Here’s a look at some of the dependable post-front bait options when weather conditions have bass lethargic and lockjawed.
• Shaky heads — For general post-front fishing, you can’t go wrong with finesse tactics. Bassmaster Elite pro Ish Monroe likes a Missile Baits Warlock shaky head with a Missile Baits Fuse.
The shaky-head tactic is a bread-and-butter post-frontal tactic, but Monroe prefers the Fuse because this 4.4-inch finesse worm sports slender craw pinchers that add just a touch of action to an otherwise 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.”
• Flipping — A good option for reaching fish in all types of cover, flipping jigs can serve you well on bluebird days, as long as you make the right adjustments.
Essentially, instead of just decreasing the head weight, trim down that skirt to a thinner — maybe even bristly — look and select a more-subtle trailer.
A short, simple chunk trailer yields the minimal motion appropriate for these conditions; but for a more-compact profile, thread the chunk’s body onto your jig hook rather than hanging it on the hook bend.
Also, if you like the action of that wavy craw trailer, shorten the overall package by snipping about an inch of the body and threading it close to the jig head.
In dense hydrilla or milfoil beds, bank grass, water willow or hyacinth, Dillard will flip or punch a Texas-rigged creature bait. The options are many, but he suggested something that easily slides into the thick vegetation.
“You have to have weight that’s heavy enough to punch through the thicker parts (of the cover),” Dillard said. “In the less-dense vegetation, you can get by with ¾ (ounce), but in the thicker stuff, I’ll use a 1-ounce or bigger weight.
“I try to fish as light as possible in the post-frontal days because while you’re looking for a reaction bite you have to practice subtlety at the same time. The fish can still be aggressive, but it’s better to coax them in post-frontal conditions.”
The approach has a dual benefit.
“When you’re flipping grass, the main thing is that it goes through there, slams the bottom and gets a reaction,” Dillard said. “If they don’t react to it, you can just sit there and work the bait in a subtle presentation with the same weight.
“You may bring the bait up to the bottom of the mat, hold it there and just lightly shake it, or you might have to yo-yo it up and down in the grass.
“When the fish are active, you flip a bait in there, it hits bottom and bam! — he’s got it. But in post-frontal conditions, they may not react that way, and you have to work your bait a little bit. That’s the subtlety of it.”
Gonzales’ Greg Hackney, who recently nabbed the coveted Bassmaster Elite Series Angler of the Year title, is a big fan of flipping jigs.
For him, bluebird conditions often mean the only way he’ll get bit on his signature Strike King Hack Attack Jig is to downsize from his standard ¾-ounce model to 3/8- or ½-ounce versions.
Sometimes even that’s not enough, and the really cold, clear days find Hack trading the large-profile jig for a ¼-ounce Strike King Bitsy Bug or a finesse football jig.
Switching to a Strike King KVD Junior Chunk and downsizing to 10- or 12-pound fluorocarbon further reduces the intrusion.
“There are days when I’ll get 10 or 12 bites on that little jig and I may get one on the full-size jig,” Hackney said. “I find that I don’t have to drop my line size as much when I’m using a full-size jig because those fish are in a more-aggressive mode and line size doesn’t seem to bother them.
“But when you get one of those cold fronts and they’re not in an aggressive mode, that’s when it seems like I need to downsize — that’s when it makes a difference.”
• Swim Jigs — Around cypress trees and other hard cover like docks where bass hide from bluebird conditions, Dillard likes the versatility of a swim jig.
He’ll go with a ¼- to 5/16-ounce model with a small swimming trailer.
“We all grew up flipping and pitching jigs and Texas-rigged creature bait, but I like a swim jig because of the twofold approach,” Dillard said. “The lighter weight helps it fall a little slower, and you can also swim it by the cypress trees, make it bump the roots and then fall past that canopy. You can pitch or swim with just one rod in your hand.”
• Crankbaits — In stable conditions, Crochet likes a Series 4 Luck-E-Strike Rick Clun squarebill, but for post-front days he downsizes to a Series 3.
Just like with Dillard’s swim jig, Crochet’s trying to knock on the front door.
“The deal with squarebills is that they deflect off the cover,” he said. “I’m not just going down a bank reeling — I’ll bang it here, reel it, bang it again and keep doing that until I make one bite.
• Spinnerbaits — Crochet also will turn to spinnerbaits, but he uses them with purpose instead of chunking and winding.
“I’ll do the same thing (as with a crankbait) with a ¼-ounce Humdinger spinnerbait,” he said. “I’m not just throwing it; I’m banging it. The good thing is that you can slow roll it. I’ll do the opposite of a squarebill. I won’t deflect it, I’ll just flutter it. I’ll reel it to the cover, kill it, hop it once or twice and move on.”
