Pop post-spawn bronzebacks on top

By Dan Johnson
from The Fishing Wire

Bedfishing smallmouths is a blast, but for the adrenaline junky in all of us, nothing beats the rush of busting beefy bronzebacks on topwater poppers. This big-fish, post-spawn pattern is guaranteed to make your heart skip a few beats, and it’s happening now on lakes, rivers and reservoirs across the Bronze Belt.

Minnesota bassin’ ace Scott Bonnema knows the drill. Decades of chasing smallies across the continent have taught him the finer points of the popping program, including key locations, killer baits and winning presentations.

“It’s a classic situation,” says Bonnema, whose tournament travels crisscross the northern half of smallmouth territory each season. “After smallmouths leave the beds, you can catch numbers of smaller fish near the bank, in depths of 3 to 8 feet, on a variety of presentations.”

Windmilling 2-pounders is fun, but bigger bites await a bit deeper. “Groups of larger fish stage in the 10- to 14-foot zone,” he explains. “They feed aggressively, and when the surface is calm, topwater poppers are a fun and effective way to target them.”

To tap the bite, Bonnema looks for structural complexes rich in rock and gravel, lying just outside the spawning grounds. “I look for humps, points and islands connected to shore, up to ¼ mile out,” he says.

A good sonar and GPS combo is key to finding prime post-spawn structure, and for pinpointing sweet spots such as fish-holding irregularities. While traditional down-looking sonar aids the search, Bonnema believes new side-scanning options really lift the curtain on what lies beneath the waves.

“I use Humminbird’s Side Imaging, and have found it a priceless tool for surveying structure and mapping out plans of attack,” he says. “I can scrutinize rock formations in incredible detail, and create tracks following the outline of the structure. One of my favorite features, though, is the ability to locate and create waypoints for boulders that stand out from the rocks around them.”

He explains that rocks ranging from football-size up to Volkswagen proportions all attract bass, but individual rocks that are larger than the prevailing rubble can be dynamite. “Picture a suitcase-size boulder surrounded by footballs,” he says. “Even though smallmouths may be roaming an entire reef, they’re instinctively drawn to the larger object, and often use it as an ambush point.”

When his side-scanning sonar reveals one of these super-sized treasures, Bonnema simply slides the display’s cursor over it and marks a waypoint for future exploitation.

While it’s a time-consuming process, thorough recon can pay big dividends for years to come. “The rocks aren’t going anywhere, which means prime areas can produce smallmouths season after season,” he says.

To keep structure straight for the long haul, he recommends marking it with appropriate icons. “Use a fish, skull and crossbones, whatever helps you remember something about the spot. I mark really good areas with the first-aid icon, because I know I can go there and get healthy in a hurry.”

GPS breadcrumbs guide his final approach and boat positioning. “Using the directional arrow on my GPS, I can idle within casting range of a key boulder or group of rocks, without ever running over the fish,” he says.

Taking the process a step further, he notes that Minn Kota’s new i-Pilot Link system-available on the Terrova or PowerDrive V2-makes the trolling motor, Humminbird sonar and LakeMaster digital GPS map collaborate to steer whatever course you desire. “Being able to focus on fishing while your electronics handle the boat is amazing,” he says.

No matter how you chart your course, stealth is important to avoid spooking skittish smallies. “Keep your distance and fire long casts,” he cautions.

Gear-wise, Bonnema wields a 7-foot, medium-power Lew’s Tournament Speed Stick, paired with a matching Speed Spool low-profile casting reel. Monofilament line gets the nod, thanks to its buoyancy. “Fluorocarbon sinks, dragging the popper down and ruining the action,” he explains. “I like 12-pound Sufix ProMix, but Siege and Elite are top options, too.”

On the business end of the line, a loop knot tethers his topwater. “With a loop, the lure moves freely, and spins a little when you pop it, creating just the right splash,” he says. “You lose that with a tightly cinched connection.”

There are poppers aplenty, but Bonnema favors baits that produce an enticing combination of gurgle and spray, like the 2¾-inch Rapala X-Rap Pop or 3½-inch Skitter Pop, in shades of silver, gold and chrome. “Natural finishes work wonders, but sometimes the bass want something a little different,” he says. “When that happens, the X-Rap clown pattern is a good bet.”

The presentation is straightforward-though not without its tricks. For example, pops and pauses beat continuous popping. To pop like a pro, make a long cast over the target area. Let the bait sit until the ripples fade away, then give it a couple quick 6-inch pops, imparted by sharp, sideways twitches of the rodtip. Pause again for five to 10 seconds, add another pop or two, and repeat.

