Pittman pointed out that bass typically move into any small pockets or dead-end canals off the main rivers to spawn. And, according to him, it's not uncommon to find two bass spawning in one pocket but then to see no other fish on the bed for another three or four pockets.

"These bass don't spawn on anything in particular like bass might in other waters," Pittman said. "They could be on cypress trees, laydowns, logs stumps -- whatever they find suitable for spawning in whatever pocket they decide to move into."

Since these spawning bass are so scattered and sporadic, Pittman recommends quickly covering water with fast moving baits like spinnerbaits and small crankbaits. The trick is to get a bass to give up its location with a stroke or swirl. Once a fish gives up its location anglers can circle back later and work the area more methodically with slower-moving lures like Texas-rigged soft plastics or soft sinking baits like the Senko.

"The main problem with this kind of fishing is that the north winds after a cold front can push a lot of water out of these rivers and back into the lake," Pittman added. "It becomes a scramble at that point, and all you can really do is hope that some of the bass were smart enough to spawn in deeper water."

SOUTHWEST LOUISIANA
While there aren't as many options in southwest Louisiana, this corner of the state sets up as very similar to southeast Louisiana. The only options are either the coastal marsh or the interior rivers that flow into the marsh. With the huge storm surge that pushed into the marshes from Hurricane Ike, the two main fisheries this year are the Mermentau River and the Calcasieu River.

"I took part in a study down at the Lacassine reservoir two years ago," said 10-time Louisiana BASS Federation state team qualifier Dennis Tie­tje. "It was to see if the area was ready to open to the public after Hurricane Rita. The one things that stands out from that study is that the 10 of us that fished for four hours found bass on the beds in late January."

The problem with the southwest Louisiana marshes, though, is that even now they don't open to the public until March 15, which is just about the end of the marsh bass spawn. So even if the marshes bounced back quickly from Ike, the rivers are still offering the most consistent, if not the only, spawning bass fishing in this part of the state.

Weather permitting, anglers can find bass spawning as early as February in the rivers. Finding the early spawners means finding pockets of shallow, clear water, which can be difficult at best with the late-winter rains that Louisiana typically gets.

"If we get a lot of rain during February it could put the spawn off as much as a month," said Tietje. "To me, this water around here isn't the kind of water bass need to spawn. But if you can find that good water, you'll find spawning fish. The best places to look for the right water is the back of the dead end canals on either the Mermentau or the Calcasieu."