.png)
MIKE IACONELLI'S NEVER FAIL PRE SPAWN PATTERN
Mike Iaconelli's Never Fail Pre-Spawn Pattern
I've been using a prespawn pattern for a while now that works just about everywhere in the country. It produced for me at the Cherokee Lake Elite in what turned out to be one of my best starts in years. It was almost like I was confused. I was fishing an early tournament, and I didn't have the weekend off. So anyway, I had two patterns going. One was a deep smallmouth bite and one was a shallow largemouth bite. We're going to talk about the largemouth pattern right now. It's the perfect time of the year to share it. The first consideration with this pattern is water temperature. It works best in water that's between 45 and 49 degrees, but there is some flexibility in those numbers. The real key is that they're just starting to move.
Location:
In most of our reservoirs there are areas of flat rocks. They're kind of like flat tabletops that lay on top of each other. Some are thin and tight while others are thick and lose. And, they're made out of all different kinds of rock. None of that is all that important, however. What is important is that they need to start in fairly deep water and stretch back into shallow backwater areas and hollows. The most productive places stretch for a distance and then stop before they reach the shore. The bass hang out between the last line or row of rocks and the shore. It doesn't take much water to hold them. I've caught them in water so shallow I couldn't believe I didn't see their fins sticking up, and I've caught them as deep as 5 feet. A good guess would be that they use those rocks as staging markers in front of their beds while they wait for the water to warm enough so that they can lay their eggs. No matter the why, however, it's enough to know they will be there. I fished a lot of these places in Cherokee without having prefished them or even having found them in practice. I just ran around looking during the tournament when my bite got tough. When I found one I fished it. The pattern is that reliable.
Lure Selection:
My best lure was probably a Rapala DT6 crankbait in a shad color. I'd throw it right up against the shore and bring it back somewhere between slow and medium. This plug runs deeper than the water I was fishing. It really kicked up a fuss. They slammed it. Another lure that worked for me was a Missile Jigs Mini Flip - 1/2 ounce - in a crawfish color. I'd throw it all the way up on the bank and bring it back with a real slow crawl. I tried to match the local forage with both of these baits. That's what I do when I'm fishing this pattern anywhere. It's important that the plug or jig look natural. These are feeding bass. There aren't a lot of things that work everywhere. Usually there's a special, local thing that works better than anything else. This isn't one of them. I'm telling you, do this in the early spring and you'll catch them.
Rapala Ike's Custom Ink DT Series Crankbaits
Missile Jigs Ike's Mini Flip Jig
Berkley Powerbait Chigger Craw
Berkley Havoc Klein's 3" The Deuce Double Tail Grub
Catching Pre-Spawn Bass in The Grass
Bass by nature are attracted to vegetation (weeds, grass etc.) not only to ambush their prey but also for the life sustaining benefits it provides. It's no doubt bodies of water that have vegetation support healthy and large populations of bass but it also comes with the price of figuring out how to approach and locate bass in a maze of seemingly endless options
Location:
When faced with the decision of where to start, I base my answer on what seasonal pattern the bass will be in - right now we are dealing with pre-spawn. Knowing this helps Êeliminate water and focus on key areas where bass will stage up during pre-spawn, which include secondary points in major creeks, ditches and changes in bottom contour or composition. These would be good starting points on any lake regardless if it has vegetation or not. But we are dealing with vegetation and we'll focus our attention on it. It's important to do some pre trip map study, I'll choose multiple areas prior to visiting the lake. Once on the water and determine the presence or non-existence of vegetation it will narrow my search.
Let's take things a step further as there are many different scenarios with the types of vegetation, depth, density as well as combinations or vegetation type. This is what makes fishing grass so much fun and complex at the same time. Typically, it will take a little investigation with rod, reel and baits to develop a pattern. Regardless of the actual type of vegetation the two things that are most important are irregularities in the vegetation type and isolation. Bass are drawn towards both scenarios because it's something different. I have seen countless times where there is a large expanse of grass with just a straight edge but in a small area that juts out, dips in or just makes an irregular pattern which is where you start getting bit. The same holds true for isolated vegetation whether it's isolated grass clumps, lily pad patches or some other type. If it is all by itself, you need to fish it. At times, this situation can result in a big bass.
Lure Selection:
My typical style is to fish reaction baits first and then slow down and try to catch a few more a few more fish. Bass use this cover to ambush prey so it only makes sense to exploit that with some type of reaction bait. Although there is an endless list of offerings, I try and keep things simple at first then expand if I need to. First take into consideration what the terrain looks like. If I am in Florida where there is usually a greater amount of vegetation and vast areas of dense cover and possibly thick mats I start by fishing the edges with a spinnerbait or Chatterbait looking for irregularities. Recently I have been catching some good fish on the Chatterbait with the new Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits Zako swimbait - a 4inch fat body, segmented tail swimbait - this bait has an incredible action. When the wind comes up I'll opt for the spinnerbait feeling the Chatterbait works better when there is less wind or calm conditions.
A second situation I might encounter includes some of the more northern lakes like Lake Guntersville and others where there is a presence of vegetation but it's just not that thick yet and maybe a situation where there's sparse growth on the bottom. This is when a technique call ticking the grass can be deadly and quite simple with the right equipment. I'm simply going to fan cast a 1/2oz or 7/8oz Rapala Rippin' Rap, winding at a fairly brisk pace until the bait encounters the submerged grass at which point I am going to "rip" the bait out of the grass working to trigger a strike. I fish 17 to 20-pound fluorocarbon or 30-pound braid if it's getting hung up too often with fluoro. Monofilament doesn't work well because the line stretches too much and your bait will get hung up in the grass.
all tackle and baits are available here >> free Shipping over $50.00
To hear all the anglers do seminars, talk about tips and tactics, The Bass College, and see on the water instructions and tactics, click here.
