All right, let's talk about the top five baits for May, starting with topwater baits. May is an excellent time to be throwing topwater baits, especially during the post-spawn. You know, during the spawn it works really well, but when you get into that post-spawn period, look out, honey, it is topwater time. Arguably, in my opinion, probably the best time to be throwing topwater baits. Really, I like to throw walking baits like the Zara Spook. I like to throw Pop-Rs, little popping baits, chuggers, that sort of thing, and also buzzbaits. I use them for a variety of different situations. In open water, poppers work really well, especially on riprap and open water, along docks, places that don't have a lot of cover poppers work really, really well. I vary the cadence with that. Depends on what the bass want. The more active they are, the faster I move that bait. If they are really active, sometimes there's no pauses at all. It's just a pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, pop, as they bring it right back, and they'll annihilate it. Other times, they want you to just kind of give it a little nudge, just a slight little movement and let it sit. And then give it a little nudge and just let it sit, and they'll come up and suck it under. And anything in between. Sometimes it's just a pop, pop, and let it wait, and pause for two, three, five seconds, pop, wait a little bit more. You just have to vary it and just figure out what the bass want.
With the walking baits, walking baits work really, really well during this time of year as well. Again, I like to fish those in areas that, like, on the outside of weed lines, like lily pad fields. Maybe you've got milfoil that's just under the surface. You can get it across the top that way, or along docks, near laydowns, any kind of isolated cover, stumps, that sort of stuff. That's where a Zara Spook works really well, or maybe it's a Sammy. Those type of walk-the-dog-type baits. And again, just like the Pop-R, you have to play with the cadence. Sometimes it's just a real lazy back and forth, and other times you're bringing it back so quick, it's almost just reeling it straight in, but you're just, it's zigzagging so quick. You just have to play with that each day, but boy, the strikes can be explosive.
And then, of course, the buzzbaits. Now, I like fishing buzzbaits in and around cover. That seems to be the best for drawing them out of that cover when they're buried up in it, because it makes a lot of noise and a lot of action on the surface, and it just pushes out a lot of vibration. I tell you what, that is what gets a lot of bass to bite is a buzzbait.
And here's the thing with all three baits. Don't just fish them in the early morning or in the late evening. This time of year, they work all day long, bright bluebird sunny days even, okay? Don't let anybody tell you any different. I've caught them bright and sunny bluebird day on a buzzbait. I've got video proof to show it. So, yeah, they are very effective right now. So go out there and make sure you're throwing them.
Another bait that I always have handy during May is the frog or toad. They're both kind of very same, same in my book somewhat. The frog, the hollow body frogs work really well over that cover that's really weedy, that's beginning to become emergent, and like the lily pad fields, and when you start to get hydrilla or milfoil that starts to reach the surface, that's where the frog works really, really well. And you can walk the frog like you can a Zara Spook, or you can just pop it along like a Pop-R, or just let it sit, or sometimes you can just swim it. Slowly swimming it back works really, really well. I like to fish it along the edges of cover, along the edges of submerged bushes and trees that are partially submerged. Those work really well for me for frogs, or if I've got a good clump of isolated cover or weeds out in the middle of an open pocket, that works really well. The toads, they put up more of a commotion, somewhat like a buzzbait, but a little more subdued. So I'll fish those in the same or similar areas that I do a buzzbait. And with a keel weighted weight, with a 4/0 keel weighted weight, like a quarter-ounce weight, and that keeps it from flipping over, especially if I'm bringing it back at real fast speed, it won't lay over its side. That keel weight will keep them straight and narrow, and it works really, really well. So frogs and toads.
Paddle tail swimbaits, you've got to have those during May as well. I'm telling you, guys, this is when the bite really picks up for paddle tail swimbaits. I love throwing it during this time of year because you've got so much forage that's coming out, and the bass are hungry. They're either feeding up during the spawn, or especially post-spawn where they're recovering from it, that's when a paddle tail swimbait comes into play.
Quick little tip here is to put an underspin. Put them on an underspin with a blade. Now, typically, an underspin, most guys throw those when it's cold out, during the colder months, but I promise you, in the post-spawn or even in the spawn period, putting a paddle tail swimbait on an underspin jig works exceptionally well.
