Written by Andrew Schadegg

Prespawn is a lot of anglers’ favorite time of the year and for good reason. Bass are hungry, aggressive and territorial. It’s a fantastic time to catch both big fish and numbers. If you have the opportunity to get out on the water fairly often, it’s also a really fun time to try out new baits and experiment with techniques you haven’t tried before.

It’s easy to get stuck in a rut and only fish baits that you’re familiar with. This spring, challenge yourself to put down the same crankbait or spinnerbaityou throw every year and pick up something different.

Here are 5 baits we think you should try during the prespawn this year:

1. Big Swimbaits – If you haven’t experimented with the bigger swimbaits, this is the time of year to do it. By big we mean something 6 inches or bigger. Huddleston, Osprey, Castaic, LIVETARGET and Savage Gear all make excellent bigger swimbaits. Get out of your comfort zone and learn this very effective technique.

2. Prop-Style Topwater – These types of baits have really been making a splash in the industry. From the popular Whopper Plopper to the new Lunkerhunt Prop Series, these rotating water chugger baits create a ton of disturbance and induce some serious explosions. If you’re not throwing them, you should be.

3. Deep Crankbaits – Not your 15 foot crankbaits, we’re talking about those super deep 20 foot plus versions. These require some specialized crankbait equipment, but they are big time fish catchers, particularly with the schools of bass that haven’t moved up yet, but are starting to get hungry early in the prespawn stage. The Strike King 10XD is pretty much all you need in this category.

4. Underspins – This little jighead with a blade underneath is a gold mine for catching fish not just in the spring, but all year round. Get some different weights and sizes, then pair your favorite paddle tail swimbait like a Keitech or Strike King Rage Swimmer. Run this sucker slowly along the bottom, on the outside of a tule or reed line or around spawning flats and hold on, cause you’ll catch some fish.

5. Glide Baits – These jointed style hard baits, like big swimbaits, are sometimes intimidating for anglers to dive in and try. You will not be disappointed if you spend some time getting to know this technique. It is a great fish locator, as many times giant bass will follow it all the way to the boat. When they are striking it though, they destroy it. This is a great bait to fish around spawning areas when they are territorial. Great versions from River2Sea, Savage Gear, Castaic and many others.

Step out of your comfort zone and give some new baits a try this season!

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