Mike Murphy caught this nice largemouth on topwater baits

(Today’s feature comes to us from Scott Estes at Denali Rods)

It’s almost like clockwork each year. You’re on fish all through the spring, spend a few weeks having a blast fishing the spawn, then they simply disappear. Call it a post-spawn funk, recovery period, or whatever; but it can be downright difficult to put any kind of consistent pattern together in the period immediately following the spawn.

Former FLW pro Michael Murphy thinks a lot of anglers make this time more difficult than they have to, saying “That immediate post-spawn period is hard for a lot of guys and there are a number of reasons for that. I think the biggest is that guys spend too much time thinking about where the fish are going, and not enough time covering water with a topwater, something that I have consistently caught them doing when the fish come off the bed.”

Early Spawners

The secret to Murphy’s topwater confidence is his observation that there is almost always a group of fish that spawns before the “official spawn” brings anglers up shallow. Those fish are often already recovered by the time the bulk of the spawn winds down, and he begins targeting them while other anglers are still looking for fish on beds.

“I know that most bass spawn in that 66-70 degree range, but I’ve personally seen lots of fish up well before that, so often those fish are already done and recovered by the time most guys think the spawn is in full swing. As soon as the water starts to get to about 65 degrees, I begin targeting those fish that are already done and a topwater is a huge focus in my approach.”

Revenge?

Murphy thinks the driving force behind post-spawners propensity for devouring topwater offerings is that they are turning the tables on the bluegills that were predominant nest predators during the bass spawn, saying “Those bass had to put up with pesky bluegills raiding their nests the whole time they were trying to get their business done; as soon as those bass come off the bed, it’s on and you don’t want to be a bluegill near an angry post-spawn five pounder.”

It’s for this reason that the South Carolina angler relies on a lot of bluegill imitating baits during the post-spawn. “You can get a wide variety of topwater baits today that do a phenomenal job of imitating bluegill. Anything from a prop bait to a frog can work wonders at imitating a crippled bluegill when targeting shallow water post spawn fish, you just need to keep that in mind and stay in areas that bluegill frequent.”

Where to look

On reservoirs, the bass often spawn a little earlier in the upper ends due to increased color and shallow water causing it to warm up faster, so it makes sense that Murphy usually starts up there when looking for recovering post spawners.

“I like to pay attention to spawning areas up the rivers, places like the backs of major creeks and pockets off the channel. Once there, I try to find flats and stretches of bank near the last 6-10 foot deep water in the area. They’re usually gonna be on some type of cover close by. Things like docks, laydowns, stumps, and rocks are all dynamite for holding post spawn fish that you can dupe with a topwater.”

The Gear

Because he uses a target oriented approach, Murphy dotes on his Denali signature series 6’8″ topwater/jerkbait rod for most of his postspawn topwater fishing because its shorter length allows for extremely accurate casting.

He pairs the rod with a high-speed Lews BB-1 casting reel spooled exclusively with monofilament, saying “you need that stretch with treble hooks, and I’ve found that I land many more fish in close quarters with mono than any other type of line. I use 20 lb Toray Bawo Polyamide Plus almost exclusively and am extremely confident with that setup.”

Murphy’s bait choices depend a lot on water clarity. In clear water he likes prop baits like the Deps Buzzjet, Ima Skimmer, and the floating Ima Flit 120, which he works like a wakebait. In stained water, Murphy throws a popper like the Deps Pulsecod or a Kahara hollow bodied Frog, saying “It’s really a tight quarters, commotion deal so I utilize several baits and let the fish tell me what they prefer. The dirtier the water, the larger commotion I like to cause.”

One of the things Murphy likes most about fishing the immediate post-spawn with topwaters is that it gets you fishing in the right water depth and around the same types of cover that become boat-loading spots once the next phase of the season unfolds, the shad spawn. “If you are already up shallow fishing topwater, you’ll be right there to get the most out of it once the shad start spawning, something that anglers chasing their tails out on the main lake won’t find nearly as quickly.”

This early topwater pattern isn’t necessarily a recipe for having big numbers days, but Murphy believes that as a tournament pattern it still shines because the fish you do catch are going to be the right ones. “Another reason a lot of guys don’t devote a ton of time to fishing topwater during the immediate post spawn is because you may not get a ton of bites. They are missing out, as I can guarantee you that almost every fish you do catch doing it will be one that gets brought to the stage.”

David Dudley likes the Craw for summertime fishing

By Lawrence Taylor
from The Fishing Wire

FLW pro David Dudley has 33 Top 10 finishes and 6 wins under his belt. He won the FLW Championship in 2003, and was named the FLW Tour Angler of the Year in 2008, 2011 and 2012. In short, the guy knows how to catch bass.

