NORCAL depending on what region you’re fishing – and plenty of prespawners. The spawn stage should determine your pace/action. In postspawn, look for fry balls, bass suspending on treetops or deeper fish. Try moving faster and look for a reaction bite. For bedded females, slow it down. You may have to entice them. Prespawners should be eager. Don’t spend too much time in one place. They should bite quickly if present. You can also flip with a spinning rod; just avoid heavy cover. Grab that line, open the bail and flip your bait into a likely spot. Shorter rods are great in tight quarters or for bank anglers hiking spot to spot. Practice in your yard with a hula hoop or similar target. Try to softly land a lure in the circle.
CHUCK AND WIND Casting lures is simple and dated, but of course it still works. We’re talking cranks, spinners and swimbaits, all of which can be thrown with spinning or baitcasting equipment. There are subtleties within each discipline, though. Get familiar with all of it. A well-placed spinnerbait is a great baitfish imitator. I prefer a roll cast and it requires a baitcaster. A 6-foot, 6-inch medium rod with slick guides is fine. You want the rod tip somewhat limber, with power in the rest. Use the soft tip to sling the bait and use your thumb to reduce spool speed and backlashes. Again, practice in your yard. Spinnerbaits can be slow-rolled near cover or fan-casted in all directions to cover deep and shallow water. Blades are great search baits. Pick off aggressive fish or observe chasers in an area. Now that you’ve located fish, slow down and use another tactic, if necessary. Cranks excel in open, rocky habitat, but also over submerged grass. Tick the tops with a slow, steady retrieve. That’s usually enough. If you get hung up, snap it loose. That can also trigger strikes.
The author caught and released this spotted bass flipping Senkos in the back of a bay. What stage the spawn is in should determine your pace/action when targeting fish in spring. (JASON HALEY)
Swimbaits and glide baits are increasingly popular. They excel yearround, but particularly prespawn. Try large ones with a slow, steady retrieve to target trophies. According to Colby Pearson, a swimbait specialist who routinely
64 California Sportsman APRIL 2018 | calsportsmanmag.com
catches giants, “There’s a big difference between the beginning of this month and the end.” Pearson targets “holding locations,” not spawning destinations, and believes truly big bass hold in the same deep-water haunts near spawning zones be-