2/15/07

It’s time to start crankin’ for transition bass
By Terry Madewell

Terry Madewell Photo

Despite the cold, Chuck Porter was able to get this nice bass. Try crankbaits for transitional bass fishing.

The annual spring fling of shallow water bass fishing will soon begin. Actually only a couple of weeks ago, during a brief period of warmer than normal air temperatures, a couple of buddies caught some 4-6 pound largemouth in very shallow water on plastic worms. While it has certainly been cold recently, we’re not far from the spring warm up that will last. Once that water temperature starts rising, we’ll see a dramatic change in the largemouth bass fishing – for the better and in very shallow water.

In fact, by late February and into early March, we typically see some hawg bass taken in the shallows. It’s transition time from cold to warm water. And the time is perhaps the best of the entire year to hook a trophy largemouth on lakes Marion and Moultrie.

When bass are in a transition period some are near the shoreline, while others are roaming around on secondary structures, sometimes far from the shoreline. But they are getting in a feeding mode. And that’s good news for us.

The key to successfully fishing during this time of the year is knowing how to make the transition from the winter patterns into the spring, shallow water patterns.

During this transition time, the temperature of the water begins to rise dramatically and the various forms of forage upon which the black bass preys begins to migrate toward the shallow water. As this occurs, a funny thing happens: the bass migrate with these food sources. The good news is that unlike the fall transition to cold weather and water, the spring fish will move towards the shallows and scatter. While you can find some places that are much more productive than others, if you fish enough shallow water in the spring you’ll likely hook some good fish.

It’s time to have a specific game plan formulated and one of the key components I’ve found during this time of year is to make full use of one of the most highly versatile lures on the market – the trusty ol’ crankbait.

I use the term “crankbait” in a very generic sense. There are scores upon scores of makes and models of cranking baits from which you can select. Although I certainly have my pet favorites, so do legions of other anglers. The key is to use the ones that best adapt to the specific lake and water you’re fishing during this time of the year.

Although crankbaits are prime fishing lures at any given time of the year, they have a very distinct advantage during the early season transition period. There are numerous “controls” you can influence with a crankbait that can give you a distinct edge on these sometimes tough transition bass.

One, they come in all shapes and sizes which enables you to more closely match the specific type of forage. I like this particular trait because it can make a very big difference when the bass are in a finicky mood. With the still cool water temperature and thus slowed metabolism, they’re less likely to attack for the pure pleasure of being ornery. More often, you have to trigger a feeding stimulus.

Another factor to consider is the lip sizes on the various lures. These vary so you can fish almost any depth you prefer, within reason, which is to me one of the most crucial aspects of all. The depth you locate fish will certainly vary even day to day. But the fish seem to become very depth specific on particular structures or types of cover during this transition time. With a good selection of crankbaits, you can check different depths quickly and effectively.

Another favorite for many anglers is the endless variety of colors you can have on the crankbaits, including painting your own special colors. This is a highly personal preference and one that I feel is sometimes overrated. Naturally, use whatever works for you, but if you’re just starting out, I’d recommend the basic colors of the forage in your lake. For example, if the lake has a lot of threadfin shad, then that color pattern is certainly one I’d recommend.

Perhaps the most important control factor of a crankbait to me – certainly on a par with depth – is the ability to control the speed of the lure. Crankbaits allow the angler total speed control as the lure is worked through the strike zone. Using different body-sized and lipped lures, you can reach specific depths and still experiment with different lures speeds. During this time of the year, speed control is often the trigger mechanism that makes bass strike. I’ve witnessed times when speed control made all the difference.

I wish I could now tell you precisely what that specific speed is, but it simply doesn’t work that way. A general rule of thumb is that the colder the water, the slower you should work the lure but you’ll have to fine tune the details of depth and speed on a daily basis. That’s the magic of a crankbait. If you think about what you’re doing and continue to experiment with different depths and speeds, you can determine what’s best for a specific set of conditions.

The spring transition is a time for the thinking bass fisherman, not for those seeking a fish behind every stump. It’s not necessarily easy, but it can be very rewarding in terms of catching fish if you think in terms of crankin’ for transition time bass.