Just use your normal shad color, baitfish color. You don't have to go too crazy. A green pumpkin works really well as to a translucent-type color. Anything that resembles the color of the baitfish in your area that the bass are keying on works really, really well.
It's easy to fish these baits this time of year. Throw it out and just reel it back in. You can use a keel-weighted weight as well. You don't have to use an underspin. That works effectively if the bass aren't actively chasing bass. It's a little more subdued. Just slowly bringing it back. I like to take it and throw it over the tops of beds, you know, throw it past the bed and then bring it over the bed. Smallies in particular love to annihilate a paddle tail swimbait when it's brought over their heads when they're guarding the bed. So, definitely have those paddle tails handy.
Now, the next bait that you've got to have in your arsenal is a vibrating jig like a chatterbait. You know, these have proven to work basically year round, and May is no different. May is a really good time to throw them because this is when you start to see bass focusing in on specific forage types, for example, shad or perch, bluegill. They start hunting them down right after the spawn and feeding up and gorging, getting ready for the summer and catching up after the spawn. And so this type of bait works really well during that time of the year.
The real key thing to fish in it is the color because you want it to match the forage that they're chasing. So if you've got shad in your area and the bass are starting to key on shad, go to a white color spinnerbait, a white skirt, like a spinnerbait skirt, that you would use on a chatterbait, put that on a chatterbait. Or I would use, like, a bluegill color, those green pumpkin kind of colors for bluegill. Throw a little bit of orange or chartreuse in there if you've got perch in the area. And that is really going to be the key difference to getting more bites, is really the color.
Trailer, same thing. I like to match the trailer with the color of the skirt to give it a better profile and a little bit more bulk and for the fish to key in on. For the rod and reel and stuff, well, it's pretty simple. Medium heavy fast action 7-foot 1" rod. Pair that up with 15-pound InvizX fluorocarbon line. That's from Seaguar. I use that because you're going to be throwing this around all kinds of cover right now, right? The weeds are now emergent. There's all kinds of bushes, flooded bushes. The reservoirs are still up. So there's a lot of things for the bass to hide up under, and you want to bring that right by it. And fluorocarbon is a little bit more abrasion-resistant than braid. The water's a little bit clearer this time of year too. So that works really well. And it's got a little bit of give to it as well. So it all works together in concert for vibrating jigs.
The reel, a 6.3 to 7.1 gear ratio works really well. You can use a faster gear ratio too. There's no crime against that. You know, the bass police aren't going to come and take your rod and reel away. But those in this upper sixth gear ratio range is usually best for these vibrating jigs. Cast them out and a straight retrieve. It's really easy to fish them. Super easy. You don't need to do anything special. Sometimes I like to give it a little pop with the rod or I like to shake my rod tip with it as I'm bringing it back to give it a little more action. That's a very popular retrieve. Just reel it in and you're shaking it, shaking it, shaking it as you're retrieving it. And that tends to elicit a lot of strikes. So just experiment a little bit with it and figure out what the bass want that day, and you can end up catching a lot of fish on vibrating jigs.
And then finally, wacky rigged Senko. Oh my goodness, you gotta have that ready, not just to fish as a primary bait. A lot of guys do, they throw that around docks and isolated cover, in laydowns, and stumps, and stuff. It works well, but I like to keep it as kind of a backup. When a fish blows up on one of those topwater baits and misses, you can quickly grab that bait, throw it out there, and get that bite when that fish is actively looking for that bait that he missed, you can usually cash in that way. So, fishing it that way, fishing it...it's a very subtle approach. Also, if the bite isn't very active and you need to slow down, that's when you can fish it as a primary bait. Skipping it under docks, get it way up under those docks, and let it slowly sink down in there where the bass are lurking can work really, really well.
So, a wacky rig, actually, there are so many different ways to throw a wacky rig it's nuts, you know, all the different places you can throw it. But I don't use it as, again, a primary bait unless the bite is off. Otherwise, it's great to have it on the deck. Be sure to throw that if you're missing bites. That's a good backup bait to throw, a follow-up bait if a bass misses it.
So those are your five baits to throw during the May. Definitely go out there, have 'em, try 'em out, and I hope you end up catching a lot more bass this year. For more tips and tricks like this, visit bassresource.com.
