Strike King pro Dakota Ebare identifies the best areas to target bass in Zone 2 during June.
“Water temperatures will be in the 65- to 70-degree range and bass will begin to enter the post-spawn phase with shad beginning to spawn also,” shares Ebare. During post-spawn, bass will revert back to the same areas they were staging before the spawn. “Be looking for post-spawn staging areas where bass will be feeding up after the spawn, typically points secondary and main lake,” Ebare says.
If the water is clear or stained, Ebare prefers White. For muddy water, he will favor Chartreuse White.
One of the best vibrating jigs to hit the market, Strike King’s Thunder Cricket Vibrating Jig has a Jungle-style flipping hook and ultra-stiff, stainless steel blade for unmistakable movement in the water.
Ebare’s choice for clear water is Mouse, while he opts for White if the water is stained. Chartreuse White is his preference when fishing in muddy water.
A proven go-to bait in the early summer. The Tour Grade Spinnerbait can be fished at virtually any depth and any speed. Ebare will let the fish dictate exactly what retrieval speed he needs to employ.
Ebare opts for White in clear and stained water.
The Tour Grade Buzzbait is made with premium components, such as a sculpted quick-planing head and an exclusive Gamakatsu® hook, making it a go-to in Ebare’s line up.
If the water is clear, he will throw Green Gizzard, while more stained water calls for Sexy Shad. Ebare will opt for Black Back Chartreuse when fishing in low-vis conditions.
For chasing active fish and power fishing, the KVD 2.5 is great for covering water quickly.
He opts for Natural Shad in clear water. If the water is stained, he will throw Bluegill, while he will switch to Black Shadow if the water is muddy.
Ebare utilizes the KVD Popping Perch in emergent grass, grass edges, along bushes, and when skipping docks.
Strike King pro Rick Harris is highly familiar with Zone 2 and shares his insights and tricks for catching huge bass in April.
“April is all about where fish are moving and spawning. April weather can be either 100 degrees or snowing in Zone 2, so there is a lot of variation in weather and water temperatures,” Harris shares. While there can be a lot of weather variances, Harris prefers when it’s sunny as it presents more opportunity to spot fry guarders and bed fish when sight fishing.
In the morning, Harris tends to look for a shad spawn. As the day progresses and the sun gets higher in the sky, he goes shallow on flatter banks with the hopes of locating fry guarders and bed fish. “From mid-morning through the afternoon, I look for secondary points and staging areas,” Harris says. When on the hunt for a shad spawn pattern, he gravitates toward the rip rap rock or shallow vegetation where he is likely to find bass around corners of docks or in bushes toward the back of pockets, near bedding areas.
No matter the water condition, Harris sticks with one color in April – White. Harris prefers a Glacier or Pearl Rage Menace trailer in all water conditions.
“The Strike King Tungsten Thunder Cricket is great for covering lots and water and strike zones. This will work for cruising fish, around cover, and for shad spawn,” Harris shares.
Featuring a super-dense and compact tungsten head, Strike King’s Tungsten Thunder Cricket is designed to make longer casts than any other finesse-sized bladed jig.
Harris’s choice for clear water is Clearwater Minnow, while he opts for Summer Sexy Shad if the water is stained. Bone is his go-to in muddy conditions.
“A Sexy Dawg is great for shad spawn and covering water. I like to have longer pauses in the ‘walking the dawg’ action, and often find they’ll eat on a pause,” says Harris.
Strike King’s Sexy Dawg is an easy-to-walk, far-casting topwater lure with an incredible action that attracts intense strikes.
He opts for Sexy Shad in clear water, and switches to Chartreuse Sexy Shad if the water is stained. Harris reaches for White in muddy conditions.
Harris will throw a Heavy Cover Swimming Jig when fishing around vegetation in April. He likes that it is a little more weedless than a Thunder Cricket and he uses a slow, easy winding retrieve.
The Heavy Cover Swim Jig is designed with a strong and durable weed guard that will help you navigate through the thickest of cover and cut through the grass to find the big ones. The jig is built around an exclusive Gamakatsu® extra-strong Siwash hook for extra bite, and a Perfect Skirt™ adds a more lifelike action.
