The second pattern is to move to the outer edge of eelgrass points that jut into deeper water. Pay special attention to those that the wind has been blowing on for a day or so.

Spinnerbaits are deadly here, since the bass are feeding on small shad. A 1/4-ounce willow-leaf blade bait with a white skirt and gold or nickel blade is an excellent choice. So is a 1/4- to 1/2-ounce white buzzbait. That topwater offering often takes larger fish.

Under bright daylight conditions, that shallow action can slow down by 10:00 or 11:00 a.m. However, if there is a heavy overcast and a light breeze, the bass may hang in the deeper grass points throughout the day. If they turn off on the blade baits, shifting to soft-plastic weedless jerkbaits or Trick Worms will often score.

Savvy anglers also remember the grass points where they found fish during the morning -- and will frequently find the largemouths there again in late afternoon.

With the return of the eelgrass, there are a lot of places to fish. It can take some time to locate the vegetation that's holding bass.

Veteran anglers often start their search in those areas that have had the wind blowing on them for a day or so. That moves the shad schools around, and the bass follow.

If the grass doesn't produce, next turn your attention to thicker patches of dollar bonnets, especially those located near spawning areas. Bass snuggle up under these during periods of bright light and respond well to floating frogs and lizards crawled slowly over the mats.

This is a good situation for using 30- to 40-pound-test braided line. Those tend to cut through the pad stems and give you a fighting chance of getting the fish out.

SANTA FE LAKE
Santa Fe is an unusual lake for the Gainesville area, in that it's one of the few natural lakes with deep structure in this part of the state. A rather short maidencane-laced littoral zone ends quickly at five- to six-foot depths, and large areas of the lake plunge deeper than 14 feet.

There's even plenty of water in the 20- to 25-foot range. Along with deeper water, Santa Fe boasts numerous submerged points and bars, many with a shell bottom -- and a strong threadfin shad population.

Combine depth, structure and offshore forage, and you have a lake that has offered remarkably stable angling over the last decade of severe water fluctuations. Finally, Santa Fe hosts a good bass population.

Admittedly, those fish spend a lot of time in open water, but that changes in March and April.

These are normally the peak spawning months on this lake, and bring a lot of bass into, or very near, the extreme shallows. There are a number of prime spawning sites available to them.