Ultimately, the ideal number of pops and duration of pauses depends on the whims of the bass at the moment. “Experiment to find the right cadence,” Bonnema advises. “Keep in mind that when it comes to pauses, patience equals bigger fish.”

When you get it right, explosive strikes are the reward. Which brings up another pivotal point in the process-setting the hook.

“Strikes are startling, and your first reaction is to rear back and set the hook,” he begins. “But that’s a good way to lose the fish. Instead, when a bass blows up on your popper, lower your rodtip toward the fish, reel as quickly as you can to take up slack, and don’t set the hook until you feel the weight of the fish.”

If a bass misses the popper, it’s likely trying to tell you something’s not quite right with your presentation. “There was something it didn’t like,” Bonnema explains. “Make slight adjustments with lure color and size until the bass get your bait in their mouths.”

If you can’t seal the deal despite such tweaks, it’s possible the bass just aren’t in the mood for dinner on the ceiling. “Think positive-at least you know they’re down there,” Bonnema offers. “Throwing something different, like an X-Rap XR10 jerkbait, can light them on fire.” The twitch-pause of a slender, suspending slashbait is also deadly on post-spawn smallies, but that’s a story for another summer day.”

Finesse Tactics Often Best for Summer Smallmouths

Yamaha Pro Jeff Kriet shows a nice smallmouth that grabbed a drop-shot rig on South Dakota’s Lake Oahe. The finesse approach is just the ticket for clear water smallmouths.

On a recent trip to South Dakota’s Lake Oahe, often described as one of the nation’s premier smallmouth bass fisheries, Yamaha Pro Jeff Kriet left most of his fishing tackle in his truck. He didn’t forget it; he knew he wouldn’t need anything except two spinning rods and a box full of small soft plastic lures. By day’s end, he’d caught and released more than 30 smallmouths.

“For me, summertime smallmouth fishing in clear water means using finesse tactics, not heavy tackle,” explains Kriet, a veteran Bassmaster® Elite angler known for his expertise with light lines and small lures. “Once the water begins warming, the fish normally move a little deeper and for some reason also become a little more choosy about the lures they’ll hit.

“My own favorite presentation is a drop shot, in which the lure is located about a foot above the sinker, because it allows me to keep that lure in the strike zone as long as I want to, and it looks completely natural in the water.”

Among tournament pros like Kriet, the drop shot has become an extremely popular bass fishing technique because it also works in both shallow and deep water and brings strikes when other presentations fail. Kriet, in fact, admits he always has a drop shot outfit on his boat deck wherever he’s competing.

Kriet says that a slow retrieve with gentle movements usually works better for smallmouths in clear water.

“I start with six pound test fluorocarbon line on a medium action spinning reel,” explains the Yamaha Pro, “and generally tie either a 3/8 or 1/4 ounce sinker at the end of my line. Then, about 12 inches above the sinker, I tie a small No. 1 hook and thread on either a thin four inch plastic worm or some other lure that looks like a small shad.

“After I make a cast, I let the sinker reach bottom and then slowly drag it along until I reach some type of cover, like rocks, or logs. Then I just let it sit there and barely shake my rod to make the lure move. I really think the key to drop shotting is not over-working the lure with a lot of hops and jumps. The lure is not intrusive and the bass aren’t frightened by it the way they may be by larger, noisier lures.”

At times, summer smallmouth may also be suspended, and when Kriet sees them this way on his depthfinder, he usually fishes the drop shot vertically by simply dropping the lure straight down to them. Frequently, smallmouth either hit the lure as it falls, or they follow it to the bottom and then strike.

“One of the common misconceptions about a drop shot is that it is strictly a deep water technique,” Kriet continues, “but I frequently fish a drop shot in water less than five feet deep, and I know some pros who tie their hooks just three or four inches above the sinker and fish in water only a foot deep. Even rigging this way keeps the lure above the bottom, which allows bass to see it clearly.”

The drop shot rig uses a weight of 3/8 to 1/4 ounce about 12 inches below a number 1 hook, rigged with a 4-inch plastic worm or small plastic shad.

Another misconception about drop shotting, he adds, is that constantly shaking the lure will make it appear more natural to smallmouth, but in reality, just the opposite is true. In most instances, just barely moving the lure is more effective.

“I always shake my rod with a slack line so the sinker stays in place on the bottom and only the lure moves,” concludes the Yamaha Pro, “and I just barely twitch the rod instead of really shaking it like I sometimes do with a larger jig. The lure is going to be moving even when I’m not shaking the rod, due to water currents, and that’s the way a real minnow or shad behaves.

