As much as anglers try to match the hatch when it comes to color selection, Kenny Covington knows there is a time and place to buck conventional wisdom and tie on a bait color that could bring as much embarrassment at the dock as it does bites on the water.
“A pink floating worm, bubble gum — whatever you want to call it — is one of the deadliest baits you can throw during the spawn and post spawn,” Covington said. “And you can also mix in pearl white and fluorescent banana sometimes.
“These are definitely not natural colors, but the fish can’t resist them this time of year.”
The angler believes bass are in defensive moods during the spawn and post-spawn, and probably hit these gaudy colors just to remove them from their presence.
“Think about it like this: Somebody who might not be able to see well at night, they can still make out yellow road signs,” Covington said. “They can’t read them from a distance, but they know they’re there. Same goes for bass. They can see these hot colors from a distance.
“They might not know exactly what they are, but they go in and eat them anyway.”
So try fishing a hot-colored floating worm this spring by tying on a No. 5 swivel to your main line with about an 8-inch leader. Get you a thin wire, wide gap offset hook and thread on a pink floating worm.
Twitch it around shallow cover where bass should be spawning or hanging out after the spawn, and you’ll probably have a lot of fun.
