The one about the Silver Frenzy

It’s the Month Of March, and as the days get longer and the ice gets darker it is exciting and natural to look forward to open water fishing.   As a South Dakota Resident, most would think the first fish that comes to my mind during the Spring would be the Walleye.  But, not for me!  Although I enjoy catching walleyes or any fish for that matter my favorite fish to pursue during the Spring is the Silver Bass!   Whities or Silvers as I call them are an aggressive fish that congregate in large schools throughout the year.   The Spring is a great time to target these fiesty fish and have fun until your arms are sore.   Anglers of all ages and experience levels can enjoy success with multiple hooksets and screaming drags during a Silver Feeding Frenzy. Here are a few tips on how to locate them, stay on them and present to them to get your fishing fix this Spring on some Monster Silvers. 

Where to find them?  Silvers will seek out current areas such as inlets or outlets of lakes when water tempatures reach the low 50’s to the upper 50’s to spawn.  The smaller males show up first, hungry and ready to attack anything they can while the larger females will show up a couple of weeks later to feed and ultimately spawn. When you find them, it is not uncommon to hook up and have multiple fish follow your fish to the boat!   HUMMINBIRD offers an angler the abilitly to locate these hotspots using LakeMaster with HUMMINBIRD graphs or FishSmart which is an application that can be downloaded to a mobile device.  Once you have located these current areas with LakeMaster,  drop your Minnkota trolling motor down and work the edges of the current areas while paying attention to your Hummibird and water temp.   When you hook up, now is the time for SpotLock.   This is a feature exclusive to MinnKota trolling motors which allows you to keep your boat in one spot regardless of water depth or wind speeds.   No anchor ropes and muddy anchors needed with MinnKota and SpotLock!  With The One Boat Network offered by Humminbird and MinnKota, you can program your Humminbird to determine how long you stay in one place with SpotLock, and then move or jog a distance to another all the while fishing!   It’s awesome.  Another product offered by MinnKota is TALON.   The MinnKota Talon is one of my favorite tools used in my boat.  TALON is a shallow water anchor system that allows you to “talon down” in shallow water ranging from 1-15ft while conserving battery life.   The Talon and SpotLock can even work together on windy days keeping you secured in one spot while catching fish. 

Silvers can be caught on a variety of lures and presentations but I prefer shallow diving crankbaits or topwater cranks.  When they hit it, hold on!    My rod of choice is a JT Outdoors JTX 7’1”  Mag Med Lt  coupled with a 2000 Series reel  spooled with a braid and floro carbon leader.   The length of the 7’ 1” JTX allows for longer distance and smoother casting while also giving me a sensitive tip and a strong backbone to fight these Silver Piranha’s of Fresh Water!   

If you enjoy eating fish, these fish make for great table fare as well.   With their abundance in most bodies of water there is nothing wrong with keeping a meal or two.  I keep the top portion or loin of the fillet and tail.  It’s snow white flesh and flavorful.   

So, if you are looking to have some fun this Spring try locating a Silver Frenzy at a body of water near you!   

 Mike Tietjen

JT Outdoor Products Contributor