Beginner's Tacklebox: David Fritts

Bassmaster Elite Series pro David Fritts holds the empty flat box he will fill with an assortment of killer lures for beginning bass anglers. His goal is to fill it with lures that will catch bass throughout the seasons.

The first lure Fritts plucks from the box is a No. 5 Berkley Bad Shad, which dives 5-7 feet deep. “This is a great bait for early spring,” Fritts said. “It’s an elongated bait that you can fish in places where you’d fish a jerkbait. I pull it with my rod and wind in the slack while it sits there. Bass will come a long way to get it.”

The next bait Fritts fetches is the Berkley War Pig, a lipless rattler that comes in 1/4- and 1/2-ounce sizes. “The War Pig is another bait I like in early spring,” Fritts said. “I’ll cast it to any shallow cover. My favorite way to fish it is to bump it into stumps.”

The Berkley Juke Jerkbait is the next lure Fritts chooses for the box. “It’s a herring bait,” Fritts said. “This is a versatile bait. You can twitch it like a jerkbait or wind it slow and fish it like a wakebait.”

A No. 7 Berkley Bad Shad in the black gold color is Fritts’ next choice for the box. He does especially well with this crankbait when bass gang up in staging areas prior to moving shallow to spawn. “It dives 6-8 feet and will catch them all through spring,” Fitts said.

Fritts digs out another tacklebox, which holds, surprise, more of his beloved crankbaits.

Into the box goes the Dredger 10.5.

Another long slot in the tacklebox is needed to make space for the long-billed Dredger 20.5.

When bass school offshore, Fritts picks them off with a noisy, surface-thrashing, long-casting Berkley Cane Walker. This pencil popper does especially well in autumn.

From this box he pulls out a Berkley Pitbull square bill crankbait. It excels for cranking cover shallow cover.

For late fall and winter fishing, Fritts recommends a Berkley Digger crankbait, which comes in six sizes that cover depths from 3 to 15 feet. “The Diggers are good all year and especially in the fall,” Fritts said. “They have a wide action that pushes a lot of water. They’re fantastic on aggressive fish.”

A 1 1/2-ounce Hopkins Shorty jigging spoon is Fritts’ next choice for the box. “It crushes big fish in the winter and the summer,” Fritts said. “I fish it vertical and I’ll also throw it out and jig it back over the bottom 20 to 30 feet deep.”

Berkley’s Dredger 14.5 in the brown craw color comes next. He claimed that it runs at a good depth for fishing in the winter when bass move up on bluff walls to feed.

Another bait Fritts recommends for winter fishing is the Digger 14.5. It dives to about the same depth as the Dredger 14.5 but has a wider wobble.

Berkley’s Powerbait General stick worm is the only soft plastic bait that Fritts chooses for the beginner’s tacklebox. “You can catch fish with this bait anytime,” Fritts said. “I fish it weightless wacky style, as a Neko rig and lots of other ways.”