B T A ARS GSETING
Story & Photos
BY RICKY SHABAZZ
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T
he excitement of spring is upon us. The
transition between winter and spring time
means that many of the big female bass in
our Western lakes have begun the pre- spawn ritual of finding places to
stage before moving into
the spawning grounds.
The challenge is that
many of our Western
lakes are experiencing
extremely low water
levels and many are void
of overhead cover for
female bass to stage
as they make
their
18
annual migration routes from deeper water to spawning flats. A select group of anglers have figured out a way to target pre-spawn bass on obvious targets that tend to be overlooked by other anglers.
DVL
Commonly referred to by locals as DVL,
Diamond Valley Lake in Hemet, Calif. is
down almost 100 feet. It is all but void of
overhead structure for big females to
stop on as they migrate into shallow
water during the spawn.
Some anglers have learned to target
larger staging female bass on the lake’s
remaining obvious, yet often overlooked manufactured targets. DVL has several man-made targets such as floating bathrooms, ladders, buoys and a long dock that is located at the entrance to the lone marina on the lake. These manufactured targets offer staging female bass safety and shade as they make their way into shallow water to spawn. Many of the bass in our western lakes have become
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