“When you fish a drop shot this way, just dragging the sinker slowly along the bottom and barely shaking your rod tip, it really becomes an easy way to fish for summer smallmouth, and best of all, it’s also one of the most effective ways to fish that I know.

“That’s why, when I see clear water in the summer, I know I can leave the rest of my tackle in the truck.”

Michael Murphy’s Postspawn Topwater Tactics:

(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.”

Two Secrets To More Summertime Bass

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.”

from The Fishing Wire

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.”

From The Fishing Wire

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.”

Big lakes often get all the publicity in the spring, but to get a jump on them and catch more fish, try a smaller pond. Bass start feeding in ponds early in the spring and you can often catch more bass in them than on a big lake. And your chances for a wall-hanger are much better.

Ponds warm faster in the early spring than bigger bodies of water for several reasons. Their size protects them from wind stirring them up like it does the bigger lakes, and shoreline trees often give even more protection. Less mixing of the water from wind allows the surface of the pond to warm and stay warm faster.

Shallows in ponds often have dark bottoms from sediment and this absorbs sunlight and warms the shallows faster. On big lakes waves usually washed away the darker sediment leaving sand and gravel that does not absorb heat as well.

Most ponds have more shallow water relative to size than the bigger lakes, so they have more area to warm more quickly. And vegetation growing in the shallows help absorb heat, adding to the warming. All these factors mean ponds warm more quickly than bigger lakes.

Bass respond to warming water in ways to make any fisherman smile. As soon as the water starts a warming trend and gets above about 50 degrees the bass will go to shallow water and feed. This movement makes them much easier to catch on a variety of baits and they are feeding heavily.

To catch these early spring active bass target water less then six feet deep. Don’t hesitate to cast right to the bank in less than a foot of water. Bass will get in water that barely covers their backs this time of year. That is where the water is most warm and they are most likely to find food.

Fish all shallow water in a pond. On the first warm days in early spring the bass might move into contact with the bank near deeper water at the dam. After two or three days of warm sun they will be in shallows far from the deeper water, often in the very far upper end of the pond.

Any kind of shallow cover will hold bass. Target early growing vegetation, old weeds that have not rotted away, brush, trees in the water, overhanging bushes and rocks. Bass tend to hold tight against cover but are willing to ambush any bait fairly close to them. Your cast should be past the cover, bring your bait back by it, when possible.

A spinnerbait is hard to beat in the early spring. Use a fairly small bait like a three-sixteenths ounce bait with a willowleaf blade and a smaller Colorado blade. Colors depend on water clarity but a standard that works well is a chartreuse skirt with one gold blade and one silver blade. Adding a curly tail trailer gives it more action and allows you to fish the bait more slowly, too.

The reason a spinnerbait is so good is you can fish it at any speed and fish water from the surface to the bottom. On warmer days buzz the bait just under the surface, reeling it fast over any cover you see. For a change-up stop the bait and let it fall by a stump or other wood cover, then start reeling it fast again, if a bass has not already inhaled it.

Slow down and reel the bait a foot or so under the surface, with pauses and twitches to make the skirt flare and the blades flutter. Fish from right on the bank all the way out to six feet deep. If fishing from the bank, make parallel casts to the bank, fan casting from right against the edge to angles that put the bait in deeper water.

Very early in the spring, when the water first starts to warm, try slow rolling the spinnerbait, crawling it along the bottom. You want to fish the bait as slowly as you can to keep the blades turning. Let the bait bump anything on the bottom but keep it moving slowly and steadily.

A soft jerk bait like the Zoom Fluke will get bit when other baits are passed up in small ponds in the early spring. Rig the bait weightless and cast it to the edge of the water. Work it back with soft twitches, making it look like an injured minnow that is struggling to swim. Bass find such an easy meal hard to pass up.

A light colored bait like albino or natural blue is easier to see in the water and you can tell when a bass takes it. Watch your bait and line and set the hook when anything unusual happens, like a line twitch or if your bait suddenly disappears.

A jig and pig is an excellent bait early in the spring, too. As soon as the water starts to warm crayfish come out of their tunnels where they spent the winter and bass love them. Clay and rock banks are best for imitating crayfish, but a jig and pig will work anywhere.

In clear water use browns and greens, like a brown jig with a green pumpkin trailer. For stained water tie on a black and blue jig with a blue trailer. Use a realistic crawfish looking trailer or a simple twin tail curly tail trailer. The curly tail trailer has more action and makes the bait fall slower, too.

