(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.)
New Jersey pro Greg DiPalma knows that a lot of bass anglers think the postspawn is an awful time full of moody fish, but it’s actually one of the periods of the year he looks forward to most.
“The good part about the postspawn is that some of your biggest fish in the lake are really shallow and they’re keying in on bluegills,” he said. When the bass beds are pretty much empty, those same protected areas (and sometimes the same actual beds) will repopulate with pesky panfish trying to do their thing. They could be super-shallow and highly visible, or in places like Florida the shellcrackers can sometimes spawn as deep as 7 or 8 feet. Whether it’s with your peepers or with your electronics, you’ll often notice that some giant bass are hovering around, waiting for just the right scenario to pounce.
It's not just the backs of pockets, though. Look at other structure and cover, too. “Bluegill will get right against the riprap sometimes and they’ll tuck in there and spawn super-shallow,” DiPalma said. “I mean right against the dirt.”
When he’s certain this bite is going on, that’s when he’ll put in the effort to find the offshore gold mines that others might miss. “I will spend hours idling around these areas and I will mark every single one that I have out there,” he explained. Then he’ll begin a milk run, rotating through areas and lures until the bite starts to fire up.
He starts off with two key lures: a popping frog and a swim jig. The former makes the same popping noise as panfish feeding on mats, which draws the attention of the bass. It can also be allowed to sit in place – he calls it “letting it marinate” – until the bass is aggravated into striking. The latter lure “allows me to cover a lot of water,” he said. He likes colors like green pumpkin blue, and while he uses a chunk trailer, sometimes he’ll turn it sideways to more closely resemble a small panfish.
When the bluegills are locked on their beds, he’ll switch to a more traditional flipping or casting jig and work it through the sweet spots. He also relies heavily on a green pumpkin soft stick bait, especially around docks.
DiPalma’s ace in the hole is his Humminbird electronics setup, which he uses to find offshore bream beds that others can’t see. He’ll switch his side-imaging from 800 or 1000+ mega hertz down to 455 – that doesn’t provide as much detail, but gives him better range. He’ll also bump up the chart speed. He recommends that anglers experiment with different color palettes and then choose the one that “makes the screen pop the best.”
Most importantly, keep with it, even if it starts slow: “This is a bite that can get you a really big bag.”
If you want to learn some of DiPalma’s other secrets for catching big limits around bluegill beds – both shallow and offshore – including how he employs Humminbird 360 to dial in his location, check out his full on-the-water video, available only by subscribing to The Bass University TV.
