It’s a known fact that as we move into the spawn the bass migrate from point A to the spawning beds like clock-work; the key is to understand your lake (or the lake you’re fishing on) so you can fish the migration. The best way I know how to do this is to start at the spawning areas and start observing your surrounding; where are the main river points, what road beds are in this area, is there grass or stumps along the way?

All this plus your Navionics mapping leads you back out to the depths they have been holding in as they make their way to the spawning beds. If you can unravel the migration you can find fish and have a great day on the water. The keys to all this are different on every lake, if the lake is shallow then migration is probably done through grass points, stump fields and just about any kind of hard bottom or hard bottom structure. If the lake is deep then your paths is more likely to be deep dropping points and many times boat houses, near dropping creeks are the paths you’re looking for. The one constant in all this in my mind is rock; a rocky bank and bottom warms quickly and makes for a universal migration path for bass, no matter what lake your on as the water warms, the rocky areas warm first and the migration path starts near the rock areas.

Some of the most used baits for fishing the migration are crank baits, today with the onset of the square bill crank bait and its ability to bounce off cover makes it a primary choice for me when locating fish migrating to the shallows. I also really like a football head jig, because the bass always stage and move as water temperature increases allowing you to slowly move or drag that football head on the bottom as they slowly migrate with increased water temperature. Migration paths to the spawning areas is key, and you can increase your catches this time of year by fishing the areas bass migrate through to the spawn. 

To fish with Captain Mike Gerry on Lake Guntersville in Alabama visit: www.fishlakeguntersvilleguideservice.com

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