Key on Weeds, Not Rock For Post-Spawn Smallmouth

When you envision prime smallmouth bass habitat, what do you see? Rock and gravel kind of fit the classic picture, so there's nothing wrong with that. But do you ever picture muck/silty bottoms, or heavy vegetation? If you don't, you had better start because the biggest smallies in a lake can be found relating to this, especially right after they come off of the spawn.

Just a week ago in late May, I was fishing a Minnesota lake and found some quality smallmouths relating to the thickest weeds in the lake. The period was just around the time when the females finish spawning. And the species of weed was curly-leaf pondweed, a weed that typically grows in more silty bottoms. In past years, I've won tournaments keying on weeds rather than rocks during this post-spawn timing.

Jim Moynagh with a smallmouth bass.

Is there such a thing as too much muck and silt, or too much weed growth? No, not really from what I have experienced. On several occasions, I have discovered schools of big smallmouth infesting thick bulrush stands, lily pads, wild rice, cabbage, and so on often located far from any hard bottom. The easiest setups to identify are those lakes that have limited weed growth to begin with. In a lake like this, just drive around and look for the weeds. It may not take much either; sometimes it can simply be just a black area of low-growing weeds on an otherwise barren sand flat. In lakes with higher percentages of weeded areas, the task may be more difficult to find in which weeds the smallies are located. Sometimes you just have to fish and fish until the hot area is discovered.

Areas in lakes where weeds transition into rock and gravel will draw post-spawn smallies, too. These are the staging areas for them before they eventually move off onto purely hard bottom structure that they like as summer moves forward. By mid-summer, smallies can still be found using weedy, soft bottom areas, however, many fish will have moved out to more offshore hard-bottom areas. And then once fall comes, the weeds have begun to die off and it then becomes all about the rock/gravel areas.

Regarding lure selection and presentation, many of the usual smallmouth techniques still apply, but I often choose lures that appeal to bass looking up for their food. So I'm talking about top waters, jerk baits, and spinnerbaits. Bottom-bouncing lures often perform at low efficiency in weedy, soft-bottom habitat because the lure gets mucked up with bottom debris. So if I feel the need to slow down, I'll opt for slow-falling tubes, hair jigs, soft stick-baits, and the like, and try to fish them just off the bottom. If I am fishing the weed to rock transitions, then I can often add bottom-crawling lures such as tubes, football jigs and drop shots to my arsenal.

Smallies and rocks have forever been associated together and rightfully so. Lakes without any rock and gravel areas will not support a prolific smallmouth population. However, when bass begin moving off the spawn, they often prefer inhabiting the lush greenery found thriving in lakes during this part of the season. This includes the biggest smallies in the lake. Some fish will continue to hang around the weeds until they begin dying off as fall approaches. And by fall, rocks will shine!