Coaxing Spawning Bass On Crowded Lakes

It's that time of year where BASS pros and BassFans alike have one thing on their minds: The Bassmaster Classic. The hype is ramping up and soon the wire will be buzzing with Classic previews, pundit picks and interviews with the anglers.

The Classic is such a monumental event that it's easy to forget the first Bassmaster Elite Series event of the season at Florida's Harris Chain of Lakes is coming up just 2 short weeks after its conclusion.

Of course, the Classic is the biggest slice of pie on Florida native Peter Thliveros' plate right now, but he's already thinking through scenarios for the Harris stop. Thliveros is forecasting three certainties for that event: the bass will be in all stages of the spawn, the water's still going to be low, and it's going to be crowded.

It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that trying to catch spawning fish on a relatively small, crowded lake that's dropped below pool can make for a frustrating outing. But Thliveros has a few techniques that can help put bass in your livewell, even on the toughest of days.

Here's his tips for beating the crowds when the spawn is on.

Sight-Fishing's for Suckers

When most people think spawning fish, they think beds. And when they think beds, they think sight-fishing. But Thliveros isn't a fan of sight-casting to bedding bass. He feels it's "one of the most frustrating ways to try to catch a bass - especially during a tournament.

"You'll probably never find me trying to sneak up on some shy bass that's sitting on a bed," he said. "Unless I'm about 99-percent sure that fish is going to bite, I'm not going to bother with it. You can spend 4 hours on a single fish and never get a bite. I just can't make myself do that during a tournament."

But make no mistake - he still fishes for spawners, just not the ones he can see.

"People don't realize that if you're on the water, at least in the south, from late February all the way through April, you're catching fish that are in some stage of the spawn," he noted. "Just because you're not catching that fish off a bed doesn't mean it's not a spawning fish.

"I'll go and look for beds, but I don't sit there and try to catch that exact fish. If I find a good cove or flat that has some beds in it, I'll move out a little deeper and start fishing the general area around those beds.

"Some guys say that blind-casting during the spawn is sort of a waste of time, but I see it the other way," he added. "When you're sight-fishing, that bass sees you. She knows you're there. If I'm in an area that I know is holding spawning fish, I'd rather fish a presentation that doesn't alert them to my presence."

Slow and Steady

Thliveros said Harris is the kind of lake "where there aren't many secrets or special ways to catch them," and believes that to hold especially true when the bass are in spawning mode. With that in mind, he's already preparing himself for what he thinks will be a crowded, close-quarters type of tournament on the Harris Chain.

"Harris is like all those other Florida lakes," he said. "It's just shallow and featureless for the most part. There aren't a whole lot of secret holes or anything like that. It's going to be a tough tournament, and a lot of guys will probably be fighting over the same fish. The guy who wins is just going to figure out how to catch them better than everybody else."

He predicts a lot of pros will be bouncing around form spot to spot in search of bedding fish that'll bite, but his plan is to stay put and grind it out.

"When fishing pressure is high and bass get crowded, I usually do the opposite of everybody else," he said. "On Harris, I'll probably just try to give those bass the slowest presentation they've seen.

"Sometimes I'll throw a Carolina-rig in that situation, but most of the time it's a Texas-rig. My favorite baits are a 10-inch Zoom Ole Monster, a Baby Brush Hog, or a Critter Craw. The Trick Worm is another bait that's tough to beat."

Slow is a relative term, but when he knows spawning fish are in the area, he said he tries to let the bait sit for 30 to 45 seconds before he moves it.

"That takes a lot of discipline," he noted. "On tournament day your mind is telling you, 'Speed up. Speed up. Speed up.' You have to make a decision before you leave the dock and tell yourself, 'Okay, I'm not going to rush it today.' Think to yourself, 'Slow. Slow. Slow.'

"I'll be sitting in a spot and watch four or five boats come and go, and I'll never move. They come in and make a few casts, they might catch a single fish, and then they're gone. What they don't know is that I've been sitting there and caught four fish in that one spot they just left."

Topwater Trickery

Another bait Thliveros is particularly fond of when bass are slow to bite is a topwater. He employs a "century-old Florida technique" to coax bites from finicky fish.

"Throw it out, twitch it, and let the ripples disappear," he said. "That's a time-honored Florida tradition. A lot of guys think it's just a saying, but it works. The old Rapala 11S and 11G both work really well for that technique.

"That's the classic crippled-minnow imitation, and bass can't stand it. Most guys won't take the time to fish that slow, but I've seen that technique work on Okeechobee, St. Johns and Harris. It's a great way to catch a limit when things are slow."

Notable

> Thliveros doesn't get too creative with the color selections on his plastics. "I mainly throw junebug, black and blue, and watermelon-red. Color isn't as important as presentation. Keep it slow."

> He's already off to a good start for the 2008 season. He won the BASS Southern Open at the St. Johns river last month.

> About the big-bag potential of the Harris event, he said: "We're hitting it at a good time so the possibility of a big bag is certainly there. But I think with the low water and all those boats running around that the fish will be shy. We'll probably see some big bags on day 1, but after that it should taper off."