It’s that time of year again when the morning are still icy but the afternoon sun feels oh so good! It is time to catch early spring bass but before we hit the water we need to know what bass eat in spring.
In this articles we are going to discuss a variety of topics including,
- Water Temperature for Spring
- Best Lures for Spring Bass
- Best Techniques for Those Baits
Now keep in mind that the information provided in this article is designed to be a quick read. If you want more detailed information about bass in spring head over to, Bass Fishing Early Spring for a full guide.
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Temperature for Spring Bass
The key to catching bass in the early spring is watching water temperature.
Early spring in Pennsylvania is at a completely different time period than early spring in Georgia.
With that in mind, once your water temperature hits the 45-50 degrees , early spring bass begin to shake off their winter dormancy and start feeding more aggressively.
Which means this is a great opportunity to go out and catch a big one.
If you have a boat, start out in deeper parts of the lake near points. As the old saying goes, “points point to fish.”
From here start to work your way to more shallow portions of the lake.
Continue exploring the lake by hitting vegetation, structure or near channels until you have found fish.
Lures for Bass in Spring
Now that you know your water temperature, and where to find bass it’s time to take a look at what they’re eating. Below is a list of different lures for pre-spawn bass.
The following baits are a base for you to get started. There are many bass fishing lures that could be used in spring.
Lipless Crankbait
The first lure we have is great for a beginner because of its simple cast-it-out and reel-it-in retrieve.
Unlike normal crankbiats, these lures have no bill to make them dive and wobble.
When this bass fishing technique is working for bass, there is a real potential to catch some huge fish.
That’s the lipless crankbait. This lure does best around vegetation with a slow retrieve.
Red has been the hot color lately, but don’t be afraid to experiment.
Lipless crankbaits are deadly for catching spring bass.
Jerkbaits
Next up for spring bass lures is the suspending jerkbait. Fishing Jerkbaits for Bass is a killer way to catch fish quickly.
When these lures are working, this is some of the funnest fishing that there is.
This imitates the dying shad that are prevalent in cold water.
Once casted you’ll be twitching the rod tip to make the lure dart under the water.
The key here is to wait a few seconds in between twitches and allow the lure to sit suspended in the water column.
Mixing up your retrieve works best. Twitch twice then pause, twitch once then pause etc.
Watch your line closely during the pause, this is where you’ll get the majority of your strikes.
Football Jigs
Jigs may be one of the most popular ways to catch early spring bass. It’s versatile, efficient, and fairly straight forward to use.
The jig has many different sizes, but the most prevalent are the 1/4, 3/8, and 1/2 oz.
Again, don’t be afraid to test out which size is working best at the moment.
The jig will imitate a slow-moving crayfish on the bottom of the lake.
These work best when thrown toward a structure in the water such as a submerged tree.
Slowly bounce this lure along the bottom or drag and pause it back toward your position.
Senko Baits
Lastly, we have the senko style worm. Fishing Soft Plastics is another vary popular way of catching bass in spring.
The 5” model is the most popular and can be rigged up in many different ways, but weightless will work the best; especially if bass are short-striking you.
Cast out to the spot where you’ve been missing fish and allow the worm to fall on semi-slack line.
Again, keep a close eye on your line because the fall is when you’ll get most of your bites.
If nothing bites on the initial cast then reel in some slack and slowly raise your rod to 12 o’clock and allow the lure to fall again.
Continue this until it has been fully retrieved. Senko fishing may be my favorite way to catch early spring bass.
Another great way to catch bass is by Texas rigging your senko.
In the above lures you should use the crankbait and jerkbait as your searching tools.
They allow you to cover a lot of water quickly and will help you locate the bass.
The jig and senko will work best if bass are short-striking you.
The slower movements of those lures allow the lethargic bass time to see it and strike without having to move too quickly.
Conclusion – Catch Early Spring Bass
Above are just the basic steps on how to fish for bass in the early spring. Feel free to take any of the ideas above and expand on them to make them your own.
That’s always been my favorite part of the sport. Always remember, you can’t catch em’ from the couch.
Bonus Tip for Spring Bass
Before we sign off, I wanted to give you one more suggestions to catch spring bass.
Fishing swimbaits for bass is a great way to land the biggest bass in spring.
Swimbaits have won countless bass fishing tournaments, are you using them right?
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