This makes them very suseptable to astute anglers. Old' Man Winter's icy grip on lakes, pond and rivers. Shallow bays and coves along the northern sections of bank should be the first place you wet your bait or lure. Because these places receive the most direct exposure to the warming rays of the low-angled spring sun, making surface water temperatures in these regions much warmer than on most other areas of the body of water. And it is here that largemouth bass, crappie and channel catfish go on their first feeding sprees of the open water season, gorging on a variety of plankton, baitfish and crayfish that swarm in the warming waters of these areas.
Spring is also the time when most fish spawn.
This, too, pulls fish shallow and oftentime congregates them, particularlly in river systems. In rivers, white bass and walleye, for example, often pile up in the pools below riffles or, if the river has a dam, in tailwater areas.