RB Bass Fishing

Bass Fishing Resource Outdoors

You are here: Home / Bass Fishing News / Spring Bass tackle favorite choices of top Pro’s

Spring Bass tackle favorite choices of top Pro’s

by

Get the right Bass Tackle for Spring Time Bass Fishing!

The pros have selected their favorite spring time bass baits to help you make the right lure choice. 

Chris Lane’s Two-Step Approach For Prespawn Bass

Chris Lane has never appeared on “Dancing with the Stars” and he likely never will. Oh, he’s agile enough, perhaps, and he certainly has the confidence. But his upbringing in central Florida didn’t include learning the cha-cha, salsa, tango or other dances required for the show. But there is one “dance” in which Lane excels: the two-step for prespawn bass. When waters start warming in February and the fish begin moving toward the shallows, Lane gyrates his way to some heavy catches. There’s more chunk and wind than bump and grind, and “swing your partner” takes on a whole different meaning. But this angler’s one-two maneuver rarely fails to yield excitement and generous action. It works for Lane, and it’ll work for other anglers who copy and apply his methods.Location:“Everything starts breaking loose when the water temperature in a given lake edges into the mid- to upper-40s,” Lane begins. “In February, anglers should keep a close watch on the weather. If they get several warm, stable days in a row, they need to go fishing. It doesn’t take much water temperature change to get the bass on the move and put them in a feeding frame of mind.” Lane continues that he prospects for these fish in staging areas where they hold and eat before moving onto their bedding grounds. He says, “These areas are typically in coves, between the main lake and the fish’s spawning area. They may be on primary points, secondary points or the first dropoff out from a spawning flat. When the right conditions prevail, it’s very common to find a school of prespawn fish concentrated on one point or on one short stretch of a break in a creek or gully.”“My second option for February is moving up onto the spawning flats and simply covering water. I just troll around and try to find an area where the bass are feeding on shad. I’m usually fishing 1 to 4 feet deep now, depending on water clarity. As Lane trolls and casts, he keeps a sharp lookout for one key to a big catch: submerged vegetation. “This could be old vegetation from last fall, or it could be the first green vegetation of the new season. Whichever, the bass love this cover, and they like to hang around it or in it. If you can find green vegetation, I’ll just about guarantee you you’ll find bass in it or close by.”Lure Selection & Presentation:To find these schools, Lane stays on the move, covering a lot of water quickly. He casts continuously to likely spots until he starts getting some bites. He begins his day working the 6- to 10-foot depth range (deeper in very clear water; shallower in dingy water), and his primary search lure is a suspending jerkbait. He retrieves this lure across points and parallel to underwater drops, trying varying retrieve cadences to discover the presentation the fish prefer on that given day. Lane tries various shad color combinations to discover the fish’s preference. When fishing the spawning flats, Lane employs a shad and red colored 1/2 oz lipless crankbait. “I’m not generally throwing at targets, but instead I’m just fancasting and covering as much water as possible” Lane explains. Lane says he typically transitions to the flats in the afternoon, since the water is warmer and the bite is more active in the shallows after the sun has beamed down a few hours.

 

Davy Hite’s Spring Lure Selection

 

March is Davy Hite’s favorite month to fish. Why? “It’s your best shot all year at the lunker of a lifetime,” he says. “The bass are at their heaviest right now, and they’re catchable.” In most of the United States – save upper-Midwest and northeastern states – the bass are super-chunky because they’re full of eggs and have been feeding for a month straight to prepare for the rigors of the spawn. Hite is rigged up to catch some of these slobs, but he’s never forgotten that fishing is supposed to be fun. Here’s what he throws in March.Rapala DT10:“I use this as my search bait. Whether I’m at an unfamiliar lake or at one I haven’t been to in a while, a crankbait is a good way to find some fish,” he says. Hite opts for a shad colored DT10 and uses it to probe the best available cover – be it grass, sandbars, rock or timber.

Buckeye Mop Jig:

Hite tosses a Mop Jig when he’s looking for a big bite. “I’ve won tons of money on this thing and have caught big fish on it from Florida to California,” he says. “It has a different action and look than a regular silicone jig, so I feel that it gets bit more.” Hite prefers a 1/2-ounce, plain brown jig tipped with a green pumpkin Trigger X Flappin’ Craw. If there’s grass or wood, he flips it in and around the cover. “It’s a really versatile bait. I’ve caught fish by swimming it an inch under the surface all the way down to 30 feet.”

Trigger X Hammer Worm:

“If you can just take four baits, a worm has got to be one of them,” Hite says. “A lot of times if fish aren’t hitting a jig, they’ll hit a worm, and I can Texas or Carolina rig this and still target big fish.” Hite will either use an 1/8-ounce weight and fish shallow vegetation, or put on a 5/8 ounce and drag it off deep drops. Or, he’ll slide on a 1-ounce weight and Carolina rig this 10-inch worm. “Muck” is his go-to color.

Rapala X-Rap Pop:

“When you go fish, you’ve got to have fun, and there’s nothing more fun than seeing a bass smash a topwater plug,” says Hite. “The first three are versatile baits and the Mop Jig’s a big fish bait, but this thing is awesome if you get on some schooling fish – it busts ’em up, and you can have a lot of fun.”

Flippin’ & Pitchin’ The Prespawn with Denny Brauer

There’s a lot of variance in February around the country when it comes to bass fishing. Some of the fish will be up on the beds and others will be just starting to move towards the beds. One thing is for certain, however, they’ll all be thinking about the spawn. That means they’re vulnerable to a flipping or pitching approach.Location:Look for them around suitable spawning areas. Generally that’ll be in the thickest cover they can find near a hard bottom area. I usually start near pockets or other backwater spots, but you always have to keep in mind where you’re fishing. If backwater spots are few and far between on your water, you might want to look around to see what else is available. I’ve seen many a largemouth bed on a big tree limb in standing timber over 40 feet of water. In Florida they often spawn on pad roots. If you live in the north, the water will still be really cold. The bass may not be as far along as what I’ve been talking about. Look for them on breaks, channels and other natural travel routes from their winter spots to the bedding areas.

Another thing to keep in mind is the weather. Prespawn bass are very sensitive to cold fronts – more than during any other season of the year. One day they might be up making beds, but then the weather turns cold and they’ll run back into the thickest cover around. It doesn’t take much. A drop in water temperature of one or two degrees will do it.

Presentation & Lure Selection:

My lure preference for this type of fishing is a jig. I want something that’ll get through the cover but, at the same time, I don’t want much movement. The Strike King Denny Brauer Premiere Pro-Model Jig is perfect. If the water is clear, I fish a brown and green pumpkin color (No. 46). If the water’s dirty, I switch to a black and blue or a Texas Craw. I like to put a Denny Brauer Chunk on the back of my jig. This gives me more bulk but doesn’t have an unnatural amount of action in cold water. I always match the color to my bait. In my experience that’s more natural looking and will catch more fish. Weight is a matter of water depth. The deeper the water, the heavier my jig will be. At this time of year the fish are bottom-oriented.

Flippin’ And Pitchin’ The Prespawn February 1, 2012 Bassmaster.com (Denny Brauer)

 

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/?from=rbbass