How to Fish Grass for Bass in the Spring – Pro Tips

Hey guys, Bassmaster Elite Series Pro Wes Logan here, and we're talking about one of my favorite ways to bass fish—and it's fishing grass. This time we're going to be talking about the springtime of the year, and when I say spring, I’m referring to March through May, and maybe even into the end of May depending on where you are in the country. If you're way up North or way out West, it's a little different, and I can’t personally speak to that since I haven’t fished there that time of year. But generally speaking, springtime means bass are up shallow—it's the bass rut—and they’re getting on the bank to spawn. It’s one of the most fun times to fish and when most anglers are out there. I’m going to break down how I like to fish grass during this time, the types of cover I look for, and the baits I rely on for success.

Let’s start with the general scenario: the fish want to spawn. Water levels have usually come up, especially in drawdown lakes, and grass starts becoming a major player. I’ll use Lake Guntersville as a good example because it's a famous grass lake with lots of different types. There are two primary approaches to springtime grass fishing: fishing offshore submerged grass like milfoil or hydrilla in 3–6 feet of water, or fishing bank grass like primrose and water willow in 2 feet or less. I’ll start with the offshore stuff.

When fish are spawning in offshore grass, the grass isn’t topped out yet, but you’ll start to see clumps and holes forming, especially on flats. Those holes? That’s where bass are making beds. A lot of times you won’t see the fish—they’re 4 feet down and hidden—but they’re there. One of my best tools for this situation is a light Texas rig, usually with a Zoom Zlinky or standard Speed Worm. I use a 1/4 oz weight and a 3/0 Gamakatsu Finesse Heavy Cover worm hook. I fish it on 20 lb Sunline Shooter with a 7'4" heavy rod, just plinking around in the holes. You’ll catch buck bass doing this, but you’ll also run into some giants if you’re in a good area. These fish can be super aggressive, especially if you stay off of them and they don’t know you’re there.

Another bait I love in that scenario is a wacky rig. It’s awesome for covering water. Throw it anywhere something looks different—maybe a thick clump, a hole in the grass, a transition—and you’ll find bass tucked in. They might be spawning females or post-spawn fish resting just outside.

Now, when I can see the clumps, I love to throw a swim jig. I use a 5/16 oz with a Zoom Super Speed Craw so I can keep it up in the water column. I flutter it by the clumps and then kill it—it gets big bites. I’ve got a black and blue tied on here, and that’s what I throw 90% of the time that season. I just have confidence in it. People often default to white in spring—I’m not sure why—but I’ve always had better tournament success with black and blue. Maybe it gets fewer bites, but the quality is better.

Another great bait? A buzzbait. It helps me cover water quickly and see fish. They’ll often show themselves on it—come up and swirl and go back down. And when that happens, I’ll throw the wacky rig or light Texas rig back to where they showed. If you saw them, they’re likely on a bed or staging close to it.

Now let’s talk about bank grass like water willow and primrose. I fish the irregularities—the points, pockets, little mats, holes behind it. It’s a lot more visually obvious than offshore hydrilla or milfoil. All the baits I mentioned—buzzbait, swim jig, wacky rig, light Texas rig—are in play here. It just depends on how they’re reacting. If a fish commits on a moving bait, chances are it’s a big female protecting a bed. But even if they don’t eat, the moving bait shows them, and you can come back with something more subtle.

Color-wise, it’s water-dependent. In clear water, I’m not going to throw a solid white bait that sticks out like a dinner plate—I’ll go with something natural like green pumpkin or bluegill patterns. But if there’s a lot of shad, I might stay with white. Again, use what the fish are telling you.

At the very end of spring, you’ll start to see the shad spawn, especially when water temps hit 70 in the morning and climb into the 80s later in the day. That’s when you switch gears—start looking for hard lines, and fishing vibrating jigs, white swim jigs, or glimmer blue-type shad imitators. But that’s a late-spring into summer discussion, and I’ll have a separate video on that.

To wrap it up: spring grass fishing is a blast. You’ll get a lot of bites, you’ll see fish eat in real time, and it’s super interactive. You throw at them, they run over and eat it. You don’t always get to fish that way in other seasons. So get out there, enjoy it, and hopefully these tips help you catch some really big ones.