Hard to Soft In Spring

"Wintertime is hard-bait stuff, but you can't hardly beat a soft bait as the spawn starts." So says Arkansas' Keith Green about hard-to-soft bait transitions in spring.

Here's what he does in spring, using Arkansas' Lake Ouachita (a deep, clear, grass and structure reservoir) as an example.

Early Pre-Spawn

"On Ouachita pre-spawn is when the water is 45 to 51-52 degrees," Green says. During the early pre-spawn when the bass are a little deeper, he likes to fish crankbaits on deep grasslines. He prefers a Norman Deep Little N in crawfish patterns and "Chili Bowl" (red/black back), fished on 10-pound Trilene Big Game with a Shimano Chronarch reel.

"You're trying to reach that 10-12 foot range to hit the tops of the grass," he says. "Just let it stop and it will float up slowly out of the grass. They will hit the bait as it backs up and floats slowly out of the grass."

Equipment notes:

> G. Loomis 7-foot 843 (3-power) rod. "It's not a glass rod," Green says. "With that rod you can rip it out of the grass when it gets stuck. The softer the rod, the harder it is to rip it out of that grass.

> "Big Game line has a little more stretch in it, so I like it for crankbaits."

Other Hard Baits

When the bass get a little shallower, in the 2-7 foot range, Green dips into his tacklebox for a Rat-L-Trap. Usually it's a 3/4-ouncer "to trigger bigger fish" in a red crawfish pattern.

"You want to wind it over the grass and really get it in that grass," he says. "Don't just wind it above the grass because the fish still aren't really active. Get it in the grass, rip it out and they will kill it. For this technique he uses 15-pound Big Game and the same rod-reel combo.

"You can also fish big spinnerbaits in the same timeframe," Green notes. "If you can't find them shallow on a 'Trap or crankbait, on Ouachita you can fish 20-25 feet deep with a spinnerbait."

Target the outside grass edges with the spinnerbait, vs. the "middle" with crankbaits and the inside edges with Rat-L-Traps. To those worried about feeling a grass edge 25 feet down, he says: "The grass has a really thick edge on it -- you can feel it."

"The end of the grass grows up 2 more feet than the rest," Green adds. "It kind of makes a wall. "Usually they bite on top of that." If not, he advises letting the spinnerbait fall off the top of the wall and hit the bottom. "Wind it a few more times and you might get a bite -- but the majority of bites will be on that edge

His spinnerbait of choice is a 3/4-ounce War Eagle in Sun Perch color (chartreuse and orange strands in it) "regardless of the water color." Blade configuration: No. 4 willow (nickel), No. 5 willow (gold).

Going Soft

"At around 58 degrees, in that neighborhood, the fish get off hard baits" On Ouachita, Green says. "They start biting Carolina rigs or Texas-rigged lizards." His favorite is a Luck E Strike 6-inch lizard -- green pumpkin for clear water and black/red flake in dingier water.

"Start on the inside grasslines, or if you don't have grass in the lake, fish in 2-6 feet of water, preferably around wood," he says.

Green likes a 3/4-ounce or 1-ounce weight, depending on the depth. "Sometimes I go lighter, but the bigger the sinker, the more mud you stir up -- and in dingier water, that's how you get more bites."

Leader length depends on water clarity. "Usually I'll use a 2-3 foot leader, but it will be longer in clearer water." He uses 15-pound mainline and leader, "Trilene Big Game and sometimes XT." The rest of his gear: 3/0 or 4/0 Daiichi hook (regular offset), 7-foot, 4-power G. Loomis 844 rod and Chronarch reel.

Floater

Once the bass have started to spawn, Green likes a floating worm. "The more fish you get shallow, the better that floating worm gets," he says, adding, "the water needs to be above 62 for this. You can catch them colder, but they get more aggressive when it's warmer."

Though Green isn't sponsored by Gambler, the Gambler 7-inch floating worm is his favorite lure of this type.

"I like the 7-inch size better than any other length," he says. "It has more action -- you can walk it like a Spook -- and draws more strikes." He skips the bait under docks, limbs and bushes. On the retrieve, "you want to make it dart and jump around.

"Don't use a swivel," he adds. "Tie your line straight to the hook. A swivel takes the action out of the bait."

Other equipment:
> A 4/0 or 5/0 Daiichi offset hook (size depends on line size)
> 6-foot G. Loomis spinning rod and Shimano Symmetry spinning reel
> 10-pound Trilene XT or the Berkley Sensation (lines with little stretch)
> His favorite colors are merthiolate (orange) regardless of water color, and yellow in colored water.