This can be done from the dock, on the boat or walking along the shore. If you have a boat it can be helpful to run over the areas you plan to fish with your depth finder to see the structure the water has to offer. If you are fishing a natural lake, pond, reservoir, river system, canal or slough, you need to eye different areas where bass will hold in the spring.

GET STARTED FISHING
Reservoirs fish different than natural lakes and ponds. In a reservoir the water is often clearer, unless it has muddy tributaries pushing dirty water in. For the most part, though, the water should be clear. Coves aren't as vital as they are in natural lakes, but they shouldn't be overlooked.

Hands down, there will be fish on points. Points are highways for bass despite of the water you are fishing. In clear-water reservoirs, which are plentiful in the West, you can fish a lot of worms, jigs, crankbaits and small spinnerbaits. The downfall to reservoirs is that there isn't as much cover as you encounter in natural lakes and ponds. On the other hand, the cover available in reservoirs is usually different. It's likely you'll be able to find boulders, rocks (riprap), gravel points and marinas.

Every reservoir has one spot you won't want to overlook: a dam. Dams are often made of rock, pebbles and other forms of gravel which crawdads and baitfish live in or near. This draws hungry bass.

"Dams are a fish factory," Dobyns said. "You'll always find fish on them. Unfortunately, after 9-11 you can't fish dams much anymore in some of the larger reservoirs."

Natural lakes and ponds are similar to dams, but fish differently. Here, you'll want to scan the shorelines for tules, lay downs (fallen trees), creek channels and flooded brush.

"If you have a lay down, brush or some kind of structure, it's going to have a fish on it," Dobyns said. "Look for available cover. The fish are going to be coming out of deep water looking for flats to spawn on in the spring. The coves are a great thing in the spring. Bass move back into the coves to spawn."

FISH IN SHALLOW WATER
In the spring, stay shallow in natural lakes and ponds. Deep water is the enemy most of the time.

"The one thing that's common in the spring is fishing shallow. You are going to have fish on points and in flats," said Dobyns. "You don't have to mess around with humps or deepwater structure. You can just skip all that and go right to the bank."

River systems are much different. In a river, stay away from fast-moving water. Look to fish oxbows or off chutes on the river system. These areas have less current and warm up faster than the main river. Keep in mind that bass aren't salmon or steelhead. They are looking for warmer water, not cool water. Stay off the main river, concentrate on chutes and channels, and you'll catch more fish.

Sloughs, canals and bypasses often have similarities to river systems. "They usually have a lot of cover," Dobyns said. "They have some current, usually. In the springtime, you don't want to be in full blown current."

Instead, look to current breaks and bends, and fish all available cover.