Transition Time Bass

The bass have setup in the pre-spawn staging areas and I got a lesson from the master. Jim Johnson (champman) invited me to meet him in Dresback for an evening of smallie action. I’ve met a lot of great students of the game, but Jim is the professor of "Bass Movement 101".

Jim had located an inconspicuous looking staging area that was full of smallies. I can assure you there were not visible features that would draw you to this spot. Thursday was warm with strong SE winds to create the "Mississippi Wave". A wind blowing up stream against the current can create huge rollers. When we got to the spot Jim discovered that the steering was out of his electric trolling motor. Apparently, a set-screw in the steering mechanism shook out during the trip and there was no fix. Even just floating around we were able to catch a dozen or so nice fish. The photo is of Jim with a couple of the better fish. The fish can on jerkbaits and soft-plastics on the bottom. Jim was disappointed about the outcome but I was very impressed with what I saw. We went in early and talked fishing over a beer. Jim has all the skills, but what impresses me the most is his ability to figure the movement of fish within their home area. He finds a spot that holds fish and picks it apart till he knows how they will move. He may be the best person I know at that.

Friday was bittersweet. I planned to spend the day on Lake Pepin and refine the smallmouth bite. After 4 hours of looking all I had for my work were 3 smallies and 2 sheepies. I talked to another Pepin regular and his story was about the same. The good thing about the Wabasha area is all the other options. I move down stream into the side channels and came across a major largemouth bite. The photo is of me with the best fish of the day. She weighed in a 5-10. I probably had 20 other quality fish. With a tournament coming up I can’t say much other than the fish aren’t in the wintering areas or the spawning areas.

Sunday was spent looking for other staging areas. When you’re looking for that obscure spot the results aren’t always great. We spent about 8 hours looking and came up with 2 schools of OK smallies. But not the ones that will win any tournaments. The photo is of my tournament partner, George McIntire with miss-proportioned smallies. If this one lives to be 20" now one will be able to handle her.