If the water is clear, he will throw Blue Craw, while more stained or muddy water calls for Black Blue.
Harris will Carolina rig a Scounbug when targeting bigger females on points after spawn. While he doesn’t get an abundance of bites in these areas, the ones he does get are usually very large.
The Strike King Rage Scounbug is a crawfish imitation lure that is built with two Rage Flange pincers that wiggle and swim, imparting a life-like, natural action and six legs for a realistic crawfish appearance.
He opts for Smokey Shad in clear water. If the water is stained, he will throw Arkansas Shiner, while he will switch to The Deal if the water is muddy.
Rick will Damiki/Hover rig a Z-Too when livescoping for random roaming fish. These fish may or may not be relating to any cover, so rely on forward facing sonar.
Smaller than a standard jerkbait, Strike King’s Z-Too also floats higher, is more flexible (translation: it has a killer shimmy), and is far more durable. It's made of a proprietary Elaztech™ material that can be pulled at, nipped at, and chomped on time after time without tearing, degrading, or losing elasticity.
Strike King Pro Todd Faircloth breaks down the top strategies for targeting big bass in Zone 2 during April.
April is one of Faircloth’s favorite times of year for bass fishing, as water temperatures in the 60s allow anglers to target fish in all three stages of the spawn. He focuses on shallow water, noting that bass typically spawn first on the northeast side of larger lakes, while spawners appear in the southern end toward late April and early May. As the month progresses, he shifts to deeper main lake pockets, carefully monitoring water levels since bass prefer stable conditions.
“I try to locate cover such as bushes and willow trees when the water is high enough for fish to utilize them. If the water is low, that's when I'll look for any sort of grass such as haygrass or hydrilla. Basically, anything they can use as shallow water cover if wood closer to the bank isn't available,” Faircloth says. He advises anglers to focus on shallow, protected pockets, considering factors like moon phase, water temperature, and lake level. Limited cover areas with isolated laydowns, bushes, or grass patches often hold multiple fish, making them prime targets in April.
Faircloth fishes this soft plastic with a 1/8 oz. weight and 3/0 offset hook. It is his primary tool around brush, willow trees and grass.
If the water is stained, Faircloth prefers Green Pumpkin Ocho. In stained water, he switches to Junebug Ocho. For muddy water, Faircloth will favor Black Blue.
Faircloth fishes the Ocho on a Lew’s 7’1” Greg Hackney Signature Series Rod to pull fish out of heavy cover, pairing it with a Lew’s HyperMag 7.5:1 reel.
He fishes the Ocho rig on 16 lb fluorocarbon line.
Faircloth wacky-rigs his finesse worm with a weedless hook to offer a softer, lighter presentation around timber and vegetation.
Faircloth’s choice for clear water is Red Bug Finesse Worm, while he opts for Watermelon Red Flake if the water is stained.
He switches to a Lew’s 7’2” Signature Series Spinning Rod with Medium Action for the light presentation and pairs it with a HyperMag 6.2:1 Spinning Reel.
For the spinning combo, Faircloth fishes 16 lb braid with a 12 lb fluorocarbon leader.
This weedless topwater killer is one of Faircloth’s top choices when fish are holding in thick grass or wood.
He opts for Spring Frog in clear water, and switches to Black if the water is stained.
Faircloth pitches the KVD Sexy Frog on a Lew’s 7’3” Hackney Signature Series Rod and a HyperMag 8.3:1 reel.
He spools the combo with 40 lb braid for aggressive fishing in thick cover.
Faircloth uses the Rage Bug when fish are holding deeper in heavy cover or grass, opting for a 3/8 oz. weight with a 4/0 straight shank hook.
If the water is clear, he will throw Green Pumpkin, while more stained water calls for Black Blue Swirl.
He pitches and flips the Rage Bug on a Lew’s Hackney Signature Series Rod, paired with a HyperMag 8.3:1 to pull fish out of heavy cover quickly.
Faircloth spools his combo with 20 lb fluorocarbon line.
