Thrift Keeps It Moving as Carolina Bass Transition from Late Winter to Spring
North Carolina’s Bryan Thrift honed his skills fishing dock-heavy North Carolina lakes like Lake Norman and Lake Wylie. Unsurprisingly, the MLF pro’s approach to fishing the Carolinas as winter turns to spring is to “keep it moving” on high-percentage locations that have proven to position bass year after year.
The Changing of the Seasons
According to Thrift, the Carolinas don’t experience a long winter before bass begin to make their move toward the spring spawn.
“(Late winter) is when the fish start getting into the prespawn and that’s the best time of the year to get on big fish,” Thrift says. “I’m not going to say it’s easy, but the big ones become more predictable this time of year and they’re more susceptible to being caught.”
Thrift is right at home at North Carolina lakes like Norman, but he says similar things happen in both North and South Carolina.
“Most of our lakes are clear and heavily developed,” Thrift says. “Lake Norman, Lake Wylie, Lake Murray, and even Lake Hartwell all have some of the same characteristics. Even though Hartwell has blueback herring and the bass will chase them all over, they use the same traditional prespawn locations. All of those lakes have a lot of manmade objects like riprap, boat docks, and seawalls to target.”
This type of manmade cover is a key part of Thrift’s plan this time of year.
“During the prespawn, the bass will be sitting out in the middle of a creek channel or a channel on the main river,” he begins. “They’ll pop up from that deep water to the first little rocky point or point in a seawall to feed. They’ll also transition from the ditches and drains to the first shallow hard cover they find.”
On the Move
Thrift is known for how quickly he covers water, and that’s no exception when he fishes the Carolinas during early spring. Jerkbaits, ChatterBaits, and crankbaits get a workout from Thrift this time of year, and he’ll also occasionally mix in a swimbait.
“The best days are those with nasty weather from some sort of system rolling through,” Thrift shares. “Most of the lakes in the Carolinas are clear and that helps get those fish comfortable moving to shallow water. Rain, wind, or even some snow can really help the bite. But if it’s flat calm and sunny, you can also do well on a swimbait with a jighead.”
With his fast-paced approach, Thrift knows that he can quickly catch a boatload of fish if he hits the right spot with perfect timing.
“It can be a lot of fun this time of year, and you might get four or five bites in a row,” Thrift says. “It’s also a little unique because you might catch a big spotted bass one cast and a big largemouth on the next. They use the same (cover) at the same time as they get ready to spawn.”