Fishing in late winter/early Spring

Fishing in late winter/early spring can sometimes be very challenging. That was the case for Mark Menendez and I on Kentucky Lake during a filming of Fishpaa TV. A severe cold front was blowing through and the temperatures were hanging around 35degrees. We launched the boat and waited under a covered boat slip to try and wait out the cold rain. The winds were howling out of the north east at 15 to 20 mph. Around 10 o’clock the rain let up and we were able to start fishing. The camera crew went and got into position and we started fishing. The water temperature was 45 degrees. From years of experience on Kentucky Lake Mark figured that even though it was bitter cold that a crankbait would be the best choice. Mark tied on one of the new Strike King Custom Shop crankbaits called a Stirke Shad. His reasoning behind his choice was that this balsa bait has a tight wobble and the thin profile of the bait simply catches fish this time of year. My doubts that this technique would work only lasted for about three minutes as Mark quickly hooked up on a solid four plus pound bass. A few casts later he caught another one. I was throwing a Strike King Series 3 crankbait and finally caught one, but Mark kept catching them on the Strike Shad. I finally had enough of getting my butt kicked and decided to tie on a Strike Shad. The weather was relentless as Mark and I fished but it did not seem to bother the bass. It sleeted, rained, and even snowed throughout the day but Mark and I kept on catching them. We were both varying our retrieve. Sometimes the bass would hit the bait on the pause and others wanted it moving fairly fast. When they hit the bait, they slammed it. We had a blast catching them. In all we caught over twenty bass with our best five weighing around 16 pounds. The camera crew was very pleased that they got enough to do a show and we were all happy to get off the lake. It was a great day of fishing despite the weather conditions. Mark credited his success on two things. One was his rod. One thing that Mark stresses is the use of a fiberglass rod. Because the action is much slower, it enables the bass to really grab the lure and suck it in before he sets the hook. He feels that his Power Tackle crankbait rod is the best on the market. The other is his bait selection. The Strike Shad will out fish almost any other crankbait during this time of year. It has a subtle wobble and this bait mimics a shad perfectly. I credit some of my success, besides following Mark’s lead, was throwing eight pound Vicious Ultimate line on an Ardent XS1000 reel. I was able to cast far and fairly accurate even in the windy conditions. Confidence in your equipment makes all the difference in the world. I always learn something when I get to fish with Mark and being able to do a show with him was even more rewarding. Even when it is cold, windy, and snowing, the bass will bite. Get out and experience some great winter time bass fishing. Just make sure to throw a Strike Shad and bundle up.