Early season bank fishing

[Earl W Story]

 What is everyone's favorite tactic for late winter/early spring bank fishing? Live bait or artificial?

[DAVID L EITUTIS]

HEY EARL,
  MINE is to go out with some blue and white streamers, red & yellow streamers or blue silents stingers.. I use the fly rod if possible if not then an ultra light spinning rod....

[Dwayne Denison]

Live bait, under float, with little or no weight, so it has slow fall

[Jason Preslar]

My bro and I went Tuesday of this week. Caught the most fish close to the banks (probably due to the warmer water being around the edges). We were using about an inch chunk of nightcrawler 3-4ft under a float, and moving it slow. Caught 20 fish, a mixture of redears and bluegills. We had lots more luck with the smaller 1" chunks than using a big wad or crawler. A rule of thumb to go by is this: the colder the water, the smaller and slower the bait. This may not apply to everyone,everywhere, but it works for me. Good luck