Downsize after a cool-down

Prespawn bass are fairly predictable; early spring weather, not so much. Nevertheless, anglers can still catch less aggressive prespawners after a late-season cold front. Understanding that fish still want to eat, your best move is to swap big and bold for smaller and subtle.

Hard baits are straightforward when cold fronts require a size reduction. For example, Bassmaster Elite pro Cliff Prince favors the Excalibur’s XR 50 lipless rattle bait during the prespawn, but during a cool-down he’ll go to the smaller profile of an XR 25. Same thing with a square-bill crankbait, if the fish like a full-size crankbait before the weather change, go down a size for the post-front bite.

Also, during these prespawn cold spells, Bassmaster Elite/FLW Tour pro Ish Monroe puts a lot of faith in the super-simple, yet super-tempting shaky head. Typically more given to the aggressive, big-bait approach, Monroe often addresses a spring cold front slow-down with a Missile Baits Warlock shaky head and a matching Fuse. That 4.4-inch finesse worm has slender craw pinchers that add just a touch of action to the rig’s subtle presentation.

“A finesse (rig) is great because the fish don’t have to chase it or work hard to get it,” Monroe said. “You throw a shaky head out there and it’s going to stand up and have movement without you even pulling on the rod. That seems to get the fish biting.”

Similarly, FLW Tour pro Cody Bird rigs a 3/16- to ¼-ounce football head with a Kicker Fish High Tail Hole Shot worm and walks this noisy, rumbling presentation up the slope of a drop-off. Particularly effective for bluff ends, this tactic appeals to those fish that have slipped into deeper water, but still feel that urge to feed. Even a lighter football head makes a lot of racket when traversing scattered rock, gravel or shell and that slender worm standing defiantly in their face is just too much to resist.

And while the venerable soft-plastic stick bait may not top the list for common prespawn baits, a Texas-rigged Senko, Strike King Ocho or YUM Dinger can offer tremendous results when the weather stalls the feeding aggression. These baits’ inherent densities and streamlined forms make them easy to cast on windy days, while the subsurface presentation allows you to probe those deeper areas where pouting bass like to settle. Adding a small bullet weight on the nose will produce extra casting distance, along with a little better weed penetration.