Bass Behavior And The "rig"

[Guest Bry]

greetings to all,

There were so many comments about the A-rig being legal or not,what about the rig and bass behavior?March is coming. What's that got to do w/ the "rig" and bass behavior you say? Let me explain. When we fish bass tournaments our goal is to catch a limit of the biggest bass we can get, right? More often than not the biggest bass in the lake are females right? Let's focus on the "big girls" since that is what we want in our livewells. Since ,let's say, last Fall the majority of the bass poulation in our area lakes have been feeding off the abundance of shad. When the A-rig word got out last year it won alot of tournaments as you all know. BUT does anyone really stop and consider the time of year it was used? Is that an overlooked very important piece of info.? It could play a major factor in it's success on a seasonal note. It has been producing good limits since. BUT, has anybody fished it around here during early pre-spawn/spawn? Only time will tell if it remains the "go to" choice of the "pro's".

Like I mentioned before, March is coming quickly. Let me share with you what I have learned about female bass feeding habits during this time of yr.

You know the "rig" is trying to imitate a school of shad. It's a "go to" rig for alot of people right now, but is it going to continue to be the "best" offering in the next 4-6 weeks and into April? Maybe, maybe not.. Here's maybe why not...

A female bass WILL change her feeding habits as the days get longer.That's a proven fact. Right now is when a guy/gal needs to consider the fact that what you are trying to catch, the biggest females, are now changing their behaviors. I can't stress enough on how important it is to study and know your bass and it's behavior and feeding habits. Every yr. since I can remember, starting mid-late February ,I focus on my jig fishing. I start fishing the jig more now than I have been all Winter. When the days start getting longer, the " big female" bass in our area reservoirs gradually switch their preference of eating shad to now eating more crawfish and less shad. Simply because the big females are full of eggs that need to develop, and she has to put on more fat to tolerate the spawn further on down the road. Like I said ,this is not a sudden change of behavior ,but a gradual one.

Crawdads have the most "calories" per serving I guess is the best way to explain it. Male bass do not need the extreme extra caloric intake like the females. They are typically smaller and keep eating alot of shad. What's this got to do w/ the A-rig you ask?

It's a real posibility that the A-rig could become less effective at catching the "bigger females" as Spring approaches. Have to wait and see what happens. Just this week I started catching the bigger bass, alot shallower, and more often. It's mid-Feb, time to start jig fishing. I caught an 8lb'er.(pic posted on Bull Shoals forum 2/9 fishing report) and heard of another 8lb. caught on Bull recently.The old lake is doing just fine Both caught on a jig. Is that because it's mid Feb. , the days are getting longer,and their food preference is changing?? Maybe. Will there be more and more females moving "shallower" in March. Absolutely!!

From what I gather, the best way to fish the "rig" right now is deep around suspended fish and shad. Some are doing well fishing it shallow, but the bigger limits caught with the "rig" on Bull, are coming from deeper water I hear. As more and more of the biggest bass in the lake move shallow and start eating crawfish will the weights brought in by the A-rig start to drop some? Will somebody make an A-rig for bottom fishing crawfish baits, yup I already saw some. They might work, but a jig looks so lifelike compared to what they had... and I've never seen a "school" of crawdads swimming around.. Will the guys throwing crawfish imitating baits weights start going up now? I've seen the jig bite dominate tournaments around here in early spring for many many years... will the shad imitating A-rig continue to bring in big bags in March/April ?This is totally new to us so, we just can't say for sure yet. One thing you can count on is the jig bite getting better starting RIGHT NOW!!.

That's why in mid Feb. they start gorging on craws to prepare themselves for spawning. Remember now , I'm talking about the big girls , not 2 and 3 pounders.

I fished Bull 4 days this week.Tue,Wed.Thur., and Fri. Fished a jig all4 days. It was the first time all winter i fished more than 2 or 3 days in a week. I can count the times I've went this winter maybe 10. or 15.

It was a long overdue . Caught a limit every day The weights were easily up there w/ the catches by other people throwing the "rig". Fishing,

is a "head game". Just ask Rick Clunn !!LOL

Thank's for reading,

Bry

(the big gun professional weekend warrior)

lol

[dtrs5kprs]

April may end up being the most interesting. Still a lot of shad eating grub fish caught in March, deep and in transition towards spawn places, at least on TR. No doubt it will vary annually based on our shad kills as well. After throwing swimmers post spawn last year, I am almost scared about using it in May / June.

Will be worth watching to see if it decreases the number of guys bed fishing in April and early May.

Nice post with a lot of good thoughts Bry. Glad to see some Bull Shoals folks contributing over here.

[Feathers and Fins]

Nice write up BRY.

The quest for big bass is something I was on for many years. I did it with Live bait, Crayfish and Waterdogs. It was much more difficult then i could have imagined and more skill involved then I would have thought. Learning the patterns of the big bass and migration paths, learning how to double anchor a boat and most important learning what size bait to use and where to cast it to put it where they would find it.

I swore before that day live bait guys chasing big bass were wimps with no skill. I quickly learned the level of skill and knowledge it took to day in day out catch those bass was addicting and certainly not something for a wimp. Days in freezing cold anchored up trying to outsmart and intercept 1 big bite.

[Chunk Rock]

interesting ....hmmm.

[edyer]

All of my biggest bass have been caught on Table Rock at night as well, but I still like to throw a jig then as well. I have caught a few on spinner baits at night, but the jig is still my number one choice.

[dtrs5kprs]

For me grubs = brown fish, like size but also like a lot of bites. Started catching better blacks on it the last two years, but also throwing it more, in more situations, and I think at more blacks overall.

That said, best fish for me last year were blacks over 6# on 4"-5" inside head swimmers and 3/4oz FB jigs.

Bry, I think you are spot on about the bigger fish moving up earlier, and have felt that way for about the last 20 years. Not something you hear a lot of folks talk about, always focused on temps and waves of fish. I think some of the bigger fish come up based on length of day and moon phase, not quite regardless of temp, but with it as a secondary factor.

Have not done any serious night fishing since way back with Bud Erhardt on a few trips at Bull. Played with it some at TR, but right now there seems to be a good supply of nice blacks to be caught when you can see.