Freshwater Fishing Tips

By Rye Mann

Spring is the time to feast after the long winter fast and mate to produce the next generation of bluegills. Bluegills are congregated and less wary than any other time of year making them more easily caught. And if you like me, nothing is better after a long winter trapped indoors than spending some time fighting one spirited bluegill after another.

As the water warms to the low 60 degree mark, bluegills will start their move from their deep winter time haunts to the shallows for nesting. On the way they will be eating machines trying to gather as much energy as possible for the upcoming spawn and the year to come. You will have to monitor this temperature on your own since there are many factors that affect when a body of water will reach this magical number.

Southern waters will obviously warm up faster than northern waters while other factors will separate conditions of water close to each other. The more water a pond or lake has and the deeper it is will slow the warming process. Cold water run off into streams and rivers can dramatically affect the temperatures in a short matter of time. Even the bottom composition can drastically affect temperatures. Dark colored mud and clay will absorb and radiate heat to the water above.

Bluegills will use deep water weed lines and dead wood to use as cover to make their moves. Again, look for darker colored objects as they will radiate the heat that the fish are looking for this time of year. While they stage in these areas, the feed bag is on! They are doing what they can to fill their belly’s and gain strength after the hard times of the winter. Big bluegills are much less wary and more apt to chase down a tantalizing offering.
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By Gregory Jackson

If you are looking for another bass fishing trick for early spring bass fishing try using a lipless rattle bait. Yep, that’s right. Lipless rattle baits in early spring can be very productive and can often times out produce most other lures under certain conditions.

As warmer spring weather approaches and the water temperature begins to rise, largemouth bass will begin their crusade towards the shallow flats, coves, and channels in search of food and spawning grounds. This is the perfect time of year to intercept these crusading bass with a lipless rattle bait.

There are many lipless rattle baits available on the market today. I would recommend going to your favorite tackle store and picking out a few different sizes and colors to add to your tackle box, and experiment with them to see which one works best.

These types of lures are designed to sink until you begin your retrieve. Once you begin your retrieve these lures will run at a constant depth unless you stop your retrieve to let the bait flutter down into holes in weed beds or down the sides of wood cover. The rattle in these lures is more than just a gimmick designed to catch more fisherman than fish. The rattle alerts fish more than silent crank baits do, so the fish may begin zeroing in on the noise of an approaching lure even before it is visible to the fish.
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