In the summertime, if he’s not deep-cranking a Fat Free Shad BD8, he’s thinking soft plastics. Here are two of his favorite ways to fish soft plastics for hot weather bass, and two secrets he uses with those rigs to catch more, bigger bass than his competition.

If he knows bluegill and other panfish are spawning, Dudley first reaches for a 6-inch YUM Dinger and rigs it wacky, a common and effective rig for bass keyed in on the panfish activity. What’s not common is the way he retrieves the bait.

Dudley says that many anglers work a wacky-rigged worm completely wrong. They go far too slowly, giving it a couple of twitches and letting it free fall down in a more vertical-fishing style. Dudley keeps the bait moving with quick twitches of the rod so the bait moves more horizontal than vertical.

“You’ve got to keep it moving,” he said.

Dudley twitches the rod every second or less and continually collects the slack. The result is a worm that claps its two ends together and says “you…come…eat…me” to any nearby bass. He often throws the bait on spinning gear and prefers to skip it into pockets of flooded buckbrush or other cover. Preferred color patterns are the usual, with Bream and Watermelon/Red Flake getting most of the reps.

Another soft plastic he’s been throwing since it was introduced late last year is the YUM Mighty Craw. This elongated craw-imitator features a segmented body and two pairs of thin legs along the sides, and two long, maximum-action claws on the front. These long front claws are designed with extra plastic at the ends, which prompts them to “swim” with the slightest twitch of the rod or smallest breath of current.

Common Mighty Craw rigging includes the Carolina rig, Texas rig and as a trailer for jigs and bladed jigs. Dudley notched an 8-pound-plus largemouth this spring using the Mighty Craw as a trailer on a Booyah Swim’N Jig.

“I throw this rig anytime I’m around cover,” he said. “Cover can be rocks, wood, grass, docks – any type of cover.”

One key to success with the swimming jig and Mighty Craw is to select the color of the Craw depending on water clarity. If the water is clear, he suggests using greens or browns. In muddy conditions he goes with black.

If the cover he’s fishing is sparse, Dudley fishes the jig and craw quickly through the area and picks up active fish. The thicker the cover, though, the slower he works the bait.

Dudley doesn’t make many alterations or tweaks to his lures, but does make sure that the jig skirt doesn’t hang down too far and touch the arms of the Mighty Craw because it restricts the swimming action.

“Whatever gives you confidence makes you fish better,” he said, “but all I do to the jig is make sure the skirt isn’t impeding the action of the claws.”

A spinnerbait is one of Is Monroe’s confidence baits

Ish Monroe caught this smallmouith on a confidence bait

Confidence lures’ help Monroe find bass anywhere.

Yamaha pro Ish Monroe chases bass all over the nation, and has evolved a fish-finding strategy that earns him tournament money nearly every where he goes.

Few anglers anywhere face the problem of locating bass on new lakes more often than Yamaha Pro Ish Monroe, who competes on both the Bassmaster® Elite and FLW® tours, as well as in any other events he can fit into his schedule. He doesn’t often have time for pre-tournament practice nor does he research each lake, but rather, he relies on his four ‘confidence lures.’

“At every lake I fish, I tie on a topwater frog, a square-bill crankbait, a spinnerbait, and a plastic creature bait on a flippin’ rod,” he explains, “and then I look for the places where I can use them. These are my favorite lures, and I would rather fish them than anything else.

“I have enough confidence in them so that when I find the conditions where I can use these lures I know the bass will be there. I also know through experience that somewhere on any body of water I will find the right cover and water depth where at least one of these lures will work.”

Monroe likes a spinnerbait best of all, but also relies on creature baits, frogs and square-bill crankbaits.
Of the four lures, Monroe’s favorite is the spinnerbait, either a 3/8- or 1/2-ounce model with Colorado and willow leaf blades and a white skirt. It’s a combination he’s been using nearly 30 years.

“This technique of locating bass is known as ‘fishing to your strengths’, and I certainly am not the first to use it,” continues the Yamaha Pro, “but it really does help solve the problem every fisherman has in locating bass. You always fish better and more confidently with your favorite lure or technique, and most of the time you can visually identify the water where that lure will be the most efficient.”

That’s how Monroe fished the opening event of this year’s Bassmaster® Elite Series on the Sabine River in southeast Texas. He’d never seen the water previously so he did spend three pre-tournament days looking at it. During that time he never made a single cast. He did locate the spinnerbait water he was searching for, however, some 70 miles from the launch, and he later fished it all four days of the tournament where he finished fourth.

“I really can’t stress enough how important confidence is in bass fishing,” Monroe emphasizes, “so I always tell fishermen to start every day fishing with their favorite lure. If they don’t have that confidence, they aren’t going to catch anything. What I have done personally is add three other lures I have just as much confidence in that let me expand my water selection.

Monroe says scouting until you find water where your favorite lures will be effective is key.

