By Steve Price

In the spring, more bass fishermen will probably catch more and larger fish than at any other time of the year. That"s because during the spring season, bass move into shallow water and are readily accessible - and susceptible - to a variety of lures.

At the same time, just because bass are moving shallow it does not mean they're going to be along every shoreline and in every cove. "Spring fishing can be more difficult and frustrating than you'd think," explains former Bass Masters Classic champion Denny Brauer. "Bass will spawn in a lot of different places and also at different depths.

I've seen them build spawning beds in three feet of water and also in 15 feet of water - on the same lake and at the same time. They don't limit themselves to hard, gravel bottom, either. On some lakes, bass literally spawn on tree limbs.

There are two primary facts to remember about locating spring bass, the Daiwa pro emphasizes. The first is to study the lake's past history, because bass do tend to utilize the same spawning areas year after year; the second is to study the lake itself to learn the primary type of habitat available to the fish. "Bass use the same areas for spawning each year because the conditions in that area are right for them," says Brauer.

Those conditions may not be readily apparent to us, but the bass see them. For instance, I remember fishing trips to Sam Rayburn Reservoir in Texas during both high and low water conditions. In the low water many of the prime spawning flats were exposed and it was easy to see why bass utilized them.

There were ditches, stumps, and hard bottom, all with nearby deep water access. "At the same time, it was also easy to see why other flats or points were not productive, simply because they did not offer these same conditions." Trying to get a clear picture of the lake itself is also critical, continues Brauer, especially if an angler has not previously fished it.

Bass nearly always spawn near some kind of object, for example, so a fishermen should try to determine what objects are more common. "The ideal bottom is usually hard sand, clay, or gravel that is free of silt and mud," Brauer explains. "So that's always a good place to look for initially. Then, look for vegetation, because bass will use the edge of a grassline. If there isn't vegetation, look for stumps, standing timber, rocks. lily pads, even tree roots. Bass use what is available." Lake maps can be a big help in locating potential spawning areas, he adds.

Good topographic maps will indicate flats ( there will be a wide space between the contour lines) and some maps will also show the presence of vegetation, stumps and timber, or other structure . Water temperature is another variable that must also be considered. Bass will begin moving shallow when water temperatures reach the mid-50's although actual spawning does not normally begin until temperatures make it into the 60"s.

The upper ends of lakes usually have these warmer temperatures sooner because the water is more shallow there, so in early spring Brauer suggests concentrating in upper lake bays and tributaries. As the season progresses, lower lake coves will begin to produce. "A number of lures can be used to help identify spawning areas," notes Brauer, "including crankbaits, jerkbaits, Carolina rig lizards and tube jigs, and spinnerbaits. "These are lures you can use to cover a lot of water quickly and both crankbaits and Carolina rigs will help give you a picture of the bottom.

Initially, you may have to do a lot of blind casting, but once you catch several bass you can study the area and the water where the fish were caught, and pretty well know if you're catching spawning fish."

Some of Brauer's favorite places to work for spawning areas are on secondary points within large tributaries, especially those along a northern shoreline. Such places are protected and thus will often have more stable water temperatures. Brauer prefers a 7 1 /2-foot Team Daiwa rod, matched with his 103HVA Team Daiwa reel, which has a 6.3:1 gear ratio.

One reason he likes this particular reel is because with his fishing style - pitching and flipping - it takes up line faster on each retrieve so he can make more presentations. "In the spring, using the right tackle is doubly important because of the possibility of catching really big bass," he says. "You don't ever know when a 10-pound largemouth is going to hit, but this time of year the chances of hooking a bass that size are better than at any other time, so you have to be ready for it.

Just a few weeks age at Lake Okeechobee, an angler lost an eight pound bass that probably would have won a national tournament for him, when the fish broke his 10-pound test line." Heavier tackle is also appropriate, Brauer concludes, because more often than not spring bass will be around stumps, in vegetation, or near rocks, and because the water will be shallow, these are the places spawning bass will immediately head when they're hooked .