Spring is finally upon us, and if you’re not much for ice angling, you’ve likely got that itch that can’t be scratched without a day on the water. Around mid-February is when I start getting my spring gear together, and with that comes shopping time for the best spring bass lures.
As I crack open my tackle box and look at all the lures I used and abused last year, I start to take a mental inventory of everything I need to add. I predict you’re doing the same.
It’s important to have dedicated spring bass baits for a few different reasons. I’ll explain them later on down in the article.
I’ve scoured the internet combining my own experience with those of other anglers to compile this expert list of the best bass baits for early spring and beyond.
Our Reviews Of The Best Bass Baits For Spring
Strike King KVD 8.0 Magnum Square Bill Crankbait
BEST OVERALL
- Type: Square bill crankbait
- Weight: 1-⅛ ounce
- Color: Green, black, red, silver, and other natural colors
- Dives 3-7 feet
- Great for deflecting
- Purchase in a bright color and fish in heavy cover with it
- Works well in heavy cover
- Great for shallow water during spawning season
- Offers a silent approach
- Noise helps create a better presentation (this doesn’t provide that)
It’s hard to beat the power and capabilities of a crankbait. The best spring bass baits come in vibrant colors, they make a lot of noise, and they’re able to propel their way through heavy cover. This lure provides almost all of that, except for the noise factor.
I wish this crankbait had a split-lip on it so it would create vibration in the water, but it does a great job of bouncing off the rocks so that would make a slight disturbance. I would choose this over a lipless crankbait.
Booyah Pond Magic
BEST SPINNERBAIT
- Type: Skirted spinnerbait
- Weight: 3/16 ounce
- Color: Reds, greens, whites, pink, burnt orange, and natural colors
- Ultra-fine silicone skirt
- Colors mimic small pond cover
- Use for fishing heavy cover along the shore in small bass ponds
- Surface level fishing is popular during spring
- Great in light cover
- Noisy presentation
- Too large for some smaller bass
If you love fishing spinners, you can’t find one better than this from Booyah. This spinnerbait comes in a variety of colors, and it has two blades for an extra noisy presentation.
Part of winning with springtime bass fishing lures is having one that makes a lot of noise. This spinnerbait will create an exceptional presentation, and if you have a bit of experience under your belt, you’ll have no problem catching bass during the spawning season.
Berkley PowerBait Honey Worms
BEST WORMS
- Type: Fabricated honey worm
- Material:Manufactured plastic
- Weight: Varies
- Color: Beige
- Comes in a natural color
- Meant to mimic insect larvae
- Works great for pre-spawn through spawning season
- Scented for improved presentation
- Comes in a one or six-pack
- Can get messy
I’m stepping outside the box with this recommendation, but I personally love PowerBait. Berkley has a great reputation for developing lures and baits that exceed the competition. These worms mimic insect larvae, they’re scented, and they have a natural color.
The only downside here is visibility. The water tends to be extremely murky during the spring from snow runoff, so you’ll want to bring a backup in case these don’t work for you.
Booyah Boo Jig
BEST JIG
- Type: Skirted jig
- Weight: ½ - ⅜ ounce
- Color: Black, blue, green, red, white
- Flat bottom 18-degree rise
- Has a heavy weed guard, so it works well in dense cover
- Use a jigging action near structure with brightly colored skirts
- The heavy weed guard is ideal for cover
- Has two magnum rattles for a noisy presentation
- Doesn’t come in a lot of bright colors
Bringing it back to Booyah with this skirted jig. It has two rattles that create an excellent presentation, and the manufacturer recommends using an 8-10 pound test with it. It’s pretty much your standard jig head, so there’s not much that makes it stand out.
I prefer skirted jigs for the spring because it helps you weed your way through vegetation, which is where you’ll find most of the bass this time of year. Jigs work great post-spawn when the bass are most active. Spawn bass tend to stay around the nest without roaming to deeper water.
Tailored Tackle Wacky Worm
BEST RUBBER WORMS
- Type: Rubber worm
- Weight: Approx 1/32 ounces
- Color: Blue, pink, green, pumpkinseed, silver
- Comes with 25 worms
- Scented with anise that attracts bass
- Buy a separate wacky o ring kit because you’ll want to present it wacky
- The scent helps attract bass
- Comes in a variety of colors
- Multiple presentation options
- Not for the novice or beginner
My all-time favorite lure is a soft plastic worm, yeah I’m pretty basic. Here’s why I love them for spring. First, they usually come in a wide variety of colors, and you want to choose the brightest color possible. You want to threaten the bass, and this lure is great for finesse fishing for largemouth and smallmouth bass.
I suggest rigging it wacky style because that will give you the best possible presentation. The Texas rig works well too.
Factors to Help You Choose the Best Spring Bass Lures
You’ve seen the choices, so now let’s talk a little about why I chose these as my best bass baits for spring. There are a few things you’ll want to keep in mind when choosing your lures. Of course, you also want to take your own preferences, experience, and knowledge into consideration as well.
Deciding Factor #1: Bass Are In Shallow Water In The Spring
Spring is spawning season, so most big bass will retreat to shallow water in the morning and evening, and they’ll swim to the deep water in the middle of the day to find food. They’re cold-blooded, so their metabolism is based on the water temperature.
As the water starts to warm up, they will become more active, which means they’re going to start eating a lot more, so that makes spring a great bass fishing time of the year. When you have cold water you’ll want to use a smaller finesse worm.
That said, you need to keep in mind that you will spend a lot of time trolling the shoreline and casting parallel if you’re fishing from the shore or a dock. Topwaters work great for this because they mimic surface insects.
Now that you know this factor, you need lures that will break through heavy cover and vegetation because the bass will spend a lot of time guarding their spawn. They will spawn in dense cover. That’s why we turn to lipped crankbaits, rubber worms, jerkbaits, and other baits that will cut through the vegetation.
Deciding Factor #2: The water is murky
If you’re reading an article about springtime bass fishing lures, I will assume you live in a place with four seasons (or if you live in Pennsylvania – two seasons).
When the snow melts, it makes the ground soft and muddy, which results in a lot of runoff into streams and rivers. That runoff then makes its way into ponds and lakes, which create a whole lot of murky water.
If visibility is low in the water, it makes it harder to catch bass because they don’t feel threatened enough to strike.
With this factor in mind, we should use both bright and noisy lures to draw attention and aggravate the bass enough to get them to strike. Bass are ornery, so they will often bite a bait even if they’re not hungry out of anger and defense.
The brighter and noisier the lure, the better. For this reason, we choose bright spinnerbaits and crankbaits. These lures make a lot of noise, they mimic the bass’s natural baitfish like shad and they’re bright enough to stand out if you choose the right color.
On the flip side, if you have clear water, you can use a more natural colored lure.
Final Thoughts
By now, you should have a firm idea about what types of spring bass baits you should choose. It’s one of the most exciting times of the year for bass anglers because we can finally get back out on the water without having the cover-up in five layers or bring a sled to the spot.
If you’re looking for the best bass baits for spring, I highly recommend using the Strike King KVD 8.0 Magnum Square Bill Crankbait. Make sure to keep the temperature in mind when choosing the size of the lure. If it’s still below freezing outside, go with a smaller option. If it’s averaging 60+ degrees, go with a bigger size.
Their metabolism plays a significant role in whether or not they bite your lure, so always keep all these factors in mind.
Enjoy your spring bass fishing!
