Spring 2023
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Slow rolling a spinnerbait or a vibrating jig over the weeds will be gold. Make your cast and work the bait back to the boat at a speed that you can contact the weeds. When the bait holds in the weeds, bust it free, and put it on its way again. Most of your strikes will happen when you break your bait free from the cover and are on the move again. Rattletraps, and crankbait also fall in this category. If the bite is slow switch and work the area with a jig or tube. Let the bass tell you what they are preferring at that time.
When faced with a cold front hitting the area, take a step back. First use a jig or tube to try to pick the area apart. If that does not work, move back to where the bass came from, they may make a temporary move to this area to ride out the cold front, but they will move back up in a day or two to start where they left off.
As the water temperatures get warmer the bass activity level will continue to climb as will their appetite, allowing you to get more aggressive with your tactics. Squarebills, vibrating jigs, and spinnerbaits will let you cover water looking for signs of bass. When contact is made slow down and breakdown the area to see what is there.
At this time of the year, do not forget to lean on topwater baits to let the bass show themselves. This is a sleeper bait that I have held close to my vest. When bass are starting to make the shallow trek, they are keying in on bait over their heads and have no problem targeting what they deem an easy meal. They have a tough time not taking a chance at targeting an easy meal over their heads.
I hope this breakdown will help you track down bass early in the season and allow you to make the spring trek with them. By taking your time to break areas down you will be more successful this spring and help keep you on the bass. It will also set a foundation for you to use year after year and expand your cold water season options. •
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