Pre-spawn Crankbait Pattern

Today we continued fishing a crankbait pattern on rock. A cold front passed through 2 days ago with night time temps below freezing. This dropped the surface temp from 52 last week to 47 this morning. The morning bite was slow to non existent. But, as this time of year goes, the afternoon bite kicked in as this sunny day progressed. Man made rip rap this time of year is a very consistent pattern. The rock absorbs the heat from sunny skies and the slight increase in surface temp can trigger some fast action. We caught 7 keepers in about an hour with the biggest just under 6 lbs. This is a pattern that pays off when you stick to it. Although we fished this pattern all day long, it was never in the same areas. When we fished long stretches with no success, we moved to another area of the lake. When we got our first bite, another keeper would follow. After covering more water without a bite, we passed back through where we caught fish and caught several more. Covering water to get your first bite and slowing down and passing through it multiple times can yield nice limits during the pre spawn. Good fishing - Steve.