Spring
As spring rolls in and the water temperatures start to warm up fish across local lakes and rivers start getting ready for the spring spawn. In Wisconsin, the game fish opener starts up May 4th. Many anglers have been counting down the days to get back out on the water and tangle with some game fish again. This is the time of the year the ice fishing equipment gets put away for the summer and the open water and casting rods come out to play. Spring fishing opener can offer some of the most exciting fishing opportunities of the year. During this season most game fish species are typically up shallow preparing for there annual spring spawn. Game fish such as bass and panfish will make there way into shallow worm gravely water that absorbs sunlight. You can look to find many game fish species this time of year in anywhere from 2-5′ of water.
Fish Location
Fish this time of year will follow the worm heated water and stage there until there spawning duties are over. One of my favorite fish to target this time of year is bass. When bass fishing early spring you can look to find both largemouth and smallmouth bass in similar areas. These fish are typically aggressive and willing biters of most baits. When targeting early season bass I prefer to use finesse style lures. My go-to technique for spring bass is a drop shot rig. This rig has outproduced many lures for me on many occasions. The drop shot is also an extremely versatile lure, you can fish this with most plastics and live bait. When using the drop shot rig I like to use six-pound fluorocarbon. When it comes to the line I prefer to use seaguar invizx to get the job done.
Presentation
Generally, I will fish this bait extremely slow off the bottom. One of the unique things about fishing this time of year is you get a chance to come out and sight fish. When the water is warmer near the shorelines you can typically see many of fish species up shallow cruising around. It’s almost like fishing in an aquarium. Another effective way to catch bass this time of year is by casting a wacky worm. This is an easy rig to use and catches many fish. The way I like to rig a wacky worm is by using a number four hook to ten-pound fluorocarbon line. I typically fish this rig on a spinning reel, this allows me to get the maximum sensitivity out of my presentation. Be sure to take full advantage of the spring fishing near you, its a blast!