The three phases of spring can be a bit tricky for anglers because bass are constantly changing their behavior.
If you are on aware of how bass are acting, where they are, and what they are eating, you’re going to have a difficult time catching lots of bass.
This article will tell you exactly what lures you should be using and how you should be fishing them to maximize your success with post spawn bass.
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.
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.
There is a wide variety of different bluegill swimbaits, but they are all going to be very realistic and have incredible action.
The best places to fish these baits are grass lines and 2-6 feet off the bank where the bottom of the lake is just out of view.
Post spawn bass cruise these areas in search of a big, easy meal. Since these lures are going to be a bit big, they are going to require some heavier gear.
A medium-heavy or heavy casting rod with 15-25 lb line works perfectly.
Try to retrieve the swimbait as slow as you can get away with before it hits to bottom or gets caught up in grass.
Post spawn bass are not super high energy, so giving the a bigger, slower meal is ideal.
As with any time of year, bass love to hide in cover. Whether it is grass, lily pads, trees, or docks, there are going to be lots of bass sticking to these structures during the post spawn.
The swim jig is the perfect lure to cover lots of water while still fishing in and around the cover.
During the post spawn, I exclusively use bluegill pattern swim jigs paired with a bluegill trailer.
Bass just crush bluegill during the post spawn, so you can never go wrong imitating them.
The swim jig is really the most versatile lure on the market. It is incredible weedles, but can cover lots of water.
And if bass are holding super close to cover, you can still fish it like a traditional jig and flip it into them. I always have a swim jig tied on in the late spring.
Speaking of weedless, frogs are the most weedless lures ever made.
By the time the post spawn takes place, lakes and ponds have become infested with weeds, grass, and lily pads.
Having the ability to throw a frog up onto the thickest vegetation and scum without getting hung up is crucial.
Bass love hiding under the shade of this vegetation and looking upwards at potential meals.
Primarily bluegill and amphibians such as frogs and lizards. As soon as the grass touches the surface, I tie on a frog and don’t look back.
The post spawn is certainly one of the best times to fish a frog.
The prop bait is another topwater lure that really shines during the post spawn season.
Honestly, I can’t really explain why it works so well or gets so many bass to bite. It just does.
Something about the sound, flash, and vibration that the bait’s propellers give off simply drives bass crazy.
From the bass’s spawning season all the way through the bluegill spawn, prop baits will work extremely well.
Prop baits obviously aren’t weedless, so you can’t fish them in as many places as frogs.
But the loud noise and commotion they create draw bass in from long distances.
One important thing to note is that you need to use either a monofilament leader or straight monofilament line.
Braid will get caught up in the blades and ruin the cast.
It is always a good idea to have a finesse bait lined up in case bass don’t seem to be biting.
And no finesse setup beats the wacky rig during the post spawn season.
The slow sink paired with the inchworm action seems to persuade every bass to eat.
I will always use a weightless wacky rig setup during the post spawn because bass are going to be relatively shallow and suspended up off the bottom.
My two favorite colors for a post spawn wacky rig are black/blue and baby bass.
Also Read: Best Bass Lures for Pond Fishing
I really only use two types of colors during the post spawn. These are natural colors and dark colors.
As I talked about earlier, my natural colors are primarily going to be bluegill patterns.
But if I want a bit more flash or visibility on my baits, I will use baby bass colors.
These also work great because there are tons of baby bass in shallow waters after the spawn.
90% of these baby bass will be eaten by other bass and bluegill.
Also Read: Best Bluegill Imitation Lures for Bass
During low light times like an overcast day, morning, or evening, dark colors give you baits a bit more visibility.
This might seem completely backwards, but the dark colored lures create more contrast against the water and form a silhouette of your bait.
The only dark colors I throw in the post spawn are black and black/blue. It might seem a bit boring, but it doesn’t get any darker than black.
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.
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.
Post spawn bass are pretty easy to find. They are in one of two places.
First, they love shallow cover.
The cover offers the bass easy access to food and protection from predators.
These are especially important because bass are very hungry and low energy after their long, tiresome spawn where they didn’t eat anything.
Secondly, the first drop off or depth change.
Post spawn bass will often go from the real shallow spawning areas to the first depth change into deeper water.
This gives them the protection they need without requiring them to swim very far or find a perfect location.
Bass fishing is a difficult game. Conditions and bass behavior is constantly changing.
As an angler, you have to be knowledgeable and adaptable of every situation and season.
Knowing the right lures to use for each season is crucial to success. For the post spawn, you really don’t need any else except for the above lures.
Tie them on, and get the experience that will teach you more than a thousand articles.
