Because bass leave spring spawning beds over a period of weeks, Joel Richardson knows these fish may be at different areas of an impoundment on a particular day, and that means fitting his tackle to the area(s) he chooses to fish.
“I like a 6-foot-6 medium-action rod for throwing lures that track just under the surface,” he said. “I like a 6-foot rod to use with topwater lures.”
He mates both rods with Shimano Chronarch or Calcutta-style reels with a 6-to-1, high-speed retrieve, with 14- to 17-pound monofilament.
If he were restricted only to a few post-spawn lures, Richardson said he’d certainly choose a floating or trick worm.
“I like to twitch it hard enough to get it to come back to me in the walk-the-dog style, just under the water,” he said.
Other favorites would be a Pop-R, a Zoom Fluke or a Zara Spook or Spook Puppy.
“At heavy cover and around docks, I like a Pop-R,” Richardson said.
For open-water fishing on windy days near shoals, Richardson will try a Fluke first.
“I think it reminds a bass of a wounded shad, and they’re looking to feed and rebuild their strength after spawning,” he said.
Many anglers like post-spawn lures in green or orange color patterns, and Richardson is no exception. When he’s fishing shoals and not fishing a topwater bite, he switches to a Carolina rig.
“I like to throw a 6-inch lizard in green-pumpkin, cotton candy, Junebug or black,” he said. “A Rat-L-Trap is a good search bait if I need to cover a lot of water.”
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