Catch Big Bass in Post-Spawn & Early Summer

So probably one of my favorite times to fish a jig is that post-spawn period to early summer is probably one of my favorite times, and there's a couple reasons for that. Fish are aggressive. They've just come off the bed, they want to feed back up, they'll hit a big bait, they'll hit a fast-moving jig that time of the year. That's another reason I like it because now I can get off those lightweight jigs that I used winter and pre-spawn and now I can get my big jig out. You know, basically, I could fish the same cover that I fish during the spawn with a half-ounce jig and now I fish it with a three-quarter or one-ounce jig because they want that fast rate of fall. That's the time of the year, honestly, when there's only one trailer for a jig and it's a Rage Craw. And I might even put up a Rage Lobster on there, but then I want lots of action. I want a big jig, I want it falling fast, and I want a lot of action. And that's probably, like I said, my favorite time of the year is that time of the year.

Females have a tendency to bunch up. Again, I grew up in a part of the country that had a lot of cypress tree, oxbows, and when you found the right group of cypress trees, it would not be anything but big post-spawn females and there'd be 100 yard stretching that cypress tree that you can catch 25 to 30 pounds flipping trees with a jig that time of the year. And they just, they group. If you're at Kentucky Lake, they're on the ledge, you throw in a big structure jig. I'm throwing a three-quarter or one-ounce structure jig. So I'm basically fishing that same type, targeting the same cover that I targeted in the wintertime, but I'm doing it now at a high rate of speed. I'm using big baits. Again, when I'm casting that big structure jig, it goes back to I have that same mentality rod and reel-wise. I want a fast rod and reel. I'm using fluorocarbon, but then when I go to these big jigs, even in clear water situations, I don't have to downsize my line because when I'm using a three-quarter or 1 ounce jig, I'm using 16 or 20 pound Gamma fluorocarbon. I'm not having to downsize. I'm still getting a fast rate of fall. I want a bait that I can feel. And I'll tell you the big reason for that. When I'm structure-fishing with the jig that time of the year, I can drag that big jig, and that heavy jig disturbs a lot of the bottom, causes a lot of commotion, attracts those fish. I can also hop it, and it has a fast rate of fall to trigger bites.

And another thing, a lot of times, that early summer period, post-spawn, you're fishing for schools of fish. And so you have to do things to trigger the school. And you know, when you pull up there, the best way to fish for 'em, when you pull up there and they're biting, when they're on the offshore structure and you're fishing with a jig, is, basically, just drag it. That Rage Craw, when you're dragging that jig, that heavy jig on the bottom, it's disturbing a lot of dirt, mud. That Rage Craw swimming on the bottom behind it, you'll get some bites that way. After you fish those fish for a while, you'll find that stroking that jig, stroking it up, you can get one. And a lot of times what happens when you're dealing with schools of fish that time of the year, so think about this, you're dealing with women that have just had a baby. And so they can be moody, but if you can trigger one of them, you can trigger the entire group. So stroking and ripping that jig up like that and you get one of those fish to react, then you'll have the next five or six cast in there. Chances are you're going to catch three or four more because you fired up the school. And so just by manipulating the way you're moving that jig can fire that school and get you more bites. And it's kind of a deal where you can leave those fish once you found them on that structure, you know, because then they're bunched up their own shell beds, they're on ledges, you know, on reservoirs of Tennessee River. And once you figure out where those fish are getting, you just have to change your retrieve to get them to bite. But the same thing, if I'm on more of a shallower reservoir, maybe a lowland reservoir, has boat docks, the fish are related to cover shallow, I'm pitching and flipping a big jig then.

And again, like, then that time of the year even if I'm pitching grass, that's the time of the year, if you go to a lake that has hydrilla or deep coontail, those schools of fish will get out on the outside edge of that deep grass the same way that fish... Let's call it the first week of June, the last week of May, the first couple of weeks of June, the beginning of summer when those fish, when those big schools of fish start to get out there. Fish on grass lakes get out on the outside edge of that grass the exact same way that fish on the Tennessee River get on the ledge, and they bunch up out there. And again, to get those fish to react, I'm pitching the deep edge of that grass. Now I got my flipping stick out and I got a one-ounce or even an ounce-and-a-quarter Hack Attack flipping jig. And again, it's that same principle, that fast rate of fall banging in those schools of fish. And a lot of times what happens that time of year when you're flipping grass, deep grass, which is probably, honestly, if I could only fish one way, that would be the way I'd fish. It's my favorite way to fish. But when that big jig is racing down, you get one of those fish to come out of the school, it fires the whole school.

In Texas, they call it a scrape. I mean, it's as fast and furious as you can get in there for a couple flips because you've ignited that whole school. And again, that time of year we're targeting big fish. Because what will happen that time of the year, that female is the first fish to get back out there. Whether she moves into that deep group of cypress trees if you're on an oxbow somewhere or she goes to the ledge, you're on the Tennessee River somewhere. Typically, those females are the first ones to make that move. That male may spend three or four weeks up there roaming the bank, but that female have a tendency, those schools of them to get out there. So that's the fish we're fishing for. We're fishing for big fish. You know, bigger, bigger than average. We're fishing for whatever the lake may be. We could be in Texas flipping grass, fishing for 6 to 9 pounders. We could be in the Carolinas, we're fishing for 3 to 6 pounders. But you're fishing for the bigger average fish in the lake. Again, we're targeting females. It's the same thing as pre-spawn, that post-spawn period.

But to me, again, because I can speed up the way I'm fishing, I can use big baits in regards to wherever I find those fish. I'm using a bigger jig, same-size skirt, heavier jig. Like now we're leaning more towards a three-quarter or a 1 ounce, and we're getting those fish to react. Because again, the water temperature's getting warmer, their metabolism's up. They went through the rigors of spawning. They want to put that body weight back on before the dog days of summer, and so they're feeding aggressive. So again, probably my favorite time of the year. 

And again, if we're out structure-fishing, it's just a all-purpose. It's such a good 7'6" rod even for a three-quarter or a one-ounce structure jig when I'm out there dragging, or I could be pitching boat docks with a three-quarter ounce Denny Brauer Premier Pro-Model jig. But again, same rod. Anytime using fluorocarbon, always use that 7'6" Hackney pitching rod, but if we're out there on that deep edge of the grass, we got that war stick out, that 7'11". And typically, for me, when I'm flipping deep grass, always 50 pound braid deal. And the big reason for that is a fast rate of fall. A jig fall, so much faster on 50 than it does 65. Sixty-five has a tendency to catch that water when it's falling. Little more water to go through those strands. That 50 is like sewing thread. And we want that fast rate of fall. Again, if we're casting structure that time of the year, we're flipping grass, we're flipping lily pads, whatever it may be, big jig, fast rate of fall, Rage Craw. I mean, no simpler than that, but that'll definitely, that time of the year, that'll get you some bites.