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A jigging spoon fills a critical niche in any angler’s tackle selection. Learn how to best use these highly versatile lures.

Simple and Versatile: those two words describe Cotton Cordell’s CC Spoon to a T.

This venerable lure consists of nothing more than a piece of hammered metal with a rustproof treble hook at one end and a metal loop at the other end. It comes in just two colors—silver and gold—and four sizes—1 1/2, 2, 2 1/8 or 3 inches. Despite having only basic options when selecting a CC Spoon, the angler who drops one of these often-overlooked lures into the strike zone might hook up with anything from panfish such as white bass or crappie to high-jumping black bass or trout to pole-bending saltwater species that could range from sheepshead and redfish to sharks and tuna.

The War Eagle Jigging Spoon offers similar functionality. However, different shaping alters the profile and wobble. It comes in two sizes – 1/2 and 7/8 ounce – and seven colors and comes equipped with a swivel.

If you learn the times, places and strategies to capitalize on the shad spawn, spring bass action can be spectacular. Here’s what you need to know.

The bass spawn may be over but don’t head for deeper water yet. On lakes that team with shad, one of the best shallow fishing opportunities of the season happens when these baitfish spawn. Anglers who take advantage of this phenomenon to catch spring bass, such as Alabama bass guide Jimmy Mason, refer to it simply as “the shad spawn.”

“I start seriously looking for spawning shad in the spring when the water temperature stays above 70 degrees at night,” Mason said. “Here in northern Alabama that usually happens around the last week of April to the first week of May.”