Hey, what's up everybody? Russ Lane here, BassResource. We're out here hanging out on Lake Hartwell today. The topic of this video today is five baits that I always have tied on in March. Just go right into it. One, you know, you guys probably seen me do well in tournaments over the years with a swim jig, like, March, you know, springtime most anywhere in the country. That means fish are going to be shallow. I look for flooded shallow vegetation or bushes, or just any kind of cover in the water in the springtime, and, you know, in these pockets or flats and throw this swim jig around them, wind it over it, try to hit the cover, fish it...kind of like you would a crankbait.
The key is try to hit the cover and pop it off of it and trigger those fish to bite. This is a Big Bite Tour Swim jig. Michael Neal designed it. I really like it. It's got a great Gamakatsu hook. It's got a cool head shape that swims easily and doesn't get hung up. I like to put a Big Bite Pro Swimmer on it. You know, these are the sexy shad colors. You can never go wrong with that. Always rig a swim jig up with braid. I use 60-pound Sunline FX2.
My favorite swim jig rod is a Phenix K2 7.5 foot. This is a really, really nice high line rod. And the reason that I like it is because it's very, very light, but very, very strong. And I want a very, very light rod swim jig so that I can really bounce that rod tip and give that jig as much action as possible. And, you know, trigger those fish to bite. But definitely, a swim jig is one of my favorite go-to's in March. And, too, considering that shallow cover, on those days when, you know, fish aren't as aggressive, maybe it's bright and still. Maybe you had a cold front come through and you just can't get fish to react. You got to have some kind of flipping bait on.
Pitching that shallow cover, shallow dock walkways like you would do here on Hartwell in the springtime. That's always a good thing to do. Shallow bushes, stumps, whatever the cover is. I like a Big Bite Yomama. It's a bait that we've had for years and years and years. And it still sells good and everybody still uses it and has confidence in it. There's been so many fish caught on this simple pitching bait over the years. I like watermelon green pumpkin colors on those bright days and black with a blue flake or that hematoma when the water's murky or it's cloudy. Rig it up on different weight sizes.
This is a Hawgtech quarter-ounce flipping weight. In the springtime I kind of like a lighter weight. It seems like you get a few more bites using a lighter weight as you can get away with. 5/0 Gamakatsu straight shank. I use 22-pound Sunline Shooter, you know, just depending on what the cover is, as high as 25 pounds. Say, if I'm flipping, like, some gnarly bushes and stuff, I'll even go to 25-pound Shooter. So really get those fish out, 7.5-foot Phoenix Feather Flipping Stick. This is actually a 7'7".
I like this rod, this particular rod, for flipping and pitching with fluorocarbon. If I was flipping and pitching with braid, I would use the Recon series. The Recon is more of a beefy, heavier action rod. It's more conducive for pitching with braid. But with fluorocarbon, I like this Feather series. And moving on, always in March, you've got to have a square bill on it. You know, squarebills have been producers for ever since they were invented, years and years and years. It's a great way to cover lots of water, which sometimes you have to do in the springtime. And it's a great way to catch big ones. It's a good way to trigger fish to bite.
This is a Fat Papa 70 from SPRO. I designed this bait, I don't know, it's been 10 or 12 years ago. Just with March in mind, basically, springtime shallow cranking. It's a big-bodied crankbait that moves a lot of water. It has a really wide action. I like to throw it on big line, like 18-pound, 20-pound Sunline Sniper, and just bang it in the shallow cover. Reel it fast, hit the cover, bounce it off of it, and get those reaction strikes. Great, great bait to cover water in the springtime. Use it on a 7'2", medium-heavy Phenix rod.
I like a little bit heavier action because we put these number two Gamakatsus on it. It's a little bit bigger hook, but I'm targeting big fish because it's a big bait, and I want to really drive those hooks into those fish when they get it. Let's see, and a spinnerbait, just like the squarebill, spinnerbaits have worked for years and years and years in the springtime.
This is a new one from SPRO, it's just called the Blade. It's a great spinnerbait, got premium blades on it. They figured out bending the wire right here gives it a little more action at the head of the bait. It works good. I like it a lot. It's got a cool paint job, got that nano coat Gamakatsu hook, which is awesome. But mainly any spinnerbait can be a good producer in March.
Pick it up on those windy days. I like to slow roll it around the ends of floating docks like here on Hartwell, or laydowns on steeper banks like targeting those females that would be staging ready to go right before they go spawn on just a slightly deeper piece of cover adjacent to where they're going to be spawning in the coming days. But spinnerbait, perfect for that. 20-pound Sunline Sniper.
This is the Recon. For a spinnerbait I like the Phenix Recon, I like that beefier rod. It has a slower action so when the fish gets it, it's more of a parabolic type bend. Not completely parabolic, but more so than, say, the Feather series. It allows those fish to really get that bait and engulf it. Medium-heavy, 7'1" Recon.
And, too, Spring is, March or whatever, is big-fish time. There's not hardly a better time to target big fish. If you want to target the biggest fish on your lake, get you a swimbait. Big swimbaits, surprisingly, will get you more bites than you may realize. I've caught just keeper fish on 8-inch swimbaits.
So don't be intimidated by their size. But the SPRO Megalodon, it's a 6-inch bait, which is a good size. Generally, it's not overwhelming for you. It's easy to cast, but it's big enough that it can really trigger a big staging female in March to bite it. Skip this thing around under bushes, under docks where those big females like to stage. Just wind it slow. Slow roll it. Fish it actually just like you would the slow roll on the spinnerbait around some of that shallow cover. Rig it up on a 20-pound Sniper.
I got it on a Feather 7'7" flipping stick. And it casts well with that rod. And just cover water with it. One of the biggest keys to catching them on this bait is sticking with it. Like, they say, "How do you get bites on that swimbait?" "Because I don't put it down." When I know there's a day, say, like, we have these overcast conditions, and I know it's, like, a big-fish day, I won't put it down. And I may go a long time without getting a bite, but I may hit the right pocket with two or three pieces of cover and catch three in there, and they all be big. So you got to stick with it.
That's basically the five baits or types of baits that I'm always going to have tied on in March. And somewhere along the way, one of those is going to work on any particular day under any particular conditions in March that you may come across. So keep those in mind when you're out there trying to figure out what you need to pick up and tie on this March.
