Post Spawn Means What?

Many anglers, including myself, love the pre spawn period and the spawn period for bass fishing. Now the post spawn is starting to happen in most parts of the country so what does that mean?

The post spawn means different things in different part of the country. Bass fishing is generally still good. The bass are not as obvious as to where they will be caught during the post spawn but once you figure it out, you can have a ball.

Most lakes and rivers still have a strong shallow bite during the post spawn. Many buck bass can still be guarding fry. Many areas still have a nightly lingering shad spawn. Some lakes even have a herring spawn that is just getting going about this time. All these conditions leave plenty of food for our beloved bass around the banks.

Some lakes can have current that pulls many bass out to deeper waters like on the Tennessee River system. Lake Guntersville is notorious for having bass pull out of the spawning flats to the closest ledge in that matter of a week. This can also be a lot of fun if you find one of those areas where bass are coming to off the spawning areas. This blog is going to focus on traditional type lakes and rivers.

Slow Fall

For some reason, I have seen a number of times that baits with a slow fall out produce a fast fall during this post spawn time. This is a general type rule to keep in mind when fishing the post spawn. Texas rig with super light weights, 1/16 ounce shaky heads, and wacky worms are in this category of slow falling post spawn producers.

Topwater Time

If there is any bank grass or willow grass in the lake I am fishing in the post spawn time, you can bet I will be throwing a SPRO Bronzeye 65 around that grass. The crack of that 50 pound Sunline X-Plasma braid in my Cashion Frog Rod is so sweet. Many other topwaters get good too. Pop-R’s, spook type walking baits, buzz baits, and Whopper Ploppers all really start to produce fish all day long.

Calling Mr. Ned

The Ned rig really stars to shine during the post spawn. The slow fall and wondering action are finesse enough to draw lots of strikes during this time of year. I really like bait fish colors or bluegill imitators. In the Missile Baits Ned Bomb, I like the Fisholicious and Golden Shiner Core for bait fish colors. For the bluegill look, I go with GP Blue Flash Tail or Green Pumpkin Flash. It is hard to say exactly where to throw it but starting in spawning pockets with a 1/16 ounce head is a good place to begin.

Rock the Docks

Docks are a major producer of bass during the post spawn. You can catch fish off docks with topwater, Ned rig, Neko rig, shaky head, or a number of other baits. Just keep in mind that slow fall for any baits that are sub surface. Fry guarders may be on the shallow parts of the dock, drop offs under the middle parts might hold them, some bass may be on the isolated poles, and some will suspend under the floating part of the dock. In other words, the whole dock can be game but once you get a few bites, a pattern may appear.

Hopefully this can give you a start on what the post spawn phase means for bass fishing. I know it is not generally as good as the pre spawn and spawn but I also know many anglers that love the post spawn for various reasons. Get out there and enjoy our sacred pastime.