Spring is our reward for enduring winter, bringing us a new season of baseball, fair weather and big bass to the shallow water of our favorite lakes.

April showers are in the forecast, the Cleveland Guardians are undefeated (as I write this) and the largemouths are swimming to the warming shallow water at Mosquito, Pymatuning, Berlin, Milton and West Branch.

Spring is in the air. The next several weeks are prime time for anglers who hope to score with big bass. Home run hooksets can happen any time we’re on our favorite lakes in April.

The bass are moving to the shallow coves and backs of creeks, where they are feeding and zeroing in on future nesting locations. The first wave of fish typically are male bass, while the bigger females will not be far behind.

Water temperatures are the most reliable indicators of springtime migrations. When the temperature creeps past 40, the bass move up on points and flats near their wintering holes. As the temps pass 50 degrees, fish start heading toward the banks.

As the water warms past 55 degrees, largemouth cruise waist-deep banks in search of bluegills, perch, shad and crawfish, and often lurk in shallow brush piles, lily pad stems, willows and buck brush.

Many anglers catch their biggest fish of the year during April outings.

Early April largemouths are still weeks away from their spawning season, so their primary reason to be shallow is to eat. Water that is relatively warmer than nearby areas will attract the first migrating bass, and the best locations to scout for early bass are those with a southern exposure for much of the day.

April bass fishing can be easy. In my experience, early spring bass are not especially picky about the lures they will strike. What’s more, I don’t have to be on the water at the crack of dawn. The fishing often gets better as the day advances and the sun adds heat to the water.

I typically start my search with a spinnerbait or bladed jig, lures that enable me to cover a lot of water as I unlock the keys to the day’s pattern. Shallow-running square-bill crankbaits also produce strikes in the spring. Casting and winding across 2- to 3-foot depths, especially those with scattered stumps or emerging vegetation, should put you in the vicinity of bass hunting for food.

Bass tend to roam the open water more on overcast days, which puts them in position to strike moving baits and, later in the spring, buzzbaits and walking topwaters. Breezy days also tend to make the bass more likely to chase down moving baits.

Sunny days will typically cause the bass to remain close to cover. The fish will prefer to hang in the shade of a tree trunk or stump roots and the base of willow bushes. When the fish are tight to the cover, I flip to them with jigs and Texas-rigged tubes and creature baits. Black and blue beaver-tail plastic creature baits are among my favorite spring lures.

My initial April lake choice is Mosquito. It sets up perfectly for the spring’s first shallow-water action. Pymatuning is another good spring choice, along with electric-motor-only Mogadore south of Kent and Akron’s Portage Lakes.

Berlin tends to heat up a little slower than Mosquito and Pymatuning, so I visit there later in spring. Milton’s upriver section above the Pointview ramp is productive as spring advances, as are the Jay Lake area of West Branch and the shallows on the north side of the section west of Rock Spring Road.

Indeed, spring has sprung. Pack your rain gear, spool up with fresh line and head out to Mosquito or Pymatuning soon for a chance at landing your biggest bass of the season.

Jack Wollitz has been a fan of springtime baseball and poking around northeast Ohio lakes for largemouth bass for as long as he can remember. His new book, “The Common Golfer,” will be released April 7 by Tucker DS Press. Contact him at jackbbaass@gmail.com.