Early Prespawn and Prespawn favorite lures for PB size fish?

[bishoptf]

17 minutes ago, Catt said:

Caught on a chicken McNugget

 

 

Really a chicken McNugget? If so ive been using the wrong bait, lol.

[Catt]

46 minutes ago, bishoptf said:

Really a chicken McNugget? If so ive been using the wrong bait, lol.

 

Absolutely true!

It's about locations, not lures

[bishoptf]

4 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

Absolutely true!

It's about locations, not lures

I need to stop and pick some nuggets up, lol...i get what your saying but pretty sure its a combination of locations and presentation. I know there are fish where i am fishing but with the cold water at least for me they just ignore it.

[Swamp Girl]

I caught my PB last spring on a black and silver Keitech on an underspin. She was prespawn. I caught some other fine prespawn bass on the same lure in 2024.

[Catt]

Every lure is capable of producing your personal best

 

Location + timing

Not location + lure

[Swamp Girl]

4 minutes ago, Catt said:

Every lure is capable of producing your personal best

 

Location + timing

Not location + lure

 

12-13 pound PB.

 

40 pound bags.

 

Decades of experience.

 

I believe you, Catt...up to a point. I'm not going to cast a chicken nugget.

[bishoptf]

23 minutes ago, Swamp Girl said:

 

12-13 pound PB.

 

40 pound bags.

 

Decades of experience.

 

I believe you, Catt...up to a point. I'm not going to cast a chicken nugget.

LOL i will cast a nugget or whatever will increase my chances...its not a large lake but it's tricky to catch the bigger bass at least for me.

[Swamp Girl]

6 minutes ago, bishoptf said:

it's tricky to catch the bigger bass at least for me.

 

It's tricky for me too. Big bass are wise. 

[JHoss]

I remember Edwin Evers talking about coaching his son's high school fishing team. He talked about how much different their accuracy was vs a pro. They would flip at a target and be happy if it was within a few feet. He drilled into them that they had to hit a spot the size of softball because that's THE spot a bait needs to land to get a bite. 

 

That goes to what @Catt said. It's about being in the right place at the right time. If you're there and they're in the mood, they'll eat a lot of baits. Most likely you'll catch that PB on whatever bait you have the most confidence in because it spends the most time in the water. 

 

I've broken my PB on a bladed jig every time. And every time was in a lake I had 0 expectations of catching a PB in. But that's the bait I had the utmost confidence in at the time and threw 75% of the time.

[Catt]

2 hours ago, Swamp Girl said:

I believe you, Catt...up to a point. I'm not going to cast a chicken nugget

 

It must have Tabasco on it 😉

 

@JHoss nailed it pretty hard 

 

Next after location is timing; just because you don't get bite does not mean the bass aren't there or you tied on the wrong lure.

[Harold H]

The dude caught that bass while catfishing jug lines with chicken nuggets apparently. I wouldnt expect to catch many bass like thaf

[Harold H]

4 hours ago, bishoptf said:

I need to stop and pick some nuggets up, lol...i get what your saying but pretty sure its a combination of locations and presentation. I know there are fish where i am fishing but with the cold water at least for me they just ignore it.

Some big fish will only take live bait. You can try a Thill big fish slider rig with a live bluegill, credit card sized. I was fishing a pond for crappie one day amd swimming my lure on top and a little bluegill was following it. Out of nowhere a 9-10+ lm comes up and just inhales it and swims off. Got my adrenaline going. I've hooked into a monster bass twice at the same pond and lost it twice, both times on live bait. Was like hooking into a cinder block with a heavy rod. If you can get some black salties they'll work well too and keep better than shiners. Some people believe live bait fishing is sacrilige but tell that to Roland Martin and the guy that caught the world record on a bluegill

[JHoss]

17 minutes ago, Harold H said:

Some people believe live bait fishing is sacrilige but tell that to Roland Martin and the guy that caught the world record on a bluegill

Not familiar with a world record caught on a bluegill. Can you please elaborate?

