Gotta catch them before they head deep! Springtime means that bass are holding shallow all day long, and beating the bank can be your best bet to catching big bass. But what to throw?
Well, you can immediately eliminate deep diving crankbaits, but that still leaves a tackle store’s worth of baits available to anglers during the springtime. Throw in volatile weather and you’ve got bass changing their tastes not only day-to-day, but sometimes hour-by-hour.
One lure you should always have tied on during spring is a lipless crankbait like the Xr50 or Xrk75. The most effective color patterns are either natural batifish looks like chrome/black or gold/black, but for clear water think pearl melon or oxbow. Royal shad or any of the red patterns also can be the ticket to success. One benefit of these sinking baits is that they can be fished at any depth and that they come through submerged weeds. When you feel the softness that indicates the bait is in the weeds, a quick twitch of the rod will pop it out, and this often triggers a strike.
Another top lure for spawntime bass is the YUM JitterWorm. Most anglers Texas rig the JitterWorm with no weight, but a small cone shaped worm weight can be added for clear water when the worm needs to be worked a little deeper. To correctly fish the JitterWorm, cast past your target and immediately begin a quick “twitch-twitch-twitch” action with the rod. Most anglers like to be able to see the bait under the surface throughout the retrieve, and they favor bright colors to help visual acuity. Bubble gum, lemon or limetreuse are popular for those anglers, but when working the
JitterWorm deeper a more traditional worm color such as green pumpkin or black neon is effective. The JitterWorm can really change the attitude of a bedded bass and draw vicious strikes. It’s also great anytime bass are in shallow weeds.
Another way to rig the JitterWorm after the spawn, when bass are protecting the fry, is the wacky rig. Here’s one special rigging: Impale a finishing nail into the head of the worm to provide a little weight and a different sinking action, then dip the fat end of the worm into a chartreuse garlic-flavored dipping dye. Impale the hook somewhere near the center of the worm and fish it on a spinning rig. When bass are protecting fry, or just holding steady in shoreline weeds, this can be your best bet to put bass in the boat. Cast and let the rig sink a few seconds, then give it a few twitches. If no strike comes, reel a few cranks and repeat the process. Bass can’t resist.
The BOOYAH Boogie Bait is an effective lure for big, shallow-water bass. The Boogie Bait is a “chatter” type bait, essentially a jig with a vibrating blade at the front. When retrieved it produces tremendous vibration and water displacement similar to a fleeing crawfish. In baitfish patterns it also can represent a wounded and panicked bluegill or shad. Regardless of what bass think it is, they eat it with gusto.
The Boogie Bait is best used with a steady retrieve the bulges the water in a wake fashion or more slowly like a spinnerbait. Cast to the bank and bring it back through sparse weeds, and in thick weeds let it pause for just a second in open holes. It’s also perfect for casting to wood cover. In certain instances the Boogie Bait can be worked in a more traditional jig technique. Just let the bass tell you what they want on any given day. The Boogie Bait comes with it’s own soft-plastic trailer, or it can be removed and replaced with a Money Minnow. On smaller waters or areas where bass may run on the smallish size, try a Pond Magic Boogie Bait. It catches all size of bass.
Another fantastic shallow-water bait for bass is the YUM BuzzFrog. The BuzzFrog may be your go-to bait when fishing thick weeds and cover because it can be Texas-rigged and completely weedless. The BuzzFrog is designed to be cranked at a medium speed so the bulbous feet will gurgle the surface like a buzzbait. It’s also great retrieved in a long pull and pause retrieve, just like a frog fleeing from some land-based threat.
The BuzzFrog is a great bait when bass are shallow and spooky, because it can be thrown up on the bank and pulled quietly into the water. It’s a great bait for big bass.
The Gonzo Grub is another lure that shines when bass are spooky or inactive because unlike the above mentioned baits, the Gonzo can be worked slowly. It’s a soft-plastic that bass can interpret as a crawfish or baitfish, and Texas-rigged with the lightest weight you can get away with is as weedless as they come. Vary your retrieve until you hit on one that works. One day it may be slowly swimming the lure, and the next it may be a traditional bottom bouncing retrieve.
The final lure to be discussed is strictly for big bass. Use the Swim’n Jig when you’re looking for 5-pound-plus bass. The innovator of the Swim’n Jig, Mitch Looper, has this advice: “Fish the area quickly at first. Set the trolling motor on medium and just chuck and wind. Keep the bait just under the surface and go. Then, after you’ve fished the entire area, go back and focus on those spots where you either caught or missed fish.”
He says to focus on wind blown areas with weeds. Dress the Swim’n Jig with a YUM Money Craw. Looper likes the ½ ounce Swim’n Jig with a 4.75-inch Money Craw.
There are a few more baits you might consider if these baits aren’t producing like you’d like. A buzzbait can be great year-round, and it catches all sizes of bass. If you see bass busting baitfish on the surface, a buzzbait like the Pip-Zqueek in baitfish patterns can be effective. A bright day after a front goes through can be tough during the spring. A high blue-bird sky is great for fishermen, but not so much for the fish. It may be good to go to a finesse worm like the Houdini Worm threaded on a jighead and fished slowly. It might be the only way to catch a few bass.