Five Best Baits for Prespawn Bass

Spring is the most volatile time of year in bass fishing. Being effective this time of year, more than almost any other time, means being unbeholden to preconceived notions and having a wide range of approaches ready to go when you hit the water. Fish will be in different stages of the prespawn and spawn at different times, and they will respond aggressively to even minor changes in weather. 

These are five tried-and-true picks for bass in the prespawn, spawn, and early parts of the postspawn. 

Red Lipless Crankbait

A red trap is such a good bait in the early parts of the spring. As the water temperatures rise into the 50s, the rate of crawfishing spawning and molting peaks for most species, which means an increase in activity and a fleeting period where the crawfish’s exoskeleton is typically a brighter red or orange. Crankbaits that match that pattern tend to excel. 

A lipless bait like a Strike King Red Eye Shad is a personal favorite. The tight wiggle of a lipless bait is ideal for the cooler temperatures, and the versatility of the bait makes it pretty universal. It can be effective on secondary staging points, 45 degree transition banks, and almost anywhere else. Ripping over the top of submergent vegetation at Guntersville was some of the most fun I’ve ever had fishing. 

Bubblegum Floating Worm

In the later parts of the prespawn, when the bass have crashed the bank, and even into the early postspawn, the bubblegum worm is a great finesse tactic to put numbers in the boat. 

I like to rig this weighless with a smaller EWG offset shank, usually a 3/0, and then basically twitch it back to the boat, letting it slowly sink during the breaks in the cadence. The bright color stands out and can be seen from far away, and it can be dynamite on lakes with a lot of shoreline cover. 

Flat Sided Crankbait

Just like with the lipless crankbait, the tight wiggle of a flat-sided crankbait is a key for moving baits in the cold water. When the fish push to the bank and start getting into pockets, but large numbers of them haven’t started making beds yet, I really like a bait like a Rapala OGS. 

The OGS is a big-bodied balsa-wood bait, and it tends to catch large fish. I like to mix up crankbaits this time of year, and there are certainly a lot of effective flat-sided crankbaits, but the OGS seems to connect with more size than a lot of the other baits in my box. 

Wacky Rig

The wacky rig is sometimes referred to as the stupid bait because even someone that has no idea what they’re doing could catch a fish on it. It is particularly potent at picking off prespawn cruisers, agitating fry guarders, and can be effective during the spawn also. 

There are a million different wacky worms out there. I really like the Wave Worm Tiki Stick and the original Gary Yamamoto Senko, either paired with a 3/0 Gamakatsu Octopus hook. This is the ultimate “curiosity strike” bait, and the majority come as it slowly sinks on the initial fall. 

Shaky Head

A finesse drag bait like a shaky head is something you don’t want to have to go to most of the time, but you should always be ready to in the event of a spring cold front. Cold fronts, especially earlier in the spring, can push fish back off the bank and onto secondary structure. It also will shut them down. 

A small finesse bait like a shaky head can trigger bites from quiescent bass that have sunk back into deeper water and are just chilling until they feel comfortable getting back on the bank. I like a spot remover from Buckeye and a plain trick worm, and while you can tinker with colors a lot, this 2×2 chart is a great, simple starting point.