Strike King pro John Garrett uncovers some of the best areas to fish in Zone 3 during April.
Garrett expects slowly rising water temperatures accompanied by lots of wind with bass mostly in a prespawn phase, depending on moon phase. Early in the month, threadfin and gizzard shad are the primary forage bass are chasing. As the water slowly warms, they will transition to eating more and more bluegill. Garrett loves to target prespawn bass in staging areas, or last deep water before a larger spawning pocket. Once he feels the bass have moved up, he’ll look for south facing pockets with longer flat banks.
If the water is clear, Garrett prefers Blue Craw. In stained or muddy water, he switches to Blue Bug.
Garrett prefers a Texas-rigged Rage Bug with a 5/16 oz. Tour Grade Tungsten weight around shallow wooden cover, especially when bass start eating bluegill and approach spawning areas.
A super versatile soft bait with four appendages to create unmatched action, the Strike King Rage Bug is perfect for pitching around cover and punching mats.
Garrett’s choice for clear water is Olive Shad, while he opts for Blue Back Chartreuse if the water is stained. Black Back Chartreuse is his top choice when fishing in low-vis conditions.
Strike King’s KVD 1.5 is perfect for shallow water and power fishing. The squarebill design and unique “hunting” action will constantly wander with erratic movement while still running true and deflects perfectly off cover to entice strikes.
He opts for Green Pumpkin in clear water, and switches to Chartreuse White if the water is stained. Garrett’s go-to in muddy conditions is Fire Craw.
Garrett will use a Tungsten Thunder Cricket with a Blade Minnow trailer in the 5- to 6-foot range around vegetation and deeper boat docks.
Strike King’s Tungsten Thunder Cricket features a super-dense and compact tungsten head that allows for the same legendary tight vibration of the original Thunder Cricket in a smaller size. The Tungsten Thunder Cricket is designed to make longer casts than any finesse-sized bladed jig and features a super-strong long-shank Owner Jungle Hook.
If the water is clear, he will throw Matte Strobe Shad, while more stained water calls for Pro Bone. In low-vis conditions, he prefers Sexy Shad 2.0.
When utilizing forward facing sonar, Garrett will use a KVD Elite 300 Deep Jerkbait for suspending females warming up their eggs.
The KVD Elite 300 Deep Jerkbait is tournament ready right out of the package with upgraded Mustad Triple Grip hooks and premium paint finishes. Maintaining the action of the original, the KVD Elite 300 Deep Jerkbait has an unmistakable erratic action with an impressive weight-transfer system, but also allows anglers to achieve depths many jerkbaits can't.
Garrett has one top color for all water conditions – Green Pumpkin.
John will wacky rig a Shim-E-Stick to cover water around shallow docks and flats for spawning bass.
A super soft and super salty stick bait, Strike King’s Shim-E-Stick is formulated to provide a perfect rate of fall and alluring “shimmy” action that gave this bait its name.
Andy wacky-rigs this soft plastic to fish around docs, hard cover and vegetation during the spawn.
If the water is clear Andy will opt for the Green Pumpkin Ocho, while in stained water he prefers Red Bug or Junebug.
He fishes the wacky-rig on a Lew’s Signature Series 6’10” Spinning Rod, pairing it with a Lew’s HyperMag 200 series reel. Andy opts for 12 lb flurocarbon line.
If the water is clear, Morgan prefers Natural Shad. In stained water, he switches to Sexy Shad 2.0. For muddy water, Morgan will favor Fire Craw.
Designed with the help of Andy Morgan himself, Strike King’s Chick Magnet is known for giving off an incredible “thump” with a tight wiggling action. Perfect for diving in up to 5-feet of water, the Chick Magnet defects off of cover and attracts aggressive bites.