“The spinnerbait is the most versatile, but the square bill crankbait gives me another option for shallow brush, the frog works over thick vegetation, and with the creature bait I can penetrate any thick cover. I am essentially a shallow water fisherman, and with these lures I know I can fish any type of shallow water.”

The Yamaha Pro also points out that for him, all four of his ‘confidence lures’ are fun to fish. He is versatile and has mastered all of the various lures and presentations tournament pros use, but he doesn’t necessarily always enjoy using them.

“A bass is a bass anywhere in the world you find them,” laughs Monroe, who has not only fished for them throughout the United States but also in Spain, Japan, and several other foreign countries, “and I think we often give the fish credit for being much smarter than it really is.

“That’s why the ‘confidence lure’ system works so well. We know bass are going to be located in shallow water with cover, and we know spinnerbaits, for example, are extremely effective around shallow water cover.

“When you can look at bass fishing that way, I think the whole problem of finding bass on any lake you go to becomes a lot easier to solve.”

Jeremy with smallmouth bass that hit a vibrating jig

Heavy pre-spawn bass like vibrating jigs

Big smallmouth like this one readily grab a vibrating jig almost year around says Yamaha Pro Jeremy Starks.

Of all the lures Yamaha Pro Jeremy Starks normally stocks in his boat and truck, his supply of vibrating jigs always gets packed within easy reach. They’re not just his “go-to” lures if fishing gets tough, they’re his “anytime, all the time” choice.

“Honestly, I don’t think there’s a wrong time to fish a vibrating jig,” explains Starks, winner of the Bassmaster® Elite Series event on Tennessee’s Douglas Lake last season. “My favorite time to fish them is right now where water temperature is still in the 40’s on many lakes, but these lures are so versatile you can really use them anytime.”

Vibrating jigs look like normal jigs, except they have a small, rectangular shaped vibrating blade attached to the front of the jighead. As the lure moves through the water, the blade swings from side to side, often ticking the head – thereby adding sound – and also causing the jig to vibrate and wobble from side to side.

Rip-rap, docks and other cover are ideal cover for the wobbling lures, which are nearly snag-proof.

“Vibrating jigs are a relatively new design in lures,” continues Starks, who first began fishing them in competition in 2006, “and even today they’re not that widely used simply because a lot of bass fishermen don’t really understand them. Vibrating jigs are most often compared to spinnerbaits, but they have more vibration than a spinnerbait although not as much flash. They’re far easier to fish through submerged vegetation than spinnerbaits and have a smaller profile, but they’re not weedless.”

The Yamaha Pro’s favorite fishing technique with vibrating jigs is working them in clear water over and through submerged vegetation like hydrilla or milfoil in depths of 10 feet or less, places bass will not only be staging now in preparation for spawning, but also the same areas they usually return to for much of the remainder of the year. He retrieves slowly so the jig swims just over the top of the vegetation, then stops reeling to let the lure sink into the greenery. Then he rips it free and starts slowly reeling again.

“A vibrating jig comes out of the vegetation much easier than a spinnerbait,” Starks explains, “which is why it’s so effective for this type of fishing. Even lipless crankbaits get snagged in the grass, but the jigs come through without any trouble.

Starks sometimes changes the size of the blade or switches to heavier jig bodies, depending on conditions.

“At the final Elite tournament at Lake Oneida last summer, I fished a vibrating jig over hydrilla that had grown to within about three feet below the surface and caught smallmouth bass all day long. I ended up giving lures to some of my competitors who were fishing beside me because they couldn’t catch anything with their spinnerbaits.”

Starks adds a soft plastic fluke-style trailer to his vibrating jigs to enhance the lure’s visual appeal, as well as to add more action. He also occasionally changes blade colors to add or reduce flash, depending on water conditions.

“Vibrating jigs are not weedless,” he cautions, “but that doesn’t mean you can’t fish them around or through wood cover. I like to twitch my rod or change retrieve speeds around wood so the jig has a more erratic action. I think it helps compensate since I can’t really fish through thick limbs and brush. If I see flooded brush along a shoreline or off the end of a point, I’m definitely going to cast to it, just a little more carefully.”

Other places Starks regularly fishes vibrating jigs are over and around rocks, along riprap walls, and underneath boat docks and piers. For these types of places, he normally fishes 1/2 or 5/8 oz. vibrating jigs, rigging with 15 or 20 pound fluorocarbon line and a medium action rod, using a slow, steady retrieve. When he specifically targets thicker vegetation, he changes to 30 pound braided line and a stiffer rod for his ripping presentation.

“Vibrating jigs are excellent big fish lures, too,” the Yamaha Pro concludes. “Although I haven’t caught any real monsters, I have caught a lot of fish in the five to six pound class. There’s just something about the lure’s different type of vibration and its light ticking sound that seems to trigger big bites.”