Everybody loves fishing during the spring. After your long winter hibernation it’s fun to get out to the water for the first time. Bass start biting and you can shed your warm winter jacket.
But how do you actually catch early spring bass? As bass move into the shallows even a beginner can have success if they know what they’re doing. When the spring warm front starts to roll in it’s time to get off the couch and out to your favorite fishing hole.
Early Spring Bass Fishing Tips
Absolutely anybody can catch bass during the springtime. As the water temperature increases bass start to feed heavily preparing for the spawn. They invade the shallows and attack anything that moves. With a little practice you’ll be able to bring in some monster bass.
1. Keep an Eye on The Water Temperature
As the water temperature starts to rise up to 50 degrees you’re going to start see a lot of bass activity. They start to invade the shallows looking for an easy meal. You won’t even need a boat to have success fishing the shallows during the spring.
Prespawn Fishing 48-55 Degree Water
Early spring aka the prespawn period is one of my favorite times to go fishing. During the prespawn I’ll normally start off the day by throwing a jig. As always the males show up early to the spawning beds while the females wander through the grass.
Before the spawn try throwing a jig right along the shoreline closest to the shallows. I’m a huge fan of the Red/Black Booyah Boo Jig. With a heavy weed guard it can really penetrate through grass beds without getting stuck.
Crankbaits and Swimbaits are another option for fishing the prespawn period. Personally I like to fish a nice shallow diving crankbait like Strike Kings Square Bill Crankbait. It dives down 3-6 feet and meanders erratically through the water.
Fishing The Spawn 55+ Degree Water
Bass start to spawn as the water temperatures starts to increase to 55-60 degrees. As you start to notice the males and females pairing up it turns into a hunting game. Pull up your polarized sunglasses and work the spawning beds hard and fast. Pulling a Texas Rigged Rage Tail Craw through the beds is guaranteed to get a bite.
2. Cover Water Fast With Reaction Baits
During the early spring it can be difficult to tell exactly where bass are holding out. Early in the Spring you’ll want to start in deeper water and work your way into the shallows. The easiest way to do this is by using baits that cover a lot of water fast.
Most of the time I’ll start off using a deep water crankbait like a Strike King 5XD Crankbait. Strike Kings 5XD Crankbait digs down about 15 Feet. If I’m not having any luck with that I’ll switch things up and move a little shallower. Rapala’s X-Rap XR10 Jerkbait is normally my next choice in a little bit shallower water(5-8 Feet of Water).
3. Get a Good Pair of Polarized Sunglasses and Decent Electronics
If you’re fishing from a boat you should be able to tell exactly where fish are holding out. When you don’t see any fish on your radar move on to shallower water.
Every fisherman needs to own a good pair of polarized sunglasses(These KastKing Fishing Sunglasses are cheap and decent quality). Once you’ve got your polarized sunglasses just take a look in the shallows. You should be able to visually see some bass during the spawn. Smaller fish go to the shallows earlier, so if you see bigger bass in deeper water pull back and go out deeper.
4. Know When to Leave The Shallows
All good things come to an end and unfortunately you won’t have anybody ushering you out of the shallows. If you have electronics it’s easy to tell when the spawn is over. Once the water temperature reaches 70 degrees bass start to leave their beds.
Don’t Worry All Hope Isn’t Lost! Females will need to recover, so they’ll still hang around the shallows. Instead of casting into the spawning beds look towards the nearest cover. You’ll most likely find fat females lurking around boat docks, submerged brush and vegetation(Any type of cover really).
You know where they are, but how do you catch them? The spawn wipes out all their energy, so they won’t be quick to feed. Reactionary and quick strike lures are going to work best. Sweep parallel to the shoreline using a 1/2 oz Booyah Double Willow Spinnerbait or maybe even a Padcrasher Hollow Body Frog.
