Northwest Reel Life March 2025 Volume 4 Issue 5 - Flipbook - Page 23
gear
FIVE GREAT LURES FOR
SPRING BASS FISHING BY
JOHN KRUSE
I love fishing for bass in
the Spring! Bass are as
big as they are going to
get all year and as water
temperatures warm and
bass prepare to spawn,
the bite can be amazing!
By early May in the Pacific
Northwest, with water
temperatures around 60
degrees in many lakes, you
can easily catch and release
twenty-five bass a day.
Here are five lures I love to
use in the spring to help
me get that done.
FOOTBALL HEAD JIG
A weedless jig is a lure
that works all year long.
The football head jig can
be pitched or flipped into
a variety of places bass
like to hang out to include
under docks, into brushy
cover, rocky or gravel areas,
beaver huts, flooded timber
and the list goes on. I like to
use a quarter, 3/8th ounce
or half-ounce jig depending
on how deep I am fishing.
One way to fish a football
jig is to let it hit bottom
and then slowly jig it
back towards you. Most
bites occur as the jig falls
back towards the bottom.
Another way is to us a
sweeping motion with your
rod, allowing the jig to drag
across the bottom.
I always put a soft plastic
trailer on any jig I am
fishing with for bass. Good
colors to use are black and
blue or a green pumpkin.
CHATTERBAIT
A lot of bass anglers swear
by the chatterbait for
springtime fishing. This
bait features a metal blade
on top of the jig head
that flashes and vibrates
through the water. The
chatterbait was popularized
by Z-Man, and their original
Z-Man ChatterBait still
catches fish, especially
in the spring. Many
anglers, me included, let
the chatterbait fall to the
bottom and then retrieve it
at a moderate pace next to
brush or weed lines or near
woody structure. If that
does not work, try a very
fast retrieve, even in colder
water.
