Fishing the Conditions

By Wade Middleton

Depending on the lake and fishing conditions my two favorite ways to catch a big bass in the late winter under pre spawn conditions when water conditions allow for it are a soft plastic stick bait or lipless crankbait. Both totally different presentations but both deadly in the right situation.

When water temps are in the low to mid 50’s I love to take a lipless crankbait like the Spro Aruku Shad in either a Mudbug Red or Texas Craw colors and fish it around hydrilla near drains and ditches leading to spawning flats. When water temps are in the upper 50’s going into low 60’s and I can find areas where fish are setting up to spawn I slow down and fish a Big Bite Trick Stick weightless. My go to colors are Green Pumpkin or Water Melon Red. Rod and Reel set ups for both are typically Cabela’s Tournament ZX Jig and Worm rods that give me both the backbone and senstivity to fish both baits effectively. I will more often than not fish them on a Cabela’s Verano reel spooled with Sunline Super Florcarbon line in 16 pound test.

I always have several other baits tied on such as a jig, swimbait, shallow crankbait as well as others so that I can fish the conditions at that moment!