Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, April 10, 1990 TAG: 9004100040
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Bill Cochran
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
When the weather turns nasty, as it did this past weekend, you have a choice. You can stay home or you can use some of the tricks the tournament winners employ.
To learn how the experts cope with a major cold front, we talked with the top four teams in Saturday's Roanoke Valley Bassmasters Spring Invitational at Smith Mountain Lake. Here's our findings:
\ WIND: The wind frequently is viewed as a foe of the fisherman, but an accomplished angler can make it work for him.
"This is the time of the year when you want to fish the wind if at all possible," Ronnie Lemons said. "You fish the wind-blown banks."
Lemons and his partner, Jim Stephenson, finished second with 26.95 pounds.
A steady wind piles minute organisms along the shoreline. Baitfish are attracted to the organisms; bass to the baitfish.
"When it blows the shad against the banks, it pulls the bass up a little bit," Don Hunziker said.
Hunziker and Steve Grubb were third with 25.30 pounds.
Waves washing the shore also loosen soil and collect debris, which can help camouflage the approach of a fisherman and start the bass feeding.
"The fish feed and hit a little bit better when the water is churned up, I think," Jim Hunziker said.
Jim and his brother, Tom, won the tournament with 28.40 pounds.
\ ROCKS: When you find rocky areas in the spring, you frequently locate bass. Rocks are the habitat of crawfish, a food that bass love, Tom Hunziker said.
Rocks also tend to reflect the sun and, thus, gather heat, something bass like when the water temperature falls, Lemons said.
"We fished mostly rocky creek channels," he said.
\ DOCKS: Boat docks are an excellent place to locate bass, especially if the water is clear.
Not just any boat dock will do. A productive dock will have ample water depth beneath it and be large enough to provide abundant shade and cover. All the better if there is some brush nearby.
"We fished around docks with a little bit of brush around them," David Vair said.
Vair and David Hammond were fourth with 25.15 pounds.
\ SPINNERBAITS: The spinnerbait is a one-lure arsenal in the spring. You can buzz it rapidly across the surface when the water is toasty and the bass active; you can drag it slowly along the bottom when a front puts the bass into low gear.
Vair and Hammond worked their spinnerbaits extremely slow.
"I'm talking about as slow as you can stand it," Vair said. "If you did it any slower, it would hurt."
One-quarter ounce is a prudent weight choice for spinnerbaits, but Jim and Tom Hunziker went to a ]-ounce when the wind made casting difficult.
\ COLOR: Most of the successful tournament fishermen chose chartreuse-colored spinnerbaits. The bright color works especially well when the water is dingy.
"Chartreuse shows up a little bit better where it is muddier," Jim Hunziker said. "I like white in clear water, because it is not so outstandingly bright."
\ DEPTHS: Bass can be anywhere from a foot to a dozen feet deep this time of year. They can change their position from day to day, hour to hour, place to place.
"I would say they were 10 to 12 feet deep," Don Hunziker said of the bass he caught.
"You had to just about throw the spinnerbait up on the bank; they were that shallow," Stephenson said. "We didn't catch a fish over 5 feet deep."
Yes, Stephenson and Hunziker were talking about the same tournament, which brings up still another tip. There are few things that are certain about spring bass angling.
by CNB