Pete Robbins

Best for Big Prespawn Females		Megabass Vision 110 Jerkbait	Check Price	LEARN MORE	Summary This jerkbait taunts female bass and represents an easy meal.
Best for Bedding Fish		Strike King Rage Craw	Check Price	LEARN MORE	Summary Versatile and meant to produce maximum action with minimal forward movement.
Best for Catching a Spring Giant		Storm Arashi Glide	Check Price	LEARN MORE	Summary This glide bait is an ideal entry point to to get a shot at the biggest bass.

Spring is most bass anglers’ favorite season, because fish are often at their fattest and most active. However, springtime fishing conditions change quickly, and anglers who fail to change with them will have hard days on the water. Sometimes that requires moving to a different depth range or another part of the lake altogether, but even that might not be enough if you’re not using the right lure.

• Best for Big Prespawn Females: Megabass Vision 110 Jerkbait
• Best for Searching for Concentrations: Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap
• Best for Bedding Fish: Strike King Rage Craw
• Best for Pitching Around Cover: Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits Senko
• Best for Eliciting a Reaction Bite: Z-Man Evergreen Jackhammer
• Best for Catching a True Spring Giant: Storm Arashi Glide

Of course, the best spring bass lures can vary depending on what part of the country you’re fishing, and which species of bass you target. But with the following six choices, you’ll have a lure for every condition during this transitional time, no matter where you fish.

Best Bass Lure for Big Prespawn Females: Megabass Vision 110 Jerkbait

Megabass

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Key Features

• Size: 4 1/3 inches, ½ ounce
• Unique design: Balancer system for long casts
• Must-have colors: French Pearl, Elegy Bone, GG Illusion Tennessee Shad

Why It Made the Cut

The biggest females need to feed before the rigors of spawning, but don’t expend too much energy to get the job done. That’s why a suspending or slow-floating jerkbait that taunts them and represents an easy meal is a prime choice, and this one is a favorite of the pros.

Pros

• Huge selection of colors
• Comes with premium hooks
• Casts like a bullet

Cons

• Substantial price tag for a single lure

Product Description

The Vision 110 may now be widely available at retail prices, but a decade ago desperate anglers would pay triple figures for this jerkbait on the secondary market. The demand was so insane because it offers an easy-to-manipulate, distinctive darting action that calls fish from a distance or goads those nearby into striking. It’s a year-round tool, but few lures beat it in cold water situations thanks to its precision engineering. Sometimes the strikes come on the pause, just a subtle “tick” in a slack line, and other times the fish will literally try to pull the rod out of your hands. Fortunately, the lure comes with special sticky-sharp outbarb hooks.

It comes at a premium price tag, but hundreds of thousands of dollars in tournament winnings prove the Vision 110’s value. Get in the boat of any serious tournament pro and he or she is likely to have a stash of them from across the color spectrum.

Best Lure for Covering Water: Bill Lewis Rat-L-Trap

Bill Lewis

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Key Features

• Size: ¼, ½, ¾, 1 ounce
• Unique design: Narrow body can be ripped from grass
• Must-have colors: Chrome Blue Back, Rayburn Red Craw, Gold

Why It Made the Cut

There may be more recent entrants to the lipless crankbait field, but the Original Rat-L-Trap offers more size and color combinations than any other, and it’s a proven winner. It allows anglers to cover water fast and trigger bites. It may be at its best around vegetation, triggering strikes when you rip it free, but don’t hesitate to fish it in open water, too, where it replicates the look of just about any baitfish that swims.

Pros

• Inexpensive
• Great consistency
• Can be fished in wide range of depths

Cons

• Some chrome finishes flake off after use

Product Description

The Rat-L-Trap has a simple, hydrodynamic design that hasn’t changed in decades, simply because it works. The lure’s sloped nose and baitfish-shaped body produce a tight wobble, and the loud BBs inside create a ruckus. You can yo-yo it, burn it, or utilize a stop-and-go presentation to get fish to bite, and it calls them from a long way off to investigate.

Like “Kleenex” or “Coke,” a “trap” has become the universal term for lipless crankbaits. The reason for that is simple—it works from coast to coast.

Best Spring Bass Lure for Fishing Beds: Strike King Rage Craw

Strike King

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Key Features

• Size: 3 inches, 4 inches, 4.5 inches
• Unique design: Patented Rage claws move a lot of water
• Must-have colors: Pearl, Watermelon Red Flake, Junebug

Why It Made the Cut

Sometimes, spawning bass need to be incited to strike. This requires placing a lure in a remarkably small zone. If you present something too big, they’ll pick it up and move it away without getting near the hook. A smaller craw style lure creates a big enough profile to threaten them while also maximizing your catch rate. Whether you’re finessing them or need to go in with an oversized hook, there’s a Rage Craw that fits your purpose.

Pros

• Versatility, can also be used as a jig trailer or in a swimming presentation
• Durable soft plastic
• Wide range of color choices

Cons

• Minimal action at rest

Product Description

Strike King’s popular Rage Tail series of lures are meant to produce maximum action with minimal forward movement. Place this in a bed and the claws-up posture will lead to strikes. The Strike King Rage Craw’s body is soft enough to keep bass holding on, but durable enough to hold up against multiple bites.

The Rage Craw’s versatility makes it a necessity for every tackle box 12 months out of the year. Fished fast or slow, on another bait, or by itself, it perfectly replicates the favorite protein-packed food of every bass.

