HIDE & SEEK BASS

Fach spring, adult largemouths go through three critical reproductive phases: pre-spawn, spawn and post-spawn. While winter and summer are fairly distinct and uniform periods of time, the springtime spawn phases for largemouths are more nebulous and overlap considerably.

Timing for the spawn varies by latitude and elevation. And, depending on late-spring weather, the spawn’s timing in one lake can vary slightly from year to year. By breaking the spawn phases down and taking a deep dive into each of them, we not only gain a better understanding of how bass behave in these three phases, we ultimately catch more fish. After all, any time we hit the water—regardless of the time the year—identifying the proper seasonal patterns is the first step to success. It tells us where to start, and nothing’s more important than that.

SOME BASICS

Whereas July and August are clearly summer and December and January are obviously winter, once temperatures warm into the low 50s, the pre-spawn is on and the line between it and the spawn proper