No matter where you live in the country, April can be one of the best months of the year to catch bass.
April is a prime month for bass fishing, and you can generally finds them in all three phases of the spawn, depending on where you live. Up north, they’ll be coming into the pre-spawn, they’ll be on beds in many parts of the of the middle of the country, and post-spawn in the deep south.
The best bass baits during this time will capitalize on that bass behavior—feeding aggressively before spawning or defending nests. Here are my top five bass lures for April.
1. Chatterbait
The Chatterbait might be the most popular pre-spawn bait in bass fishing, and for a few reasons… it works, and it’s fun.
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.
When you want to downsize, the new Baby Jack is KILLER, I just got a few of them this past week. And the new Evo Mini Max, is a better quality version of the Mini Max, for a smaller presentation.
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
A spinnerbait or an underspin can also work in similar situations, but I generally prefer the vibrating jig.
2. Big Swimbait/Glide Bait
April is the month when you can go BIG. That means big glides, big swimbaits, and if you’re not chasing giants, maybe size up the paddle tail to one larger than you’d normally use. Especially if you live on a big shad lake.
You’re gonna wanna beef up your rod a bit (probably 7’6″ or bigger, Heavy Power rod), target points & drop-offs, or other transitional cover. Docks & overhangs are also great places to find big bass hiding in shade. And if you’re on the pre or post spawn phase, shallow flats are money.
Of course, big baits can get very pricey, so here’s a few of the more affordable options.
Berkley Nessie Soft Glide Bait 7″ – $12.99
Colors: Burnt Bone, Perch, Shad
Megabass Magdraft Swimbait 6″ or 8″ – $17.99
Colors: Albino Pearl Shad, Pro Blue Chart, Borealis Shad
Storm Arashi Glide Bait – $37.59
Colors: Dirty Bone, Threadfin Shad, Bluegill
3. Texas Rig
If they’re spawning, your favorite Texas-rigged creature or craw is tough to beat. But even if they’re in pre or post spawn, flipping and pitching around shallow cover is gonna play. Here in Wisconsin, I generally don’t start flipping until the water hits about 50 degrees, and then I’ll usually start with a jig, but once they get close to the spawn, it just seems like a soft plastic performs better.
Feel free to use whatever soft plastics you’re the most confident in… some like craws, some like big creature baits or even lizards and hog-style baits. Also, don’t sleep on flipping a tube… works wonders for me up north.
But if you haven’t found a favorite yet, here’s a few I really had a lot of success with last year, as well as a new offering from Berkley that has been killing it.
Rapala Crush City Bronco Bug – $6.99
Colors: Black & Blue Flake, Green Pumpkin Blue, Candy Bug
Berkley Powerbait Maxscent Stank Bug – $8.99
Colors: Green Pumpkin, Black Blue Fleck, Green Pumpkin Blue
Colors: Super Bug, Green Pumpkin, Black/Blue Flake
Rapala Crush City Cleanup Craw – $6.99
Colors: Tilapia Magic, Green Pumpkin Blue, Bama Craw
4. Frog
As soon as the spawn rolls around, and especially in the post spawn, I pick up a frog and I don’t put it down until the late fall. There might not be a more fun way to catch bass on the planet, and it’ll catch you some BIGS too.
When it comes to colors, I keep it REALLY simple… black, white (or silver), and some kind of bluegill pattern that has an orange or yellow spot on the belly. I’ll usually pick up the gill patterns, but generally you want to throw something dark in cloudy, more overcast weather, and then on the other hand, something white on bright, sunny days. But feel free to play around with different colors and figure out what works… there’s no hard rule.
Toad Thumper Swamper Frog – $9.99
Colors: Bad Bone, Black, Bad Gill
SPRO Dean Rojas Bronzeye Frog 65 – $11.99
Colors: Midnight Walker, Killer Gill, Albino
Colors: MF Bluegill, Maverick, Bone
A topwater walking bait can work well too, especially in the post spawn, as will a buzzbait, but I prefer to use a frog… especially if i can find some matted cover or duckweed.
5. Wacky/Neko Rig
Another one that comes out in April and probably doesn’t disappear for a long time is some kind of stick worm… usually on a wacky rig, but on the Neko as well. It’s great for bed fishing, pre-spawn staging areas like docks, shallow flats, isolated cover, back pockets and bays… you almost can’t go wrong anywhere in 10 feet of water or less.
There’s a million stick baits out there, and most will do the trick, but it’s tough to beat a Senko. Of course, they might only last you one fish. The Berkley General with the Maxscent is awesome and the Crush City line’s Pig Stick has a great groove for the O-ring so I’m starting to really like that one as well.
Colors: Green Pumpkin, Black and Blue, Baby Bass
Rapala Crush City Pig Stick – $6.99
Colors: Green Pumpkin, Black Blue, Plum
Colors: Green Pumpkin, Black Blue Fleck, Grn Pumpkin Watermelon
