Now that we’re beginning to ease past the Spawn, yet we are not quite into typical Summertime patterns, it can be a hard to really dial in anything on the water. But that doesn’t mean that good days can’t be had! Now is the time to start in the spawning bays and work your way out to the main lake trying to find a clue as to where along the path the bass are staging. This means that you need a way to 1) cover water quickly, then 2) once you find them, offer them a big easy meal. If I could have only 3 combos on my boat deck, here are the 3 baits that would be tied on.

Medium Diving Crankbait

You definitely need a way to cover some water when trying to locate post-spawn bass. For me, a lot of these bass are going to be positions somewhere between the spawning pockets and the main lake. They will stage on secondary points, humps, hard spots, and brush. While these fish tend to hang out in 8-12’ of water (depending on your lake), a medium diving crankbait is an excellent way to “feel around” efficiently and get a few bites that will help clue you in to the sweet spots along these routes.

Swimbait

With the bass, especially the big females, recovering from the duties of the Spawn; they are looking to spend as little energy as possible while feeding up on big, easy meals. A big soft-plastic swimbait is a great tool that covers all bases. Once you locate the right area with your crankbait, it’s a good time to settle in a slowly swim this big meal through the area, targeting a bigger bite.

Hardhead w/ Big Soft Plastic

Along the same line of thinking, I like to have plenty of healthy options to try to get the bigger fish to bite. And, especially in areas where I may have more brush or timber, this offers a little more weedless offering in place of a swimbait (that I tend to fish with an open hook). The hard head design has replaced a lot of my Texas Rigs when targeting offshore structure. I will settle with on of the heavier weights to maintain bottom contact and pair it with a Pro’s Choice Big Monster Worm or a Strike King Magnum Bug.

Now is a time of transition in many parts of the country, and it’s a great time to find the bass starting to stack up. Cover water, put a big meal in front of them, and it could be a magical day on the water!