Tip From a Pro: Fish in Bad Weather for Prespawn Bass

Pro: James Caldemeyer

Home Water: Lake Fork, Texas

Contact: officiallakeforktrophybass.com

Credentials: Caldemeyer, a pro angler since 2004, has called Lake Fork home for over 20 years and currently fishes the FLW tour.

Prespawn Fail

People think the weather has to be nice and there has to be a warming trend to catch prespawn largemouths, but Caldemeyer says, “Actually, it’s the exact opposite. A front is a front regardless of the time of year it shows up, and fronts produce bites.” He watches for inclement weather, including sleet and snow, and targets true prespawn monsters during those transitional conditions.

Game Changer 

Caldemeyer knows that female bass are at their peak weight before the spawn. He looks for the giants on main-lake points and secondary points leading into the spawning creeks and flats. “These are the areas where the fish will be staging,” he says. “Any bait that resembles a crawfish will catch them.” Caldemeyer has the most big-fish success when the points also have stumps or grass. Around the stumps, jigs are his primary producer. His favorite is a Santone Rattlin’ Jig in black-blue, and he tips it with a Berkley Chigger Craw in black-blue fleck. For fishing over grass, he’ll use a lipless crankbait in red or brown to mimic a crawfish.

Santone Rattlin’ jig and berkley chigger craw

Photograph by Brian Grossenbacher