It doesn’t matter if you’re fishing in a kayak, bass boat, canoe, or on foot, the month of May brings days of quality and quantity. Fish are on the move.
This is the one time of the year where you can find bass in all three stages: pre-spawn, spawn, and post-spawn. Many anglers have the habit of immediately moving shallow and looking for fish on beds. However, if you take a more methodical approach, you will add many more bites to your day by establishing a pattern you might have otherwise overlooked. This holds true for bank fishermen as well as boat fishermen.
Take a look at the body of water you are going to fish beforehand and map out the spawning areas. Shallow flats, structured shorelines, creeks, and coves are all prime areas to find spawning fish. But where do those fish come from? There is usually a path bass follow to get to their spawning areas from their winter holding locations. Search for a drop-off that leads to deep water at the edge of a spawning flat. Look for the creek channel that leads into a cove. Find structure and cover such as brush piles or grass clumps that sit in deeper water off the bank.
Pre-spawn fish use these areas as rest stops on their way to their spawning areas. If you can find these paths or stopping points you will find fish in transition that are still making their way to the shallows. Finding these fish can be a complete game changer. Many other anglers will be beating the bank, looking for spawners and shallow fish, while you catch fat pre-spawn fish.
For the spawners, most of us know how that works. Find the prime spawning areas and look for disturbances on the bottom. If you’re fishing for bass on their beds in a pressured lake and a bass is being very stubborn, there is a good chance someone had already hooked it. It may be wise to move on for the health of that female bass trying to release her eggs. If it’s not the bass of a lifetime, you are better off letting her do her thing. However, one great tip I have for locating a spawning bass of a lifetime is throwing a large bait around shallow structure. A glide bait, spinner bait, swimbait, or wake bait has the drawing power to pull a huge bass off her bed and show herself. Start with a smaller bait and see how she reacts. Again, always take care of spawning fish as they are vital to the future of your body of water.
The third stage is post-spawn. Although these are usually not personal-best-breaking fish in May, they are my favorites this time of year. Post-spawn bass in May are extremely aggressive and want to eat. Topwaters, reaction baits, and large baits all play with these fish. Find them around bluegill beds, bait-abundant areas, and structure. Weather windows also play a role because conditions can favor one stage over the others. High-wind days favor the pre- and post-spawn bite. Throwing reaction baits like chatterbaits, crankbaits, and spinnerbaits in wind-blown areas will produce. On sunny, calm days, sight fish. On calm, overcast days, the early post-spawn and late pre-spawn bite really open as well.
Take all three stages into consideration when going bass fishing this time of year. Keeping an open mind will increase the quality of your days and often bring more opportunities for catching fish.
