Fish can move alot throughout the day and you have to know where there movements will be and follow them.

Fish can move alot throughout the day and you have to know where there movements will be and follow them

I recently got done fishing an ABA on the Mississippi River. All week I had located a school of females staging on a weedy point. I first found the school casting a blue shimmer shad virashock from karu Lures. I was working a drop off that went from 2’ -6’ with weeds on top and a creek channel between the point and a spawning bay. The temp was 55* degrees, raining and windy. I caught one fish on the way down and threw out a marker buoy. I continued till the end and then came back up the point. Near the end of the point I picked up another on the vibrashock and threw out another buoy. After I the point ended I went back the buoys and started casting a Extreme bluegill poisontail jig. Also by karu lures. With a twin tail spider grub. I didn’t catch anything near the spawning flat, but I hammered them on the point. A couple over 3lbs and several other bites I didn’t set the hook on.
I thought I had a good plan coming into the tournament, but the day before was a bit warmer and then the day of the tournament was sunny and almost 80 degrees. The fish I had found on point were no longer there. With the water temps warming into the 60’s and higher I believe the fish had started to move up shallow so I started working my way up into the shallows. By the end of the day the fish had started pushing up really shallow. I only caught 3 by the time I found them, but they were right where I expected. Moving up into the shallows to start thinking about spawning. Caught them all on a black cherry Vibrashock in less than 2 ft of water.
Here is what I learned. When the water was cold and the day was cold and crappy I found the fish staging between deeper water and a spawning bay. As the water warmed the fish slowly moved from the point towards the spawning bay. Even throughout the day I noticed this change from staging area to spawning area and back to staging area when the water cooled at night. Even though this was on a river system it wouldn’t be much different on a lake. Now I also know where the bass will likely be spawning and when. I can also likely determine that the bass will be staging on or near that same point during the pre-spawn. I noticed the same thing flipping brush. Early in the day they were out on the ends of the laydowns, but by mid day they had pushed up right along shore and deep into the brush. Know where the fish are moving and follow them through the day and you will be more successful in the spring.