Jigs and swimbaits are a simple but effective approach for spring bass

Each year, I grow less interested in what technology brings to largemouth bass fishing. My age is the reason. I enjoy catching them as I always have – with jigs.

Wallace Stegner summed up these feelings with eloquence. “There is a special quality that people have when they have the dignity of scarcity.” A reflection coming from the experiences of his youth, sleeping as a child under a wagon on the northern prairie, living in a remote town of Saskatchewan.

The jig became as good as live bait when I started fishing on my own. It turned into a necessity when I saw how fun and effective jigs were to use. Better still, I could make as many jigs as I wanted by simply pouring the lead, and dressing with hair. I could not make other lures or come up with live bait as easily.

My appreciation gained greater meaning when the Mr. Twister came out in 1972. I saw immediate results. I fully embraced soft plastics technology, and still do.

Soft plastics, swimbaits and grubs in my case, add visual attraction to a hook embedded in a ball of lead. A simple device, it can take some thought to make it work.

In later years, after a fling with fly fishing, I went back to carrying a box of jigs and little else. I began hunting largemouths with a paddle across my lap. A kayak pace is slow, each trip an essay on what I know about the lake and the bass.

Days will go unrewarded. Even so, water soothes the soul. Catching a fish completes the process.

Color was formerly a concern. Changing color can make a difference, but I spent too much time thinking, ‘If I can only find the right color.’ More often, color was not the problem. I have grown comfortable with four or five patterns at most over time.

Shad and minnow patterns are my confidence colors, a dark back over a white-ish to pearl belly. If I use a solid color, white or pearl is the usual. When I find a unique color blend for sale, I sometimes give it a try.

Size of the swimbait

I went back and forth on swimbait length, as well, then settled on stubby baits over long and thin, more shad-like.

I once thought a 3- to 4-inch swimbait was too small to catch a worthwhile largemouth. I caught some big bass using small baits for other species. I guessed they got that way by knocking off easy targets. Reinforcing my belief were the days when a 3.5-inch bait out fished the 5-inch lengths.

Designs, hook sizes

Modern jigheads come in a generous number of designs and hook sizes.

The standard jig hook used to be rather thin-wired for bass and on the narrow side for some swimbaits. Today I can find a high-quality hook down to 1⁄16-ounce, with long shank and wide gap.

I use 1⁄4-ounce jigs in calm water. A lighter jig is less prone to hang in the rocks. I go to a heavier jig when depth or wave action makes line “feel” difficult.

How to fish them

Riprap is ideally suited to my fishing habits.

Long ago, I did what most did back then – cast to deadfalls and submerged brush, the cover you could recognize with your eyes or the feel of the line. My strategy turned in a new direction when I caught some exceptional fish along the deep edge of riprap.

Focusing on riprap has not let me down, whether it was in a lake for largemouths or a river for smallmouths. The potential for a bass to find food and shelter there is high. Below the waterline is the same as above, a maze of irregular spaces and shadows. My chances of catching one there are better than average.

I like the deep edge because it leads to a transition in habitat, where the rock ends and a bed of sand and gravel begins. The actual depth where you find bass varies with the conditions, such as water clarity. They tend to move closer to the surface when the water is muddy, deeper when the water is clear.

Sunlight warms the rocks, a plus as winter loses its grip. Solar energy fuels primary production, as well, in areas where phytoplankton and zooplankton thrive.

Shad and minnows seek out plankton-rich environments. Bluegills, too. The bluegills will be there for the invertebrates lurking in the sand and gravel. Riprap offers a predator security and secrecy, a camouflaged place to wait for prey to appear.

Jigs are not the only way to pull bass from the riprap. Crankbaits and jerkbaits are popular with tournament anglers. Chatterbaits and spinnerbaits are effective. If you have a favorite pattern that you use in and around deadfalls, try it here. For those who like a topwater bite, dawn and dusk are the times to go.