Going Post Spawn

One of my favorite times to be on the water is during the post spawn. On any given day you can catch them on anything from a topwater up shallow to a big football jig out deep. If you are a versatile fisherman that likes to fish a lot of different baits and catch a lot of fish then it's a good time to be on the water.

One of the first things I look for if I want to get in on the shallow bite is to look for the fry. I don't know how many times I've caught fish throwing topwaters like buzzbaits into pods of fry up on the bank to just get it smashed. During the last BFL on Truman Lake the bass were up guarding fry and I was able to snatch a 3lber up doing this that ultimately helped propel me onto a 12th place finish in the tournament. A lot of times a topwater will be better than something else like a spinnerbait or a crankbait in this situation because the spit you get out of a topwater creates a lot of havoc on the surface and gets the fry to dart triggering strikes. When you a fishing a buzzbait do not forget to have some sort of follow up bait ready on another rod at your side. If a bass blows up and misses your buzzbait you can almost always pick up another rod and throw back into the boil and get the fish to bite again. The key is to be prepared. One of the best follow up baits for me has been a texas rigged Sweet Beaver.

If you don't want to hit the shallows take a look at the points at the mouths of the spawning pockets and structure next to spawning areas. A lot of anglers will continue to pound the banks because there will be fish up there but if you can get out off the bank and use your electronics you can get into big schools of fish that will eat almost anything. A good fish finder is a must for exploring long points, humps, and creek channel bends in search of bait. When the fish finder lights up that is when you need to drop the trolling motor. A lot of times these fish are very hungry and it doesn't take long to load the boat when you find them. As far as baits go start out throwing a deep diving crankbait making sure to bump the structure. After you catch the active fish off the spot you can slow down with a big football jig or a shakeyhead and milk the area for fish that didn't want to chase down the crankbait. A carolina rig is something that I hate to throw but make sure you have one on to finish up because there will be times when they want something hovering a little off the bottom. For crankbaits I really like the Strike King Series of crankbaits, the Norman DD22's, and Smack Tackle's Gizz 4. When it comes to football jigs the OMEGA Pro Mega Structure Jig as heavy as 7/8th oz and the OMEGA Derek Remitz Signature Series football jig in 3/4oz work great! An OMEGA Shakeyfoot with a Senko is another great set up. On my carolina rigs I usually have good luck with lizards and brush hogs.