Use a fairly light jig, three-sixteenths to one quarter ounce, and stick to smaller size trailers and skirts, too. Cast the bait right to the bank and crawl it along the bottom with small hops. If you have ever watched a crawfish feeding it will crawl along then suddenly jump several inches, especially when startled. Make your bait look like a crawfish feeding.

Cover clay and rock areas with many casts, but also cast to any wood cover you find. Try to skip the bait under overhanging bushes right to the bank, let it sit a few seconds then slowly work it out. Keep your line tight and be ready to set the hook at any mushy feeling or thump on your line.

Small crankbaits are good in ponds in early spring, too. Use a shallow running bait that will dig down to six feet deep, like the two inch Spro Little John, and try colors that imitate a bluegill, like the Sunny Bream. Bass feed heavily on bluegill in ponds and they are common in almost all ponds.

Make fairly long cast in clear water and fish the bait so it bumps the bottom from right on the bank out to six feet deep. Try different speeds, from a fast retrieve for active fish to a slow crawl that looks like a meal too easy to pass up. When you hit bottom pause and let the bait float up a little, then dig it down again.

Its hard to beat a small pond for bass this time of year. Give them a try to catch more and bigger bass.

Use plastic baits for fall bass!

Hunting in October? Hunting for bass, maybe. October is one of the best months to catch a lot of bass, and an excellent time to land one worth bragging about. Cool waters and pleasant weather make bass feed and makes it an enjoyable time to be on the water.

Bass move to the shallows to feed in October and offer you a good chance to find them in easy to locate cover. It is more fun to cast to shallow cover and, if you use the right baits, you can have some amazing catches. Water is usually clear this time of year, making it easy for bass to find your baits but also making it more important to offer them something natural that looks like food since they can get a better look at your bait.

Bass will seek rocks, brush piles, docks and blowdowns in October where they can hide and find the food they like. They feed on baitfish and crawfish, storing up fat for the cold weather to come. Baits that imitate their favorite food improve your odds of catching them.

Soft plastics are a perfect choice for those conditions. You can choose a color that works best in the water you are fishing and a size that the bass will eat. But walk into any bait and tackle store and the choices you have can be overwhelming.

A soft plastic jerk bait like a Zoom Fluke is hard to beat right now. They come in colors that look like the baitfish in your lake and you can fish them in a wide variety of ways. And, like other soft plastics, they are fairly weedless, making it easy to fish them around cover without constantly getting hung up.

The most common way to fish a soft jerk bait is weightless, with a hook Texas rigged in them. Since the baits are fairly bulky a wide gap 4/0 hook is best. You can leave the hook exposed on the tip if fishing rocks or bury it lightly in the back of the bait to come through wood. Tie the hook directly to the line or use a swivel a foot or so ahead of it to add a little weight and reduce line twist.

Cast the bait out and let it sink a foot or so deep, then work it over cover with twitches of your rod tip. Since you can see the bait you can find out how to make it dart from side to side, walking the dog with it, and letting it sink slowly between twitches, imitating a injured or dying baitfish. And it is exciting to see the bass come up and eat it.

Also try the bait on a jig head or with a bullet weight ahead of it. This makes the bait sink to the bottom where you can hop it slowly or crawl it along. Many kinds of baitfish feed on the bottom with their tail up so a jig head makes the bait show this action to the bass. A bullet weight will make the bait lay flatter on the bottom so hopping it will look like a baitfish struggling to swim up and bass love an easy meal.

Fish weighless soft jerkbaits over brush piles and around dock posts where bass hide waiting on a meal. Start with a very slow action, jerking the bait then letting it sink a foot or so. If the bass don’t like this, speed up your retrieve until you find the speed the bass want. Under some conditions you want to fish the bait as fast as you can reel and jerk it, especially on windblown rocky banks.

Work the jig head or bullet weigh rig on rocks and hard bottom banks and points. Bass often eat crayfish on this kind of cover but will not pass up and easy baitfish meal. Go with as light a jig head or weigh as you can fish under the conditions.

A Texas rigged four or five inch finesse type worm is also a good soft plastic to use now. Texas rig a French Fry or straight worm with a 2/0 hook behind a 3/16s ounce sinker and cast it to wood or rock cover. The small bait looks like young baitfish or crayfish that feed on the bottom so choose a dark color like Junebug or green pumpkin.

For some reason there are days, especially in clear water, when the bass want a small bait. And don’t think only small bass will eat a small worm. Big bass will inhale a finesse type worm if they think it is an easy meal.

Try sliding the worm along gravel or other hard bottoms like a crayfish crawling along, then hop it to make it look like the crawfish was startled and tried to get away. The straight worm may not look like much to you, but bass sometimes find them irresistible. Square ends or pointed ends seem not to matter but try both kinds to let the bass choose.