[Harold H]

Lookup Manabu Kurita, was a 22 lber caught in Japan next to a bridge piling

[JHoss]

That was on a trout, not a blue gill. 

 

 

ETA: 

I see that it's widely reported as a blue gill, but from what I understand, he caught it on a live trout. But it's illegal to use live trout as bait in Japan as it is in many other places so he's claimed it to be on a swim bait and a blue gill over the years.

[Harold H]

They did a shock test many years ago on the reservoir I learned to bass fish on as a kid, Little River reservoir in Durham, NC. There was a 22 lb largemouth in there. You never know where a monster may be lurking. Unless you're scoping, I suppose...

[GetFishorDieTryin]

A bladed jig has accounted for 3 of my 5 biggest fish and IMO the spring is the best time to fish them.  When the water is in the low 40s i fish them just like a jig and speed up as the mood of the fish changes.  

 

[IYAOYAS]

1 hour ago, GetFishorDieTryin said:

A bladed jig has accounted for 3 of my 5 biggest fish and IMO the spring is the best time to fish them.  When the water is in the low 40s i fish them just like a jig and speed up as the mood of the fish changes.  

 

My PB came on a minimax with a 3 inch zako trailer. I was ripping it through thick grass in shallow water

[1984isNOW]

14 hours ago, IYAOYAS said:

3 i

Beautiful bass brother

[softwateronly]

On 3/9/2025 at 5:20 PM, casts_by_fly said:

pitching to cover or dragging (or other)?  I’ve never been a cold water jig fisherman as much as I know they work. 

 

On 3/9/2025 at 8:05 PM, Glenn said:

It depends on the current conditions and where the fish are located.  I'd target staging areas - deeper water near flats.  If there were a creek channel or channel swing nearby, that would get my attention.

 

Once the water gets into the mid 40's here, a dht punisher w/ a beaver dragged uphill is practically unbeatable for quality fish on my lake.  I am confident that it's a good jig combo, but the uphill part is possible confirmation bias.  I guess I'm asking Glenn if you feel that way about boat/casting positioning in your experience?

 

 

@bishoptf reading through this; are you a bank fisherman?  Maybe your prespawn issues with location are driven by access?

 

scott

[Bankbeater]

This time I start off fishing in dead vegetation with a spinnerbait, swim jig, or bladed jig.

[bishoptf]

46 minutes ago, softwateronly said:

 

 

Once the water gets into the mid 40's here, a dht punisher w/ a beaver dragged uphill is practically unbeatable for quality fish on my lake.  I am confident that it's a good jig combo, but the uphill part is possible confirmation bias.  I guess I'm asking Glenn if you feel that way about boat/casting positioning in your experience?

 

 

@bishoptf reading through this; are you a bank fisherman?  Maybe your prespawn issues with location are driven by access?

 

scott

 

Not usually I have a z19 but one of our community lakes they dropped and have been fishing some from the bank waiting for the bigger lake to warm up. Went out yesterday on the bigger lake, three dinks, one crappie and somehow managed to snag a huge grass carp with crankbait. Just not sure where the big bass position when they are not shallow, we have TONS of gizzard shad, so thick in places that fishing a jerkbait and you snag some...lots of bait.

[Glenn]

@softwateronly I find the uphill presentation works best in the fall, probably because bass have grown accustomed to seeing lures dragged the opposite direction all season long.

 

In the spring, it's not a major factor, at least in my experience.

[bishoptf]

5 minutes ago, Bankbeater said:

This time I start off fishing in dead vegetation with a spinnerbait, swim jig, or bladed jig.

Thats the different thing with this lake no vegetation at all. Not a vig fan of ffs but i do feel like when the bass are roaming could at least help you to know where they are, right now I have no idea.

[MassYak85]

Jigs, lipless (jigged off bottom), or jerkbait if they're still holding on the deeper breaks. Once they start getting shallow I am usually just covering water with a spinnerbait or bladed jig and hitting key areas with jigs.