territorial and like during any “instinct strike” they can be made to very mad at times. Attacking your topwater lure out of sheer anger.
These big, female bass can really dominate a piece of shallow water cover, often lingering far from the lakes very shallow water of depths of 1-2 feet they were seen bedding around during the month of April. But not to far away.
Isolated weedbeds and wood cover like brush piles and stumps can hold several big bass, holding in a post-spawn mode in shallow water depths, usually less than five feet deep.
This post-spawn/ early summer topwater feeding session will be taking place all throughout the entire month of May and on into the month of June, the earlier portion of the Summer season.
As waters warm even more and our lakes natural aquatic weeds continue to grow, all throughout north to south Alabama, bass of all kinds can be enticed to attack your topwater lures…but only if your there fishing with all of those enticing topwater lures, most of which have been in hibernation this past Winter season. Just like the bass your after!
Most big, female bass are recuperating from the rigors of the spring spawn that often leaves them weak for a few days until they feed and again regain their very needed strength to continue the upcoming summer months ahead.
But do not put away those topwater lures yet, even when it gets hot throughout the Summer season. For also, throughout all of the Fall season and on into the early portion of the Winter season, these Alabama bass will still hit a topwater lure!
Thanks and Good Fishin’ Reed Montgomery / Owner of Reeds Guide Service (205) 663-1504 Birmingham, Alabama Website: www.fishingalabama.com “Guiding for bass only” on all of Alabama’s Lakes for Over Forty Years.