These baits also work well around brush and blowdowns. Very weedless, you can work them through the thickest cover without getting hung up. Crawl them over limbs and branches then let them fall back into the thickest cover. Jiggle the bait on the bottom then pull it over the next limb. It takes some practice to know when a bass is holding the bait rather than a limb, but if you feel mushy resistance set the hook and reel hard to get the fish out of the cover.

Carolina rig a small worm behind a heavy sinker for fishing in the wind or when you want to move the bait faster. For fishing wood cover a short leader a foot or so long is best but you can use longer leaders when fishing more open bottoms. The lead will stir up the bottom and make noise, attracting the bass, and the following soft plastic worm looks like an easy meal.

Putting the small worm on a jig head and fishing it on light line is a great choice in clear water. This type of finesse fishing often results in bites when all else fails, and you can leave the hook exposed for easier hookups or bury it in the worm for fishing cover. Throw the jig head worm around any kind of cover that holds bass and you will get bit.

On the opposite end of the size spectrum, try a big worm like a Zoom Old Monster. A 10 or 11 inch worm will look like a filling meal to a bass, and many baitfish have grown big during the summer so there is a lot of food that is fairly big this time of year. Texas rig the big worm on a light bullet sinker for fishing brush and blowdowns or go heavier to get down into them on windy days.

Many big worms had ribbon tails that swim with movement, looking like fins of baitfish. As you bring the worm over a limb and let it fall it looks like food trying to get into thick cover. Swimming it along rocks and other hard bottoms looks like a cruising baitfish. Try a steady swimming action right on the bottom or hop it and let it fall back.

For faster fishing try a Carolina rigged monster worm. Shorter leaders up to 18 inches long make it easier to cast. You can fish the bait faster, covering more water to find feeding fish. And separating the worm and the lead sometimes makes the bass more willing to hit it.

Some colors that work well look nothing like a baitfish to us, but bass seem to like them. Reds and purples with green or blue flakes to give flash can be the best colors to use this time of year. The clear water lets the flakes flash and attract bass. Adding a little chartreuse to the tail will also look like the tips of baitfish tails and fins as they reflect sunlight.

A jig is just a jig until you add a soft plastic trailer, making a jig and pig that is a great big bass bait. And few baits look as much like a crawfish as a jig and pig, and big bass love crayfish. You can fish a jig and pig around any kind of cover and catch all sizes of bass, but you improve your odds of hooking the biggest bass in the area.

Trailers for jigs come in a huge variety of shapes and sizes. From straight tail chunks to those with swimming tails, all work well. You can even get trailers that look exactly like a crawfish. And baits like the Big Bite Flying Squirrel have tails that float up from the jig, imitating the pinchers of a crawfish waving in the water in the defensive posture bass often see from a crawfish just before they eat it.

Rig the trailer on either a plain jig head or one dressed with a skirt and hop it along the bottom. Let the bait sit between hops. Crawfish often move in spurts then pause before moving again. When you hit any kind of cover, from wood to rocks, let the bait sit and temp any bass hiding there.

Put the Flying Squirrel on a straight jig head and hop it along the bottom. When you pause it between hops the tails will float up and wave in the water, and action bass love. Pick a dark color with lighter patches on the tails or dye the tips of the tails with a bright color that will attract attention.

You can use any color trailer on a jig but browns in clear water and either black or blue in stained water are the usual choices. Match the plastic trailer to the color of the jig or contrast with it, putting a brown or blue trailer on a black jig or black trailer on a brown jig. The colors seem to be more important to the fisherman than the bass.

Choose a soft plastic bait in the fall and you will be fishing a bait that the bass will love. Rig one kind and fish it all day, or have a variety of different shapes and sizes of baits on several rods to find out which one the bass prefer on the day you are fishing. Without soft plastics in the fall you are limiting your options and lowering your chances of catching bass.

A Zoom Fluke is very versatile bait that is hard to beat in the fall. They come in just about any color you want to fish and in several sizes to match the size of the baitfish bass are eating. And they are fun to fish since you can work them just under the surface and see bass come up and inhale them.

When a bass takes a Fluke don’t set the hook immediately. It is hard not to jerk back when you see the fish hit, but pause and drop your rod tip, then set the hook. The pause makes sure the bait is in the fishes mouth deep enough so you will get a good hookset.

Fish the Fluke on 10 to 12 pound test fluorocarbon line. The invisible line improves your chances of getting bit and the lack of stretch helps setting the hook.