Early Spring Bass

Spring has been trying to show itself the last couple of weeks. We’ve had some warm weather that’s starting to warm the water temps across the US. These few warming spells have been triggering the fish to migrate to the shallows. Typically, the male bass start showing up first to spawn. You can catch these buck spring bass by dragging soft plastic worms around the bank or fan casting on shallow flats. I like using the Berkley General. I will throw this weightless or with a 1/16 and 1/8 ounce bullet weight. The key is fishing this bait really slow. With the water temps still not where they need to be, the bass are not very active.

Another bait I like to throw for Early Spring Bass is the Berkley Cutter 90 shallow. This is a shallow running jerk bait that will get you a lot of bites. The big females bass will soon move shallow once the water temps start sustaining an average in the 60’s, but spawning is definitely on their minds.

A few of these females are starting to stage close to the spawning areas. You can target these fish by fishing the first contour change, drop or ledge near the spawning areas. I will work this areas with a Berkley Dredger. Fishing this bait to where its bumping on the bottom will trigger these big fish to bite. I will also use a slower approach and throw a lite Carolina rig with a Berkley Power Hawg. A 1/4 to 3/8 ounce bullet weight on your Carolina rig will be sufficient enough to work the shallow drops for those big fish.