Spring Smallmouth Heaven: Learn These Lake Smallmouth Spring Tips

Credit Pete Weber

It’s the time of year to catch some trophy smallmouth bass so get out and go for it. I was reading this article about some of the great smallmouth fisheries in Kentucky and wanted to share these tips with you.

What kind of fun can you have in spring??! Let Chris and Blaine show you here!

Lake Smallmouth Spring Tips

Female smallmouth bass in lakes such as Laurel River Lake, Green River Lake, Lake Cumberland and Kentucky Lake grow hungry in early spring as water temperatures slowly warm to 50 degrees. The water temperatures in these lakes range from the mid to high 40s right now.

Points near the old river or major creek channel are great places to start prospecting for early March smallmouths.

Slowly probe these points with a 3/8-ounce black hair jig with no trailer, letting the lure settle on each rock shelf of the point as it sinks. A tailspinner fluttering down the sides of these points draws strikes from large smallmouths.

Points that extend out into the lake and coves with a channel near their mouths are great places to try. Small silver and blue swimbaits worked slowly down points work well right now on Laurel. Swimming a 4-inch pearl curly-tailed grub across channel drops in the coves draws smallmouths in early March as well on this lake.

Slowly work a tailspinner just above bottom right in the heart of the small v-shaped coves along the main lake and in the mouths of major creek arms for Cumberland smallmouths. A tailspinner sliced across the adjacent points of these little coves also produces strikes.  For the full article…

The take home message here is to try these following approaches:

  1. Go slow and work a hair jig near points adjacent to creek channels.
  2. Try swimbaits and grubs in coves and points extending into the main lake.
  3. If the water is cold and deep, try ripping a blade bait off the bottom.
  4. Use suspending jerkbaits on points near channels.

Kentucky has some great spring smallmouth bass fishing but you probably do too in your home state. Take these tips and apply them to wherever you live and fish and let us know how you do this spring!

Tight lines!

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