Spring Largemouth Fishing on the Front Range.
By Josh Hinchberger

If you are fishing for largemouth bass on the front range during spring I have a few tips for you to consider. First, I recommend using jigs and effective trailers. I tend to stay away from "pig" or pork trailers beacuse they often dry out and become gross and usless. Istead I like soft plastic trailers like the Zoom Swimmin trailers and 5' inch double tail Yammamoto grubs. These give better presentations, last longer, and in my oppinion elicit more stikes.

On cloudy days in stained, partially stained, or muddy water in spring I use black or black & blue jigs with black trailers. In clear water it is in your best interest to use natural colors with matching trailers. Look and see if you can find crawfish in the area and then match their color, which is usually developed craws with brown and a bit of orrange under their claws since the yearlings have yet to come out of their winter hibernation pattern. Later the younger crawfish may have a watermellon color. I target shallow water structure like brush piles or fallen trees. Let the jig free fall to the bottom; it is important to let the jig fall directly to the bottom. Do Not hold the line tight when the jig is falling because it might swing the jig out of the optimal strike zone. Many say that the jig will get hit as the jig falls to the bottom and it might but the bass I have caught in early spring hit as the jig is twitched off the bottom near structure.

Be a line watcher, any discrepency in the line may be a fish. Sometimes you can barely tell when a fish has picked up the jig, the line just slightly moves. Further, when you cast or flip to a target structure, allways anticipate a strike, this will help to boost your confidence when fishing, which is important when fishing any lure. The next technique that I recommend for spring bass is the unusuall approach of buzzbaits. Buzzbaits are most effective during pre-spawn into early spawning patterns. I dont fish the regular spawn period because it affects the bass spawn efficiancy level and I dont like catching male bass that are just sitting in spawning beds; it doesnt take any skill to do so. Anyhow, it is best to throw buzzbaits on cloudy, calm, drizzely days. The best color that I have found is black with a silver blade. I should be thrown along the shoreline and retrived slow; just slow enough to barelly keep the blade churrning.

The strikes will most likely be sub-surface and not explosive so make sure that you feel line tention before setting the hook. I should also mention that cloudy, calm, rainy days are the only time that I fish buzzbaits in the spring. However I have caught some of my biggest fish (8-10 pounds) using this approach. I hope this advise helps bass stalkers catch Colorado bass in the spring.

Get em! Josh.

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