Before you even think about what lures or fishing techniques to use, you always need to know where the bass are.
It is easy to find spawning bass. Just look for the bright bed, and you have found them.
But once they have finished spawning, where do they go?
Once you know where they are, that knowledge will influence every other aspect of your fishing strategy.
The post spawn is the 3-4 week period of time after the bass have spawned. The spawn is where bass lay eggs, hatch their young, and protect their young.
The spawn lasts about a month as well. The post spawn fishing period transitions bass from the spawn into the summer.
There are two primary places that bass go after the spawn. These are shallow cover and the first depth change.
Bass go to these two locations in order to get easy meals and be protected from predators.
After the tiresome spawn, bass don’t have tons of energy to spend chasing down prey or escaping from birds or other fish.
So post spawn bass will move to shallow cover or slightly deeper water.
Bass try to stay in and around cover all year long. Post spawn bass are very hungry and have a bit less energy than other times of year.
This is because during the spawn, they did not eat any food. So they have lost weight and are very hungry.
Cover such as trees, docks, grass, and artificial cover give these vulnerable bass to two things that they need.
Food and protection. There are always easy meals such as bluegill, frogs, lizards, birds, and insects hanging around the wood and grass.
Bass can also hide in and under this cover, keeping them safe from birds or bigger fish.
There is only so much cover in any body of water. Not all the bass are going to be able to take advantage of the wood and grass.
These bass are going to be very spread out and a bit harder to target directly like the other bass.
But, you can still have a general idea of where they are going to be. After the spawn, bass will go from the very shallow spawning grounds into the next shallowest water.
This is the first drop off or depth change outside of these shallow flats. The slightly deeper water will give bass extra protection from predators.
Contrary to the bass that hold very closely to cover, these bass will be cruising along the line or drop off edge.
These bass need to stay moving, because food is not going to come to them like it will for the other bass. They need to cruise and hunt down food.
Post spawn bass will remain relatively shallow. The bass that are holding to cover will typically be up in very shallow water because the cover provides them with plenty of protection.
These bass will be in 1-3 feet of water. The bass that are cruising the drop off areas are going to be a bit deeper, usually between 2-5 feet of water.
The post spawn is always going to be at the tail end of the spring time.
It will range from early March to mid April in the Southern states, and from early June to mid July in Northern states.
This will usually take place when water temperatures are between 55-65 degrees.
Click our map of the bass spawn for every part of the United States.
The post spawn time period will range from the last 1-2 weeks of your location’s spawn, and about 1 month after your location’s spawn.
There are of course many great post spawn bass lures. But if I could only pick three, the frog, bluegill swimbait, and swim jig give me the most versatility for catching post spawn bass.
It doesn’t get more weedless than a top water frog. By this time in the year, amphibians have started to be active and highly populated in ponds.
Imitating a chunky frog on the surface is a very filling and easy meal for bass that will not get snagged on any weeds or structure.
Bluegill are the #1 forage of post spawn bass. They are big, easy meals and are highly populated in the shallow water.
A bluegill swimbait is the most realistic and reliable lure to mimic them.
Swim jigs are great bluegill imitations, but allow you to fish everywhere and anywhere.
The sleek design and thick weed guard protect the lure from getting hung up in brush or grass.
A bluegill pattern swim jig paired with the right trailer is the most versatile post spawn lure you can throw.
Post spawn bass are fairly easy to locate. They are either in shallow cover or the next deepest water.
Depending on which of these bass you are targeting, you should select lures accordingly.
The bass in the cover will require more weedless lures, while the open water bass will require lures that can cover more water.
When understood correctly, the post spawn can be an incredible time to catch hungry bass that are bulking back up after their tiresome spawn.
