An early-morning shad spawn bite was a factor at Lake Conroe during the Bassmaster Classic and again at Toledo Bend Reservoir three weeks ago. The same is occurring before the sun gets high at Ross Barnett this week. However, it may be more of a factor in this tournament than the other two. That’s because it has been tough to get bites later in the day here, at least during practice earlier this week.
Jordan Lee was boat No. 11 in the takeoff order this morning, and glad of it.
“The shad spawn early is going to be key for me,” Lee said Wednesday. “Most of the bass are post-spawn. They’re eating all night (during the shad spawn), then it slows down during the day. That’s why early is so important to me.”
All these guys will tell you how important it is to have some fish in the livewell early. It allows you to fish more confidently as the day progresses. That might be even more of a key in this tournament.
Lee has a 3-pounder in the boat already today, and based on the rapid number of fish catches recorded on the BASSTrakk Twitter feed, Lee is hardly the only angler taking advantage of the shad spawn.