We've had plenty of small males in the shallows for the past few weeks, along with a few big females. But with the moon phase and the warming water temperatures, this week should be the one to be on the water.

Things have changed for me over the past couple of weeks, ... There's a big part of my heart that's missing now with my mother gone. I knew I pitched for her. I just didn't realize how much. You just look at things different.

Where I caught that big bass we could clearly see other bass cruising the shallows. That tells me that they are moving up and getting ready to bed. In fact, we saw several beds in about 5 feet of water. Everybody is getting excited about the spawn. We'll probably have bass on the beds by this weekend. But the real push of spawning bass won't come for another 10 days or so.

I'm just an old country boy in a big town trying to get along. I have been eating pretty regular and the reason I have is because I have stayed an old country boy.

They are here one day and gone the next. Right now, bass don't know what to do. We've got morning lows in the 30s one day, and the next it's a low in the 50s with a high up around 70 degrees. I found some water in the back of Coleman the other day that was 61 degrees. That's very unusual for this time of year.

It happens every year. The first warm spell of late winter triggers a fictional bass spawn on most East Texas lakes. The fishermen go wild, and the fish stay deep. I've been keeping records on when Rayburn bass make a major move to the beds. Without exception, it's the first couple of weeks of April. From about now until taxes are due is when the big females will move up on the beds. This is when fishermen have the best chance at catching a trophy bass.