Scott Petersen

When you think of springtime bass fishing thoughts may turn towards bass sitting on the beds but what about before the spawn or after? Where do the bass come from before the spawn and where do they go after the spawn? Let’s look at some springtime jig tactics and see if we cannot figure out the pieces of the puzzle to early season bass.

Early Season Locations
During the winter time bass in your waters will have spent the majority of their time in the deeper water locations in the body of water you are fishing. If you are fishing in a reservoir look for bass in deep creek channel bends many times suspending off of the turns. 

If you are fishing in a natural lake they will tend to winter in the deeper part of the lake either suspending in the water column under a food source or on the bottom somewhere close to food. Which is true will depend on the body of water you are fishing.

In both cases when the water warms, bass will start to move towards the shallows into coves; or bays and get onto the weed edges. The magical depth that the bass will hold at is 8ft to 12ft. As the springs sun warms the water bass will start to make their way into the shallows looking for a place to spawn. At this time their feeding motivation is pretty low as they have something else on their minds.    

After the spawn is completed the females will be the first to leave the shallows and head back towards that magical depth. They make these moves for one to recoup, and two to put the feed bag on again to get their strength back after the rigorous spawning rituals.

The areas that will get my first attention will be areas that are located outside of bigger spawning areas, major points and deeper breaking weed edges. These locations will also serve as areas that the bass will fall back too if they are faced with major cold fronts that move through an area. Use your electronics to help you find some of these key areas, when looking around look for evidence of bass hanging out on the break waiting for the waters to warm.

Jig Selection
Once you have found the areas that you would like to target now is the time to get to work. I will target these areas with three different Outkast Jigs. The first one I am going to start out with will be a Outkast Pro Staff Jig. My primary selection of size will generally be 3/8oz to 1/2oz. Paired with an Outkast Chunk I will look for some sort of edge that will hold the bass at the 8ft to 12ft depth. This is the place where the bass will sit until spawning conditions are right, and then they will start to make a move towards the shallows.

Once I find the edge I will start to fish in the area. For this tactic I generally use a 7ft to 7’6” heavy action baitcaster, teamed with a matching reel that is spooled with 15lb Sunline Shooter line. When targeting these areas use a few different retrieves to start I always use a traditional lift and fall retrieve. This will allot of times take the most active bass that are located on the edge.  

If the bass seem to be shut down I will also try a drag retrieve, this many times will get you strikes on your jig when a traditional lift and fall retrieve will not.  If the bite gets extra tough I will also switch up and use an Outkast Finesse Jig. The Finesse Jig comes in 2 sizes, 3/16oz and 5/16oz. The smaller sized Finesse Jig many times will be just the ticket to get those tight lipped bass to open their mouths and take a bite.

I will fish my finesse jig on either a medium action baitcaster or a spinning setup. If I choose the the baitcaster setup I will use a 7ft  medium action baitcaster, teamed with a matching reel and spooled with 10lb Sunline Sniper fluorocarbon line.  If I prefer to use a spinning setup I will fish a 7ft medium action spinning setup, teamed with a matching spinning reel that is spooled with 8lb to 10lb Sunline Sniper fluorocarbon line.

Just as like the Pro Staff Jig I will fish the finesse jig with the same retrieves. Start with the traditional lift and drop retrieve, then move to the drag retrieve if needed.

When the bass use the weedflat areas I will switch to an Outkast Swim Jig. This allows me to cover the water and look to see if I cannot trigger a few bites from the bass that are in between the edge and the shallow nesting areas.   The swim jig is a great tactic to use when you need to cover water to find key bass locations before and after the spawn. For my swim jig tactic I will use a 7ft medium action baitcaster setup, teamed with a matching reel spooled with 15lb Sunline Sniper Fluorocarbon line. If I am fishing in heavy cover conditions I may opt to switch to braided line. For this I will throw Sunline FX2 in 50lb.

Trailers
Trailers that you put on your jig will play a big part in how your jig will act and also fish. Take the time to learn how each trailer will make your jig act and how it can affect your fishing. Matching your trailer to your jig is key in getting the most out of your jig offering. This learning process in the long run will help you put more bass in your boat.

So this spring when it comes to finding bass do not let springtime jig tactic go untouched. Get a hand full of Outkast Jigs with a few different trailers and hit the water. You will soon see the power of the jig in the springtime is one of the best bass lures to have in your tackle box.

Create some memories please remember to practice CPR (Catch, Photo and Release). The future of fishing is in your hands. For more timely bass tips and tactics and to read more from Scott Petersen, visit his web site Fishing Insider