Barry's Tips

As they move off the beds the females will stage to fatten back up and to get rest. Knowing these staging areas will be a big plus to locate good numbers of fish. As a general rule the females move to deeper water while the males guard the bed. These areas won't be far from the bed, so if you know a bedding area look for any type of ledge, point, brush pile, etc that will offer a good ambush point for the tired bass. It should consist of easy access to both shallow and deep water.

They will move up to feed but prefer to stay in place and let the food come to them. So this is where the finesse worms, jigs, or other slow baits should be dangled in their face. Even slow moving topwater baits early in the morning and late in the evening will work. My baits of choice would be, Spooks, Flukes, Trick worms, Buzzbaits, and Chatterbaits.

Timing plays a big factor during this time of the year. We have been out at daylight and wore 'em out and then struggle for a bite the rest of the day. Then on the other hand you might not get that early morning bite and wear 'em out later in the day.

Weather plays a big part in spring time fishing. When cold fronts move through the fish can absolutely get lock jaw. The only answer I give to this problem is get there early and NEVER GIVE UP! Fishing is fishing and if you caught fish every time you go, it would be called catching instead of fishing.

I recently took a guy out to practice for an upcoming tournament and we caught 9 fish that would have easily won him the tournament. The tournament was two days later. The weather stayed the same the first day and he had a good stringer. The second day a cold front moved through and he only caught one fish all day. I have found no matter how much you fish or practice you ain't going to make them bite unless they are ready to feed. You can finesse a bite, but during a tournament you are looking for a limit - not one fish. So keep on doing what you know to do or what you have heard is working for other people - which is good - and NEVER GIVE UP!!!!!!!!

Email me with any questions at Barry@bamabassfishing.com.

Good luck and See Ya,

Barry

I am looking for your favorite marinas, campgrounds and rental cabins for your home lakes to add to this page. Please contact me with your ideas and recommendations. Let's share the wealth with all our fishing friends. Thanks!

Team Duracell pro Michael Bennett of Roseville, Calif., caught a final-round total of 10 bass weighing 27 pounds, 8 ounces to win $125,000 in the $1 million Wal-Mart FLW Tour event on Lewis Smith Lake . "Every fish I weighed all week was a spotted bass," said Bennett, who has now won more than $396,000 in FLW Outdoors events. "I couldn't ask for a more perfect site for a tournament." See full story here ...

Congratulations to Scott Canterbury of Odenville, Alabama for coming in second and winning $50,000! This was his first year on the tour and his second tournament. What a start! See full story here ...

Also in the mix was Jasper, Alabama native, Lynn Oswalt. He won the co-angler title and got a check for $20,000! Congratulations Lynn! See full story here ...

He walked several yards away and drilled another hole and peered into the hole and again the voice said, “There's no fish down there."

He then walked about 50 yards away and drilled another hole and again the voice said, "There's no fish down there."

He looked up into the sky and asked, "God, is that you?"

"No, silly," the voice said, "it's the skating rink manager."

'Til Next Time, Happy Fishin'!