My absolute favorite time to use a crankbait is late winter going into early spring. When the water is cold from 42-48 degrees. These are the times when a lot of people think you can’t catch bass cranking.
While they’re out throwing their jigs and jerkbaits(which are also decent options) I’m cleaning up with a crankbait. But how do you actually fish a Crankbait during the spring when the waters cold?
Spring Crankbait Fishing
Crankbait fishing is easily one of the best producing lures during the early spring and late winter. When the fish start to venture from their deep winter hideaways towards shallow water they’ll be extremely susceptible to shallow water crankbaits. The only problem is there’s loads of shallow water throughout the lake, so where should you setup?
Where Should You Fish a Crankbait During The Spring?
Where you’re at in the country is going to make a huge difference in where you need to fish. You could be on a river, highland reservoir or manmade lake all your lakes are going to be different. It’s all going to depend on what species of fish are in that body of water. Are you going after largemouths, smallmouths or spotted bass? You need to take that into consideration when deciding where you need to setup.
When your talking about late winter and early spring there’s nothing more important than a flat crankbait. Flat sided crankbaits like the Rapala Shad Rap are really going to clean up in cold water.
When the waters cold you should always look at shallow water that has close access to deeper water. You need to start looking for channel swing banks, bluff banks(steep cliffs) anywhere with a quick and steep drop-off. This is where most fish are going to spend their winters, so that’s where they’re most likely going to be.
You want to setup wherever that steep decline starts to peter out into shallow water. This is going to be the absolute best area to shallow crank.
Key on Transition Areas
Pay attention to wherever deep water starts to flatten out creating a transition area. Most of the time these areas are going to have some type underwater structure. You’ll most likely see some type of rocky bottom that will draw in a ton of bass.
When the water is cold you absolutely cannot go wrong working these areas. Tossing my shad rap or Strike King KVD Flat crankbait is like fishing with dynamite. You’ll be catching big bass left and right, It’s almost too easy!
I’m not going to say you can’t catch big bass in 1-2 foot of water during the spring, but you’ll have a lot better luck working a transition area. A lot go guys like to crank in deep water during the spring, but I’ve never been a fan of deep water cranking. The odds just aren’t in your favor in deeper water during the spring.
Spring Bass are Thinking About The Spawn
During the spring fish only have one thing on their mind, and that’s the spawn. When the water’s cold they’re just waiting for the warmth so they can make some babies. So they’re going to migrate to the closest deep water location to their shallow beds.
Look for the last deep water location in the back pocket of the lake. They’re going to hold out as close to their spawning beds as they possibly can. All they’re trying to do is hold off until the warmth and fatten themselves up as much as possible.
Other Key Spring Fishing Areas
For as long as people have been fishing they’ve been using wood cover to catch monster bass. Keep an eye out for overhanging trees right along those transition areas close to deep water. If there’s a little bit of cover bass are going to hold up.
It doesn’t matter what the bank looks like bass are going to flock to wood cover near deep water. Wood is going to hold a lot of warmth for bass to warm up in cold water.
Another great place to look for early spring brass is around docks. It doesn’t matter what time of year it is you’ll always find a couple bass hanging out directly below a dock. They’re going to use the dock as cover as they’re transitioning into shallow water. Even the most discerning bass will go after a little Strike King KVD Shallow Square Bill Crankbait. With no internal rattles you won’t have to worry about spooking away skittish bass.
Early spring bass are feeding as much as they can and they absolutely love eating crawfish. Where do crawfish hide? They hide around underwater rocks and pea gravel. So it’s no surprise that you’ll find a ton of spring bass around rocky transition areas. As an added bonus rocks work as an insulator heating up the water around them.
Late Spring Cranking Starts To Get Tricky
There comes a time every spring when cranking starts to get a little more difficult. As the spring progresses and the fish start their push to the shallows it can get tricky. They start to push into grasslines and heavy cover that you just can’t throw a crankbait.
At this point fish start to invade the shallows and spread out getting ready to spawn. At this point in time you’re going to need to ditch your flatbill for a rattle style bait. Personally I like to go with a Rat-L-Trap or Ima Rock N Vibe Lipless Crankbait (These are a bit pricey).
With a lipless crankbait you’ll be able to cover a lot of water fan casting. Just try to cover as much water as you can trying to catch those fish before they setup to spawn. I’m not going to lie it won’t be as easy as the rest of the month. It’s going to be a lot of trial and error figuring out what works.