Best Spring Bass Lure for Pitching Around Cover: Gary Yamamoto Custom Baits Senko

Gary Yamamoto

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Key Features

• Size: 3 inches, 4 inches, 5, inches, 6 inches, 7 inches
• Unique design: Looks like a Bic pen poured in plastic
• Must-have colors: Green Pumpkin, Watermelon with Black and Red Flake, Black with Red Flake

Why It Made the Cut

Since the Senko was introduced over two decades ago, nearly every other manufacturer has tried to knock it off, but none have perfectly copied or improved upon it. Something about the original formulation produces a tantalizing side-to-side wiggle that fish everywhere cannot wait to inhale.

Pros

• Salty plastic formula makes it heavy enough to cast without weight
• Wide range of sizes and colors available
• Simple to rig and use

Cons

• More expensive than competitors

Product Description

The Senko may be one of the most unlikely lure successes in modern history, as it resembles almost nothing found in nature—but this simple soft plastic has changed the face of fishing. Whether you’re targeting bushes, rocks, standing timber, or bluffs, pitch it close to cover and then do just about nothing. Suddenly, you’ll notice your line move away with a fish that has inhaled it. It’s often that simple. While it comes in a lot of colors, you can stick to the basics in most situations, and the middle 5-inch size will cover a wide array of scenarios.

Whether Texas Rigged, Neko Rigged, wacky rigged, or fished on a dropshot, the original Senko makes beginners into winners and makes experts even better. This is a lure where less is often more, and letting natural currents work your lure can be more productive than implementing a lot of extraneous action.

Best Spring Bass Lure for Eliciting a Reaction Bite: Z-Man Evergreen Jackhammer

Z-Man

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Key Features

• Size: 3/8, ½, ¾, 1 ¼ ounces
• Unique design: Premium components throughout
• Must-have colors: Fire craw, Green Pumpkin, white

Why It Made the Cut

When the Chatterbait came out about 15 years ago, it reinvigorated bass that could name and reject every spinnerbait in the book. There’s something about the hard vibration that drives fish crazy, and the newer version knocks harder and results in better hookups.

Pros

• Patented design allows head and blade to make knocking sound
• Thin stainless steel blade
• Gamakatsu heavy wire hook

Cons

• Costs two to three times as much as the competitor

Product Description

The Jackhammer, now produced by the same company as the Original Chatterbait, took the basic vibrating jig design and upgraded every element of it. From a hand-tied silicone skirt to the natural-style head, everything about this lure screams premium, and, despite the price, retailers can’t keep them on shelves. Like the Rat-L-Trap, above, they excel when ripped free from vegetation. However, the Jackhammer offers more of a “hunting” action that deflects off of all kinds of cover and provokes fish to bite. By changing up the size, shape and color of your trailer, it offers multiple baits in one.

Not everyone is prepared to pay a premium price for a lure that can be had for substantially less, but hundreds of thousands of dollars in tournament wins speak for themselves. You can sometimes go behind someone throwing a different vibrating jig and mop up fish they miss thanks to the Jackhammer’s enticing frequency and better hookup percentage.

Best Bass Lure for Catching a True Spring Giant: Storm Arashi Glide

Storm

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Key Features

• Size: 7 inches, 3 1/8 ounce
• Unique design: Includes snap and extra tail to maintain perfect swimming action
• Must-have colors: Blue Back Herring, Rainbow Trout, Oikawa Mesu

Why It Made the Cut

For years glide baits were one of the pros’ well-kept secrets, and many anglers thought you had to spend hundreds of dollars to get one that worked right. This one beats many of the all-time favorites at a price closer to the range of the average angler.

Pros

• Reasonable price
• Natural color schemes
• Easy to work straight out of the package

Cons

• Large size may require specialized tackle

Product Description

Single jointed gliders get follows from big bass, and if worked properly an angler can turn those follows into personal bests. Two-time Bassmaster Angler of the Year Brandon Palaniuk designed this one to be easy to work even for novices and to dance in the hands of a big bait veteran. He added all of the little touches that some of the competitors lack, like swiveling hook hangers to prevent a jumping or surging fish from throwing the lure and leaving you heartbroken.

If you’ve been meaning to get into the big bait game this is an ideal entry point. The Arashi Glide gives the average angler a legitimate shot at the biggest bass in the lake while not ruling out “tournament sized” or “keeper fish.”

FAQs

Methodology

I picked the best spring bass lures that would cover the gamut of water temperatures from immediately after ice out into the post spawn period. I made my picks after years of fishing with professional bass anglers and interviewing them about the lures they use—and why they use them—spring after spring. Recognizing that no two bass fisheries are alike, or contain the exact same forage base, I focused on lures with universal appeal and quality components.

Things to Consider

Price is always a consideration as you build a personal array of tackle, and while several of these selections are pricey, none will break your bank account. If you’re just getting into bass fishing, you can get by with a few bags of Senko worms to fish around.

Final Thoughts on the Best Spring Bass Lures

The list of color offerings for lures might seem overwhelming, but focus on proven colors that match the hatch in your chosen fishing spots. Whether you’re a new or experienced angler, you can feel confident hitting the water with these lures in your tackle.

The post Best Spring Bass Lures appeared first on Outdoor Life.

By: Pete Robbins
Title: Best Spring Bass Lures
Sourced From: www.outdoorlife.com/gear/best-spring-bass-lures/
Published Date: Wed, 12 Jan 2022 16:26:16 +0000

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