Late spring usually means fish are active, shallow, and feeding hard. Start with a moving bait to cover water, then slow down only if you don’t get bites.
First move
Throw a 3/8 oz spinnerbait, chatterbait, or shallow crankbait in white, chartreuse, or shad colors along windblown banks, flooded grass, dock edges, and the outside edge of spawning cover. Retrieve it with a steady medium pace and add a pause or speed burst when you hit cover.
Why it should work
In late spring, warming water pushes baitfish and bass into shallow cover and transition areas. Fish often set up where they can ambush prey: new weeds, wood, rocks, and shade.
Adjust if
- If the water is clear, go more natural: white, translucent shad, or green pumpkin.
- If the water is stained, use chartreuse, black/blue, or white.
- If bites are short, downsize to a 3–4 inch soft plastic on a 1/8–3/16 oz jighead and work it slower.
Backup plan
If the moving bait gets no reaction, pitch a Texas-rigged worm or creature bait tight to cover and let it fall, sit 2–3 seconds, then hop it once.
Next cast: hit the shallowest windblown cover you can reach with a spinnerbait or chatterbait and fish it fast before slowing down.
