I don’t have the statistics to prove it, but I’d bet ya a good letter grade on my upcoming college finals that from now until late June is when most people go bass fishing.
So I wanted to provide some simple advice on lure selection to hard working folks that might squeak the majority of their year’s fishing trips into the next couple of months.
Let’s start with a simple one. A red/orange crawfish colored shallow diving squarebill crankbait. This is super easy to tie on to 15-pound fishing line, for casting and retrieving around just about any form of habitat.
From fallen trees and stumps, to submerged vegetation and rocks too – this is a lure that gets a lot of bites in the cooler waters of spring – and it’s also a lure that big bass bite too. I don’t know why they love that bright red/orange crawfish pattern – but they do.
Secondly, a Jackall 110 size jerkbait. This skinny minnow lure has a ‘weight transfer system’ built into it, so when you cast it, man, it soars like a bullet even on windy days when jerkbaits work best.
A lot of jerkbaits are difficult to cast, because they are so light, and that leads to a lot of frustrating backlashes – but this one is awesome. And you can catch bass on it all spring. I tie it to 12-pound line – and if you can find a place where the original creek or river channel swings close to a rocky bank or point – that’s a perfect situation.
Thirdly, the skirted jig with a sizeable plastic trailer on 20-pound line. It’s been catching big bass since way before I was born, and it still does. This is the most complicated of the three lures I’m recommending, but it’s also the one most likely to help you catch the biggest bass of your life.
It offers big fish, a big meal. But it also requires patience as you pitch it to shallow habitat and hop it slowly back.
Plus, it requires practice to make accurate underhand pitches to the gnarly sort of habitat where big bass love to live.
I still set up cups, small buckets or whatever I can find to make a good target to practice pitching jigs in the garage or backyard when I’m not on the water. Because the softer and more accurate you can pitch this lure – the more big bass bites you’re likely to catch.
I hope this simple bit of information helps you make the most of this super popular time of year for bass fishing. I feel confident I could catch bass on at least one of these three lures anywhere from Florida to Lake Erie, and just about anywhere bass live in this great country of ours.
Heck, I’d even bet ya a good letter grade on my upcoming final exams here at Bryan College in East Tennessee on these three lures.