When bass first move shallow after ice-out, their behavior is driven by feeding, rather than spawning. In North Country lakes, it generally takes weeks to a month for the water to warm 20 to 30 degrees to trigger spawning-related behavior. Until then, it’s all about bass dining on something tasty in the shallows.

At some point, however, male bass switch from chowing down to building nests. These are often constructed in or near the same areas when early feeding occurred, depending on available options. Eventually, females join males in nesting sites to commence active spawning.

Once spawning is complete, males typically remain on the nest for 10 days to 2 weeks to protect the developing eggs from hungry predators like bluegills and perch. After the eggs hatch, males linger, attempting to protect swarms of defenseless fry from relentless panfish trying to eat them. As they do, females disperse to post-spawn locales to rest, feed and regain their strength after the spawning ordeal. Eventually, males give up their guard duty and rejoin females to feed, recuperate and begin seeking suitable habitat for the summer season.

While largemouths and smallmouths exhibit somewhat similar spawning behavior, they typically do so in different areas, often with little overlap, each according to their basic nature. As such, you must target each species separately, rather than expecting to catch both in the same areas and using the same lures.

Smallmouths

Smallmouths begin entering the shallows at or shortly after ice-out, and potentially begin feeding right away. Initially, they move up to the tops of shallow, main-lake flats, poking their noses a short distance atop areas with mixed sand, rock and boulders. As they become more aggressive, they typically shift shoreward, spreading out along near-shore areas with 2 to 6 feet of water. (Or perhaps a bit deeper in lakes with gin-clear water.)

Early on, smallmouths willingly strike a variety of subtle lures and retrieves. Neutral-buoyancy minnowbaits like 4-inch X-Raps and Pointers are stellar. Work them with slow pulls of the rod tip interspersed with pauses to allow the lure to suspend in place, daring a watching smallmouth to strike.

Subtle swimming jigs combined with 4-inch paddle-tail minnows and grubs are deadly. So are #2 straight-shaft Mepps or Panther Martin spinners. Toss spinnerbaits and shad-shaped crankbaits into the mix as well. Use slow, fairly steady retrieves to cover water, locate bass and trigger strikes in cold water.

As water temps rise into the mid- to high 50s, bass begin shifting to spawning-related activities. Smallies begin concentrating in areas with the right blend of depth, bottom content and cover where the males sweep out pit-type nests in the sandy bottom, preferably adjacent to some form of protective cover like a boulder, stump or log. Rather than remaining spread throughout large areas, spawning activity is typically focused in limited spots that attract large numbers of fish.

As this occurs, smallmouths begin switching from aggressive feeding behavior where they chase and strike horizontal swimming lures, to a defensive posture where they hunker down and protect their immediate nesting area. They may now ignore swimming lures passing directly overhead, but will still strike lures presented vertically, directly down into their nesting sites.

Switch to hair jigs, tube jigs, wacky worms or other sinking lures that you can subtly pitch to their locations and drop to the bottom. Let them rest a while, then impart a bit of movement or wiggle before coming to rest again. Be patient. You’re trying to tempt a bite rather than trigger a strike.

Once this phase begins, expect to catch a mixture of males and females. Once spawning is complete, females seem to vanish. At this point, allow the remaining males to protect nests, and switch your efforts to other species like panfish, pike or walleyes.

Largemouths

In early spring, largemouths typically lag a bit behind smallmouths in exhibiting shallow movement and aggressive feeding behavior. The first early signs of activity begin along main-lake weed edges lying near shallow bays and channels with soft bottom and weed growth. Eventually, bass begin penetrating the shallows in search of warm water, cover and food. Water temperatures in the high 40s and low 50s in these wind-protected shallow areas draw largemouths in numbers.

Because shallow weed cover was mashed flat to the bottom by recent ice cover, the best forms of available cover are either wood in the form of flooded logs, stumps; or shoreline cover like bulrushes, cane, docks, sunken boats, beaver lodges or submerged fallen trees. Lily pad roots and stands of reeds may be available offshore as well. Rock is usually scarce unless it’s a man-made seawall.

Fancast open areas with spinnerbaits, vibrating jigs, swim jigs, or floating-diving, minnow-imitating lures like Original Rapala Minnows. The latter also work well as surface lures; cast out, let them rest until the rings on the surface disperse, then twitch the lure and pause again. Also cast them up near flooded shoreline cover. Strikes are often vicious in the shallows.

As the water warms and bass near spawning, new weed growth begins rising off bottom and thickening, with some weed types emerging. Bass now have more cover options and typically shift toward thicker cover. You can still toss floating lures like weedless frogs. Add weightless Texas-rigged worms and soft plastic jerkbaits to the mix for slow-sinking, snag-resistant presentations in the shallows.

As weeds thicken everywhere, presentation gets a little more challenging as bass construct nests, sweeping out pit-type nests in soft, mucky bottom, often exposing a sandy substrate below. Once they finish spawning and your catch is dominated by males, it indicates that females have left the spawning area and dispersed into emerging weeds in bays or on nearby flats. It’s a good time to go after bluegills which are now actively building nests, often in and around largemouth spawning areas. ‘Gills will also likely spawn along inside weed edges on main-lake shorelines, while late-spawning crappies and ‘gills will both spawn in thick reeds in the main lake.

Similar… yet not the same

As members of the bass family, largemouths and smallmouths share some similar attributes in feeding and spawning behavior during spring. However, they also display enough dissimilar characteristics, particularly when choosing early feeding and spawning sites, that you aren’t likely to catch them in the same areas, using the same tactics. The upshot is that you usually must target them separately, rather than expecting to catch them together.