Elite

Tristan McCormick’s prespawn tacklebox

Lures you need to cover the varied strike zones of prespawn.

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Photography by
Craig Lamb
Longer and warmer days signal the start of the spawning cycle, beginning with prespawn. Largemouth are on the move and the goal is intercepting their transitional migrations from deep to shallower water. Bassmaster Elite pro Tristan McCormick has you covered with a tacklebox to cover all the prespawn strike zones. 
“By necessity it takes multiple lure categories to cover the strike zones,” McCormick said. That also means choosing baits capable of variable retrieves and presentations for cold-front bass. McCormick packs coverage, finesse, reaction and scoping baits to cover the bases. 
Color and pattern choices are critical during prespawn. “On many southern lakes the red patterns are tried and proven choices for squarebills, lipless crankbaits, jerkbaits and bladed jigs. “All of those are baits of choice for migration transition areas with wood and grass,” McCormick said. 
For scoping, McCormick adds the traditional soft-plastic jighead minnow setups for offshore and for early prespawners in deeper water. As largemouth move shallower, he’ll add jerkbaits and other hard baits to the lineup. McCormick also relies on skirted jigs for flipping into wood cover for quality fish. 
Skirted jigs are a prespawn staple for targeting sluggish post-cold-front bass in dingy water. McCormick goes into heavy combat with stout tackle and a 1/2-ounce Strike King Tour Grade Tungsten Flipping Jig. 
“I’ll use it all day for tough prespawn bites, picking it up when I roll up on a big, isolated laydown or other standout piece of cover,” McCormick said. “It’s always good for adding an individual quality fish into the livewell.” 
For live scoping McCormick favors a Strike King 3X Baby Z-Too in shad patterns to mimic forage bait. 
He opts for this setup when targeting late prespawners staging between offshore areas and the first significant shallow structure, such as main lake creek mouths and points. 
Prespawn largemouth use submerged vegetation for ambush points and migration routes leading into creek channels terminating at spawning sites. Grass provides concealment to ambush baitfish, making a shallow crankbait ideal for the job. McCormick chooses the Strike King Hybrid Hunter, also in Junior for strike zones up to 5 feet. Those feature a flat-bodied, flat-sided shape with unique L-shaped 90-degree bill for a hard thumping, exaggerated hunting action with extremely loud rattle. 
A jerkbait is another must-have scoping bait for covering water and bringing in bass on the move from afar. McCormick prefers the Strike King KVD Jerkbait 300 with weight transfer system for increased castability, and J300 Deep Sinking weighted model to reach desired depths for deeper fish. 
Lipless crankbaits are another prespawn staple and McCormick’s choice is the Strike King Red Eyed Shad Tungsten 1 Tap. “Covers lots of water with multiple retrieve speeds and presentations like pumping and jigging to catch finnicky bass.” 
Another versatile choice is the Strike King Thunder Cricket Vibrating Swimming Jig. “Use it all year and especially in prespawn to cover a lot of water, fish it fast or slow and even in cover,” McCormick said. “it’s a good change-up bait when the bite slows on other baits.”

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