March is HERE.
The Major League Fishing Bass Pro Tour is officially two stages in, meanwhile the Bassmaster Elite Tour is in the midst of its own second stage this weekend down at the “Inland Sea,” Florida’s Lake Okeechobee.
Up here in Wisconsin where I live, we’re still out fishing on the ice, but after this week’s warm front, it’s fading pretty quickly. I’m hopeful that we’ll be able to get back out on the water in the next few weeks, but with the lows still being pretty cold, it may take a little longer… especially further up north.
But once the ice does come off, bass will still be in the winter patterns with water temperatures below 45 degrees, but as you move further south towards the Gulf, we’ll see fish in both pre-spawn, and spawning stages. And for some of you, you’ll be fishing pre-spawn at the beginning of the month, and the bass will be on beds by the end of it.
Most of these bait recommendations should work pretty well in most lakes and rivers around the country, but if you’re further south, you might want to skip ahead a month, and if you’re way up north, check out February.
So without further ado, let’s take a look at some of the top bass baits that’ll play around the country, for the month of March. As always, every bait, rod or reel on the list here is something that I own and fish regularly, or have used in the past and can recommend.
Lipless
A lipless crankbait is great this time of year, especially if you’re on a lake where some grass is present. In the beginning of the month, I like to yo-yo my retrieve near that grass line, moving rather slowly with the retrieve, but as the water warms up, I’ll start to rip it across the top of a shallow-water grass flat. In really cold water, right after ice out, you can burn it in shallow mud bays or parallel with the bank, and the bass will absolutely hammer it.
Jackall TN Lipless Crankbaits – 1/2 oz.
Colors: SG Threadfin, Craw Fish
Colors: Firetail Green Craw, Mossy Ghost, Blue Chrome
Chatterbait
The Chatterbait might be the most popular pre-spawn bait in bass fishing, and for good reason… it just gets bit. Plus, most anglers love to use it, and it can be thrown in and around a wide variety of structure and cover. With most of the country either in, or moving towards, the pre-spawn, a vibrating jig is gonna be a workhorse for the next couple months.
I wrote a whole guide to Chatterbait fishing HERE, and also about my favorite trailers here, but we all know that the Z-Man Evergreen Jackhammer is the pinnacle of vibrating jigs. The Evo is a cheaper alternative, and there is a newer Evo Tungsten model that is pretty cool too… gives a bit of a different sound than the Jackhammer.
Z-Man Evergreen Chatterbait Jack Hammer – 1/2 oz.
Colors: Green Pumpkin, Clear Shad, Brett’s Bluegill
Z-Man Chatterbait Elite EVO – 1/2 oz.
Colors: Bluegill, Electric Shad, Black & Blue
Trailer: Hog Farmer Spunk Shad Rapala Crush City Freeloader, Yamamoto Zako
Jerkbait
A jerkbait is a staple in cold water, one that I have tied on just about year around. I like to use a 6′ 8″ baitcaster (St. Croix Victory), but many anglers, even some professionals, will throw them on a spinning rod. It’s pretty standard to use 10 or 12 pound fluorocarbon, and then depending on your type of lake, you’re gonna wanna look for long points, steep drop-offs, bluff walls and creek channels. Anywhere you can find transitions, deep to shallow pockets, and of course, if you have forward facing sonar… it does make it easier.
Colors: Elegy Bone, GG Megabass Kinkuro
Colors: Northern Lights, Table Rock, Hankie Pankie
Colors: Ghost Ayu, OZ Shad, Pro Blue
Shallow Crankbait
There are so many different kinds of crankbaits, that you can probably be throwing them every month of the year, but right now, I like to lean towards a flat-sided crankbait or a squarebill.
Colors: Red Crawdad, Copper Green Shad
Colors: Spring Craw, Midnight Pearl
Jig
You really can’t go wrong with a jig any time of year, but until they get closer to being on beds, I generally prefer to flip a jig over any kind of soft plastic. But while the bass continue to move up ahead of the spawn, you can skip a jig up around docks or flip it into laydowns and brush piles, or even steep rock banks. Use a chunk trailer or anything with little to no action. Green pumpkin or more natural colors in clear water, black and blue or dark colors in dirty water, or you can throw some craw orange colors in there as well.
Outcast Tackle Stealth Feider Jig – 3/8 oz
Colors: Money Craw, Black Sapphire, Feider Craw
Trailers: Z-Man Batwingz, Netbait Paca Chunk, Zoom Super Chunk Jr.
Great Lakes Finesse Matte Finesse Jig: 3/8 oz
Colors: Matte Green Pumpkin Black, Matte Black
Trailers: Great Lakes Finesse Snack Craw
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