(Editor's note: The following is the latest installment in a series of fishing tips presented by The Bass University. Check back each Friday for a new tip.)
Two-time Bassmaster Elite Series champion Brandon Cobb can catch bass any time of year, but he likes certain ones better than others and one most of all: “Postspawn is probably my very favorite time of year to fish on most bodies of water,” he said.
While he’s not afraid to go deep during this period, he prefers to stay shallow whenever possible, targeting a shad spawn, bream beds, herring spawn or mayfly hatch. While his lure choices can be varied, there are five that he just about always has on the deck under these conditions – four for shallow water and one for offshore targets.
The first is a buzzbait, which he described as “close to my heart.”
“I’ve made a lot of money on it,” he explained. These days, 90 percent of the time that means not a skirted model, but rather one made to handle a buzz toad, like the Zoom Horny Toad. His choice is the Greenfish Tackle Toad Toter. It’s not made for burning, and you have to rig the Horny Toad perfectly straight for it to run right, but the hookup percentage is substantially higher than any other buzzbait he's used. He fishes it on his signature series 7’1” Ark Cobb Buzz Burner, which has a slower bend than other heavy rods to maximize those hookups. He pairs it with a 7.3:1 Abu Garcia baitcasting reel spooled with 50 pound braid. For the toad, he uses white the majority of the time, black in tannic water, and green pumpkin when he believes the bass are feeding heavily on bluegills.
His second “must have” lure is a mainstay for anglers everywhere. “In the post-spawn, the wacky worm is probably one of the best baits for targeting bass anywhere in the country,” he said. He likes a Zoom Fluke Stick in basic green pumpkin much of the time. He also adds in black/blue and a shad pattern (e.g., smoke) if there’s a shad-spawn bite. It’s a fantastic presentation for clear water situations, but he doesn’t soak the lure. Instead he engages in what he calls “finesse flipping” and surgically hits the targets in front of him. He fishes this lure on spinning tackle, specifically his 6’10” Hartwell Magic rod and a reel spooled with 10-pound Yo-Zuri braid and a leader of 8- to 12-pound fluorocarbon.
When the water is dirtier or he’s confronted by heavier cover, he’ll pitch a creature bait, usually a green pumpkin Zoom Z-Craw or midsized Brush Hog. He throws them on either the 7’5” Cobb Flippy Floppy Rod or the 7’3” medium-heavy Do-All. He said that 20-pound fluoro is his go-to, but he’ll go up to 25 or down to 16 as necessary and typically employs a 1/4- to 1/2-ounce weight.
His final shallow water option is a Yo-Zuri Pencil Popper or Pencil, the former when he wants to cast better or a more aggressive presentation, the latter when the baitfish are slightly smaller. He again keeps his colors simple: bone or translucent. “The fish are literally looking at it from the bottom,” he explained. He prefers to throw these lures on 30-pound braid, but will go to mono if the fish are pushing the bait into the air, which often results in tangled hooks.
Finally, he keeps one deep option at the ready for targets he sees with his front-facing Lowrance sonar – a heavy duty shaky-head from 1/4- to 3/4-ounce, on which he rigs a green pumpkin or redbug Zoom Magnum Trick Worm. He fishes it on the Ark Cobb Series 7’4” Long Game.
If you want to learn some of the other secrets of how Cobb attacks the postspawn, including when and where to downsize your mag shaky-head and the line that goes with it, check out his full on-the-water video, available only by subscribing to The Bass University TV.
