It seems that the weather has been more up and down this year than usual, which makes it even harder to get dialed in to where the bass are and what they’re doing. Despite the dramatic weather swings this spring, though, the fish in general are gradually moving up toward their spawning areas.

With the erratic weather in mind, some of the best places to count on now are transition banks, places where one type of bottom gives way to another or where there are depth changes. For instance, this might be where a bluff bank transitions into a more angled bottom, or where that last little bit of deep water in the back of a bay bumps up against a shallow flat. Bass stage in areas like these.

When we have a couple of days of cooler, cloudy weather, a lot of times the fish will back off into the deeper water and take an umbrella rig or a suspending Rapala Husky Jerk. If there’s a stretch of warmer, sunny weather, the bass might spread out over a flat where you can catch them on a Shad Rap or Rippin’ Rap. When you fish a transition bank in early spring, try it all – there’s no set rule. Sometimes a slight adjustment of a few hundred yards and a lure change can make all the difference.

—- OFF! pro Terry Bolton, Paducah, Ky.