For big fish, target the bay's many duck blinds. Wilson said they are productive throughout the day.

"If you catch one or two fish off a duck blind," he said, "that doesn't mean you have caught all the fish. They pull in and out of the blinds all day long, so keep returning to places where you have caught fish."

Wilson fishes the blinds with a Texas-rigged Zoom Brush Hog in June bug or chameleon colors.

The shallow bays of the lower Delta offer great fishing, but they too can quickly become unfishable with a low tide and a north wind.

"In April," Smith said, "a north wind will empty the bays. When that happens, fish the channels leading into the bays. Fish the grass lining the channels with a Texas-rigged worm or a spinnerbait."

The most productive bay is Chocolata, also known as Chacalloochee Bay, followed by Grand and Chuckfee bays.

BIG CREEK LAKE
Big Creek Lake lies only 15 miles west of the Delta, but it's like fishing in another part of the state. Anglers who have mastered the rise and fall of the Delta's bays, rivers and oxbows rarely catch fish on their first trip to this lake.

"Many of these anglers," said David Dean of Mobile, "fish with 20-pound-test and a large spinnerbait, as if they were on the river. Big Creek is different. You have to finesse the bass. Anglers who learn the lake enjoy good fishing. It's a dynamite fishery!"

The lake, which provides Mobile's primary supply of drinking water, covers 3,600 acres and is extremely clear and deep. The water originates from six springs and an infertile watershed in adjacent Washington County. The two feeder creeks flowing into the lake contain little sediment, so the water remains clear.

Dean learned to fish clear water in the state's north-central impoundments like Lake Martin. He found those skills worked well on Big Creek, and he's perfected them for the last 13 years.

"While fishing with a friend and his grandson in late March or early April of last year," Dean recalled, "we caught 50 fish and were back home by 10:30 a.m. My heaviest stringer last spring was five fish, weighing approximately 18 pounds."

Instead of targeting big bass, Dean -- who usually fishes with his two sons -- prefers to catch numbers of fish. He said anglers can expect to catch 15 to 20 fish in a half day of spring fishing. An average largemouth weighs one to 2 pounds.

With water clear and stable, wind is the most common environmental condition affecting how Dean attacks Big Creek.

"When the wind is blowing," he said, "the fish move closer to the shoreline and become more aggressive. They're probably following shad. If the surface is glassy, the fish move deeper and spook easily."

On a calm day in April, Dean's primary pattern targets post-spawn largemouths on points and at the mouths of coves in grass 5 to 10 feet deep. He has found a Carolina-rig offers the best presentation in this situation.

"I catch the most fish on a Carolina rig," Dean affirmed. "It's great for making long casts and is effective for fishing grass. Plus, you can feel the grass or lack of grass as you work it back to the boat.