Early spring spiney ray fishing can be very difficult but if you arm yourself with the right knowledge to locate your target species your success rate will increase dramatically. Anglers in general, always believe that the bait is more important then the location. I believe that the location is the most important element in the fishing equation.
Once fish have been located, then the search for the absolute best technique or lure can be carried out. Anglers often feel that they have not had success because they did not have the proper presentation. I can tell you with all confidence that once you locate fish they will take a multitude of offerings. I have personally sat on schools of fish and simply changed color or shapes to keep them biting throughout the day.
The technique that I use to locate spiny rays has to do with locating what I call the percentage triangle. These are high percentage holding areas that fish will use year around. In the spring these areas are like magnets for pre-spawn crappie, walleye, smallmouth, and largemouth. Now you may be asking, what is a percentage triangle and how do I find them, that is what we are going to cover.
My definition of a percentage triangle is any area on a lake, reservoir or river were deepwater meets shallow water. A percentage triangle can be found by scanning the surrounding above water terrain as well as using a topographical map. The above ground terrain that you are looking for will have a steep shoreline that meets a sloping shoreline. Where these two contours meet is were the point of the triangle starts.
On a contour map you will be looking for an area on the map were the contour lines go from tight to wide. At the point were they make the change from tight to wide will be the start of the triangle. These areas are critical because they are near a feeding and spawning flat but they have deep water near by also. This deep water is a comfort zone for them for all of the seasons.
Not all triangles are created equal. When searching for the best triangle to fish I base my location depending on the species that I am after and what needs they have to fulfill. For walleye and smallmouth it may be a bottom composition of rock or sand as for largemouth and crappie it may be brush, cabbage beds or docks.
Lets say that we are looking for largemouth. I am going to try and locate a triangle that has a good feeding and spawning flat as well as available cover such as docks or weed beds. Triangles that have this type of available cover are money.
Once you locate a triangle you need to fish it properly. In the spring of the year when the water is cold, in the low 40’s, I tend to focus my efforts at the tip of the triangle. This is the area were the fish tend to stage. It is possible for these fish to surge onto the flat during a warm day but they will return back to this area at night. In the early spring I always start out on the tip of the triangle and work my way in towards the flat as the season progresses. During the spawn the fish will be on the flat but once post-spawn hits and the water temp hits 60 the big females will move back out to the tip of the triangle near the deep water. This movement is were most anglers loose the big fish for the season.
I receive a lot of e-mails throughout the season and the one that comes up most is why do I only catch big fish in the spring and not during the rest of the season. This is a problem that many anglers have and the reason is because we are taught to fish shallow for warm water fish. By the time most anglers get out in the spring the fish are at their shallowest and they get them because they are concentrated in the shallows. Once the fish go post spawn and the water temps reach the 60 mark the big females move back out to the tip of the triangle. Most anglers continue to fish shallow and they will only catch the smaller males that spend their summer in the shallows. It is important to realize that you need to move back out to the deep water for the rest of the summer. As the water temps start to decrease in the fall the fish will move back towards the flats to stay in contact with the warmer water. As late fall and winter take their grip on the water and the temps cool back into the 40’s the fish move back out to the tip of the triangle and spend the rest of the winter there in the deep water.
Locating these triangles is very simple, you just have to be aware of your surroundings. Once you have located them you just need to stay on top of the fishes’ movements as the seasons change. The beauty of these percentage areas is that once you locate them they will produce year after year. A little trick that I use for fishing for large spiny rays is I constantly look at them as coldwater fish rather then warm-water fish. What I mean by this is I follow the warm-water in and once it hits 60 to 65 I move out to fish the cooler deeper water. Big spiny rays do not like water temps above about 65 so if you follow the water temps and always try to keep the cooler water on your side and find the percentage triangles you will soon be staying in contact with the big boys all through the season.
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