Gear

Browning’s 5 fave spawntime baits

See what Elite Series pro Stephen Browning packs to take on the spawn.

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Spawn time presents us with some of the most rewarding — and frustrating — fishing all year. Bass are at their heaviest before and during the spawn, but they can also be hard to find and fickle if you do find ’em. Longtime Elite Series pro Stephen Browning understands this and has a bait on deck for just about any situation he might encounter while chasing bass with breeding on the brain. Here are his five favorite spawntime baits.
Spawn time presents us with some of the most rewarding — and frustrating — fishing all year. Bass are at their heaviest before and during the spawn, but they can also be hard to find and fickle if you do find ’em. Longtime Elite Series pro Stephen Browning understands this and has a bait on deck for just about any situation he might encounter while chasing bass with breeding on the brain. Here are his five favorite spawntime baits.
1. Z-Man Zinkerz. “I’ll use this for all three stages of the spawn. Mostly I’ll use it by itself Texas rigged with no weight. I toss it at cruising fish in the prespawn and post; it works well on staging fish that are hanging around cover like stumps, docks, grass and the like. I call those transition fish. During the actual spawn, it also works well Texas rigged with a little Strike King Tour Grade Tungsten sinker. I’ll use either 1/4 or 3/8 ounce depending on how thick the grass is, how aggressive the bass are and how deep the water is,” he says.
1. Z-Man Zinkerz. “I’ll use this for all three stages of the spawn. Mostly I’ll use it by itself Texas rigged with no weight. I toss it at cruising fish in the prespawn and post; it works well on staging fish that are hanging around cover like stumps, docks, grass and the like. I call those transition fish. During the actual spawn, it also works well Texas rigged with a little Strike King Tour Grade Tungsten sinker. I’ll use either 1/4 or 3/8 ounce depending on how thick the grass is, how aggressive the bass are and how deep the water is,” he says.
2. Z-Man Scented Jerk Shadz. “I like this in the prespawn to cover water. It’s a very subtle bait with a slow, quivering fall and it’s a dead-on imitation of a dying shad,” he says. “I’ll use it in the 2- to 5-foot range or around docks especially. Docks are good in the prespawn because the water is shallow, and the bass are up there starting to loosen up their eggs.”
2. Z-Man Scented Jerk Shadz. “I like this in the prespawn to cover water. It’s a very subtle bait with a slow, quivering fall and it’s a dead-on imitation of a dying shad,” he says. “I’ll use it in the 2- to 5-foot range or around docks especially. Docks are good in the prespawn because the water is shallow, and the bass are up there starting to loosen up their eggs.”
3. Koppers LiveTarget Bluegill Wakebait. “This works well around grass, especially if it’s new-growth grass. It only dives about a foot deep, so I like it in water that’s no deeper than 3 feet when the bass are aggressive,” he says. “It’s the thing to use when you’re looking for that bass of a lifetime, especially in the prespawn. It’s a very simple cast-and-retrieve deal, but you can also add short twitches and pops. The best thing is that if you pop it just right, it’ll do an about-face and look a follower in the eye, which they can’t stand. It gets hammered!”
3. Koppers LiveTarget Bluegill Wakebait. “This works well around grass, especially if it’s new-growth grass. It only dives about a foot deep, so I like it in water that’s no deeper than 3 feet when the bass are aggressive,” he says. “It’s the thing to use when you’re looking for that bass of a lifetime, especially in the prespawn. It’s a very simple cast-and-retrieve deal, but you can also add short twitches and pops. The best thing is that if you pop it just right, it’ll do an about-face and look a follower in the eye, which they can’t stand. It gets hammered!”
4. War Eagle buzzbait. “To me, this is a great postspawn bait that is good for covering lots of water. You can throw it around any cover, be it wood, grass or riprap. I always tip it with a yellow finesse worm. That thing just seems to give it a little extra flair that gets those bigger fish fired up,” he says.
4. War Eagle buzzbait. “To me, this is a great postspawn bait that is good for covering lots of water. You can throw it around any cover, be it wood, grass or riprap. I always tip it with a yellow finesse worm. That thing just seems to give it a little extra flair that gets those bigger fish fired up,” he says.
5. Koppers LiveTarget Popping Frog. “Again, this is another great postspawn deal. If I feel that the fish aren’t super aggressive and may not hit that buzzbait, I go to this,” Browning says. “That frog gives me the ability to stop the bait and let it sit. If they’re not chasing, that frog sitting there can tantalize them and get a strike that way.”
5. Koppers LiveTarget Popping Frog. “Again, this is another great postspawn deal. If I feel that the fish aren’t super aggressive and may not hit that buzzbait, I go to this,” Browning says. “That frog gives me the ability to stop the bait and let it sit. If they’re not chasing, that frog sitting there can tantalize them and get a strike that way.”

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