The Best Spring Bass Fishing Lures
What works during the prespawn is going to be completely different than what works during the spawn. During the prespawn period you don’t know exactly where bass are holding. This means you’re going to want to use lures that cover a lot of water fast. Once bass invade the shallows things get much easier. Continue below for my favorite bass lures for the spawn.
Prespawn Fishing Lures
1.Crankbaits and Lipless Crankbaits
I love crankbaits, but they are easily one of the most confusing lures on the market. There are so many different body styles and they all dive to different depths. So obviously you’re going to need to figure out which body styles work best for every situation.
Crankbaits work best in those shallow muddy lakes that have a lot of shallow cover. I’m talking about working riprap, shallow docks, shallow grass and other situations where crankbaits excel. You can cover a ton of water and really tear up parallel to riprap or shore.
During the Prespawn phase I’ll typically work between the Rapala Shad Rap, Strike King 5XD, and Fat Bodied Storm Wiggle Wart. When bass are really aggressive I’ll use the fatter 5XD and Wiggle Wart that push a lot of water. Rapala’s thin bodied Shad Rap is a bit narrower and attracts more apprehensive fish.
To work your crankbait bump as much cover as you can with a slow even reel. Keep your rod tip low allowing it to hit cover without needing to crank quickly.
Whenever a lake has a lot of submerged vegetation you need to switch to a Lipless Crankbait. Normally I’ll bring out my tradional Rat-L-Trap or Red Eye Shad.
Cast your Lipless crankbait as far as possible and bring it in fast. Swim your lipless crankbait directly over the grass line moving fast and steady. Barely touch the top of the weeds and slow your retrieve if you don’t feel anything.
2. Chatterbaits
I’ll throw a chatterbait whenever I get around sparse grass and flats. You obviously aren’t going to want to throw a crankbait near grass because it’s going to be extremely difficult. Late in the prespawn throwing a chatterbait is going to be absolutely killer.
When it comes to chatterbaits I don’t really do much in terms of color. In shad lakes I’ll typically throw white and bluegill lakes I’ll throw browns and greens. Lately I’ve been sticking to the affordable Z-Man Lures Elite Chatterbait series lures. They’re very loud in the water and you won’t have to worry about snagging on the grassline.
3. Buzzbait
Buzzbaits work really well around shallow shallow cover during the prespawn. Throw a buzzbait on those overcast, dark and dreary days when there’s low water visibility. When there’s low light conditions you really can’t beat a topwater lure.
A lot of people don’t want to throw a topwater lure during the prespawn phase. With water temperatures in the 50s and 60s shouldn’t all the bass be in deeper water? Honestly I’ve found that it’s one of the best times to throw a buzzbait. Work the Riprap, grass, wood, brush piles and any other type of cover.
If you can pull a Strike King or Booyah buzzbait directly over grass during the prespawn I can almost guarantee you’ll get a bite.
Fishing Lures For The Spawn
1. Jig
When bass have moved into their bedding areas and start to spawn you’re going to have to change up your tactics. Luckily fishing the bedding areas is going to be almost to easy. You can drag just about anything through the bedding areas and expect to get a few bites.
When I first arrive at the spawning beds I’ll normally start out by throwing a jig. I’ll typically start off with a 1/2 oz Black and Blue Boo Jig. The heavier jig weight allows you to stay down in the mud and get good contact with the bottom. You can really stay in and around those bass spawning beds.
I want my jig to look like a bluegill, crawfish or anything else that’s gonna threaten those eggs. Intimidate those nesting fish a little bit so they’re forced to strike.
2. Creature Baits
I’ll normally start out with a jig, but a lot of times fish start to get a little bit intimidated or accustomed to jig. Especially on bright sunny days on pressured lakes you’ll have to change things up. When jigs aren’t working I’ll normally bring out my favorite creature bait.
The Zoom Bait Baby Brush Hog is by far my favorite creature bait. I don’t know what kind of lizard like creature fish think it is, but they sure are intimidated by them. I’ll normally throw it on a Carolina Rig and Just drag it through the spawning beds.