3 Guaranteed Baits That’ll Isolate Big Largemouth Bass This Spring

Big largemouth bass are difficult to come by, let’s get that out of the way first! Many anglers are adept at catching schools of 1-2lb fish in high numbers with a 3-5 lb mixed in. With that said, giants aren’t impossible to catch, especially in spring when largemouth bass are moving up shallow to spawn. This is the time of year to locate and isolate large bass. You can isolate giant fish using the right size lures and avoid a fury of henpecks by fish under 2 lbs.

First,

Where Can You Find Bass In Spring?

Bass will typically follow migration routes to pre-spawn staging areas. These areas could be main lake points that lead to shallow inlets and back bays. They’ll also use shallow water structures like boat docks and rocky areas that generate more heat. This could be rip-rap walls and gravel. Bass will sit in these areas and feed on bait fish and crawfish until water temperatures hit 60 degrees. Generally, females will hang back while the males push up shallow and locate a bedding location on hard bottom. Many anglers will consider the Rapala DT6 or chatter bait. However, this is the time of year when anglers should consider throwing a larger profile bait as those gargantuan females are sliding up shallow and are likely to hit a larger bait.

1.) MegaBass MagDraft

The Megabass Magdraft is simply unrivaled. With a head wobble and full body movement, the Magdraft has drawing power, and it’s effective when fishing around bass 2 lbs and up. The lure comes in a 6, 8, and 10-inch model and it’s outfitted with Tournament swivels preventing bass from gaining leverage on your hook. These baits are perfect around wind-swept docks and banks and provide a large-calorie meal to hungry, pre-spawn bass. You can also skip the Magdraft easily around cover, especially boat docks and low-hanging trees. Retrieve slowly with your rod tip pointed straight out at the bait and find that perfect speed where the bait doesn’t rise too quickly or fall. It’s also an effective stripe bass lure when live bait isn’t your thing. 

Suggested Gear:

• Megabass Levante Casting Rod 7’10”  X-Heavy 
• 14 – 20 Lb monofilament line on a slower reel, 6:1 – 7:1.

Hooks for the Magdraft freestyle:

• 6th sense screw-lock hooks #6-8 

2.) River2 Sea S-Waver

Like the River2Sea S-Waver, Glide Baits has a seductive gliding action from side to side, which can call fish from several yards away to follow. You may experience more fish following than biting. However, this can also produce advantages in knowing where the fish are. Once you establish where the fish came from, you can throw a smaller swim bait, jig, or Texas rig. But given their size, glide baits tend to attract big largemouth bass. You can fish a glide bait around laydowns, flip it to the back of boat slips, and glide it over shallow flats.

Selecting the right size S waver depends entirely on the forage in your lake and the size bass you’re targeting. The S Waver comes in a size 120s, 168s, and 200s. The larger the bait, the more you’ll isolate larger fish.

Suggested Gear: When starting out, it’s a good rule of thumb to make sure the bait you are throwing lands near the middle of the rod’s lure weight rating. So, if your bait weighs 4 oz, the ideal weight rating would be around 2 to 6 oz. Rod length typically correlates to the size of the bait you are throwing and angler height, however most rods land somewhere around 7’4″ to 8′ in length.

3.)  Savage Gear Glide Swimmer

The Savage Gear Glide Swimmer is a scaled-down version of a larger glide bait that doesn’t require specialized heavy gear to throw and is perfect for drawing fish out from cover. The glide action on this bait is easy to achieve. On a straight retrieve, it presents a wide, side-to-side action, and with a half-turn on a 7:1 casting real, you’ll reach a perfect darting action. The fall rate is quick, which allows your bait to descend into the right strike zone quickly. This is a perfectly fine-tuned glide bait that you can fish around your lake’s cover and structure, target multiple predator species, and lure some of the biggest largemouth.

Suggested gear: 

St. Croix Bass X 7’4″ Heavy Power

Reel: Lews Laser MG Speed Spool 7:5:1