Dazed by the Phase

HOPE SPRINGS ETERNAL.

Or so we are led to believe. Especially in spring.

One problem, however. For bass fishermen, it’s not really one season, it’s three — three interlaced phases of the spawn, guided and altered and frequently mangled by weather, water and the sometimes fickle nature of our finned adversaries.

The prespawn, spawn and postspawn stages are rarely distinct, overlapping one into the other like the subtle pastels of a watercolor but without the relaxing result. From lake to lake, region to region, year to year, the exact formula for success is always a work in progress.

For most, it’s not so much about where to start as it is about what to do once you get there. It’s generally a case for trusting what you see, and the answer is often the same: Go shallow.

“If there are fish on beds, my tournament will always revolve around bed fish. It’s my most confident way to fish,” responds Bassmaster Elite Series pro Kyle Welcher of Alabama. “That said, you have places where bass spawn sporadically, like Florida. They spawn over several months, so you don’t have a huge wave of fish