Rock it for smallies
BY NICK SIMONSON
DAKOTA EDGE OUTDOORS
Springtime is primetime for smallies and the best way to turn things up for brown bass is knowing where they will be this time of year. As waters warm, smallmouth bass make
a surge into the shallows and the prime substrate they relate to is an area with gravel and varied sizes of rock. From a natural boulder field to a man-made stretch of rip-rap,
these areas become havens for spring smallies set to spawn in skinny water. What draws them there is a combination of the things that rocks provide including warmth, food and
cover, and when all three come together, it makes for an ideal nesting site. Exploring these places for some of the year’s fastest fishing doesn’t require anything fancy, but there are a few tricks for getting into the strike zone amidst the craggy cover. As spring water warms under sunny skies, smallies may make several forays before setting up shop in the
shallows. As cold fronts, cloud cover and windy days throw some chaos into the spring pattern, work to target those times before the weather shift to explore rocky shallows
where bass are headed from late April into early May.
