Spring

Many bass will now be on flat, protected structure. Large expanses of shallow water are critical (10 feet or less on a lowland reservoir or natural lake, 8 to 20 feet deep on a highland reservoir). Look for areas on a contour map where the lines are spread far apart, not close together.

Not all bass spawn at once. Many will move onto their spawning beds around the new or full moon, or when the sun comes out after a long period of cloudy weather. At the same time many bass are spawning, others will be in a pre- or postspawn mode. Normally, the biggest bass are the first to spawn. You need to make a decision now as to which group of fish you'll target, because different approaches are required for each. 

The upper end and the north side of a reservoir are two major spawning magnets. In spring, the water warms up earliest in the upper end, and later in the lower end. You can therefore target spawning bass in April in the upper end, and May in the lower end.

Again, look for migration routes leading to shallow, protected water. In clear reservoirs and many natural lakes, you'll be able to see bass on their beds; a tube bait is awesome here, as is a floating worm. A soft jerkbait works well for spawners if the water is a bit stained.

Postspawn: 70 to 75 degrees

This is a real tough time to pattern bass. Try to target either the fish that spawned earliest and are moving out toward their summer digs, or the late bedders.

When bass leave their beds, they're likely to hang around their spawning grounds awhile. Cover that's sticking up vertically from the bottom is very important now. They'll hang around boat dock pilings, submerged bushes or the trunk of a standing tree. You'll often see bass suspending near the surface now, looking like they're sunning themselves. Most bass are not very aggressive and won't feed much right after spawning, but they can be tempted to bite a reaction-type lure.

It's real important to keep your presentation up high in the water column, as opposed to bumping bottom. In dirty water, swim a 1/4-ounce jig with a grub trailer — just reel it in, not hop it on bottom. A tandem Colorado or Colorado/Indiana spinnerbait is excellent in stained water. In clear lakes, topwaters work great: try Strike King's Spittin' King and KVD Floating Wild Shiner, or Lucky Craft's Sammy. These stay in the strike zone a long time — a big plus during postspawn.