Spring time can be one of the most fun times to go bass fishing, at the same time it can be one the most difficult times to actually catch fish. The fish can move from one area of the lake to a totally different depth and area in a very short period of time. Bait selection is extremely crucial this time of year.

In the spring, bass are spawning, and there are three stages of the spawn. Prespawn, spawn, and post spawn. 

The prespawn is early spring, from the time the ice is off the lakes until the water temperature reaches about 60-62 degrees. Fish can be found in areas leading to big shallow flats. This can be in water depths from 14 to 4 feet of water.  This will depend on the body of water you are on. 

In the prespawn, there are a handful of baits that I use. Most of the time I will use whites, or lighter, more dull colors. My go-to is a swimbait; these can be fished in all water depths. I use this mainly as a search bait to locate the fish. When fishing a swimbait, you can fish it really fast and reel it right back to the boat, or fish it slow and reel it slowly, maybe throw a couple of pauses in there.

Another bait I use frequently is a chatterbait. You can fish this the same way you would a swimbait. Those are two baits that work the middle part of the water column. The next two baits I use are a jig or a swim jig. A swim jig you can fish the same way as the swimbait and chatterbait, and it will be higher in the water column. The regular jig is fished on the bottom, and usually has a different head design and a more rounded hook. A wacky rigged senko is one of the last resorts in my opinion; it is the slowest of all of these techniques. 

Next, the fish will move into the spawn. This is when the fish are usually on their beds and laying eggs. The majority of the time spawning bass will be found in shallow areas that have deep water very close. Always be looking for the warmest water during the spring and current if you can as well. 

I will use all of the same baits during the spawn as I would in prespawn, along with a couple more additional baits and techniques. I would now be working in more baits that will fish the bottom better. This can be any Texas rigged soft plastic. Fish these slower on the bottom to agitate the fish more. Slow rolling a spinnerbait will also be very effective right now. As fun as it is catching the fish off of beds, longer casts will more likely than not allow you to catch more fish. Remember that the fish can hear you and see you, before you ever even know they are there. More finesse baits, like a drop shot, ned rig, or a shaky head will be very effective during these times as well.

The spawn can happen really fast.  It can start and finish in just a couple of days, and then the fish will go into their post spawn, summer time areas of the lake. The same shallow areas they spawned in will still hold fish, and not all fish spawn at the same time, but you can start looking at deeper weedlines for schooling fish. For more detail on this you can read my article on breaking down a new lake. 

A lot the same baits from the prespawn and spawn will play big roles in the summer and post spawn times. More of the bottom fishing baits, such as a jig, Texas rig, senko, drop shot, and ned rig will excel in the deep water.