Each spring, at during some point, what had been successful bass fishing becomes a grind. Chances are it’s the annual post spawn period, and it’s upon us now.

One of the first keys in responding to the post spawn is in recognizing it. According to Shawn Smith, a skilled bass angler who fishes a variety of bass lakes from spring through fall, the most noticeable difference is the lack of fish activity near the shoreline.

“During the spawn, the fish activity near the shoreline is very robust,” he noted. “As this begins to fade, the spawn is winding down.”

Smith adapts to this change by targeting deeper areas proximate to shoreline spots that had recently been productive.

“As the spawn concludes, fish will move back offshore, but not into too deep of water,” he said. “I think the deep water is still too cold for the spawned-out bass at this point. In the lakes I fish, this is in around eight to 10 feet of water.”

Tactics-wise, Smith relies on finesse-type lure choices that include Ned Rigs, tube jigs, and paddle-tail swimbaits.

“The presentation will be slow and subtle,” Smith explained. “Often if there is a slight breeze blowing up the shoreline, I will turn the boat perpendicular to the wind and allow it to push the boat along while dragging any of these three baits on the bottom. You can cover a lot of water using this technique.”

Another aspect of post spawn fishing is a mental one dealing with expectations. During the pre-spawn and spawn, catch rates are often high with plenty of quality-sized fish in the mix. Regardless of your approach, this is likely to now change.

“The overall expectation is that the fish will be a little more sluggish and the females are going to weigh less after dropping their eggs,” Smith conceded. “But it can still be a great time of year to catch bass.”

On the smallmouth bass-rich waters of the middle Allegheny River, where I spend a great deal of time during the spring and early summer, I too notice a rather abrupt absence of fish from shallows. During the pre-spawn and spawn, smallmouth bass will often be found in backwaters formed by islands and gravel/sand flats associated with incoming feeder streams. During the pre-spawn, they will often be in staging areas – somewhat deeper holes proximate to the one-to-three-foot shallows on which they will eventually nest.

My first response to the post spawn is to again focus efforts in staging areas, targeting fish holding in these low-current four-to-eight-foot pools. Ned Rigs, tube jigs, hair jigs, twister tail grubs, all can work on any given day. Another option is either a Senko-style soft stickbait or a Fluke-style soft jerkbait fished weightless with little to no added action. This tactic is best used on relatively windless days as a breeze will greatly mess with this presentation by catching the line and lifting the bait.

Following the spawn Smallmouth Bass in free-flowing rivers like the Allegheny will gradually gravitate to the areas of higher current that will hold them from summer into mid fall. Pre-spawn staging areas are often a temporary pit stop along the way. As such I begin to sample the heads and tails of pools, pocket water along riffles, boulder shorelines along moderate current runs.

While active, mid-summer bass will often chase down an aggressively fished stop-and-go jerkbait of fluke, during the post spawn, it’s wise to dappen the retrieve. One of my most effective presentation options at this time is a soft swimbait or grub fished with a steady, slow retrieve, one just fast enough to minimize snaggy up. A swimbait like Lake Fork Tackle’s Live Magic Shad or grub like the Galida’s Grubz excels when fished on an open jighead in the 1/8 to ¼ ounce size. If conditions allow, it’s best to opt for the lighter side as it forces you to slow down the retrieve. Though harder to find, I prefer 3/16-ounce weight in a mushroom-style jighead.

Unweighted soft stickbaits and soft jerkbaits come into play in the tail-out sections of larger pools. Tail-outs are the shallow transitions between a deep, slow hole and the riffle it flows in to, and can stretch anywhere from 20 to 30 yards long to a quarter mile, depending on the physical dynamics of the spot. Deadsticking the bait as the boat drifts through the tail-out is often a productive approach.

Bass found in the incoming head of a pool and within pocket along riffles are often more aggressive, likely to respond to a twitched fluke or hard jerkbait like a Rapala X-Rap. Throughout the post spawn period, I’ll check out a couple of these areas just to “test the waters.” When Smallmouth Bass start to show up, it’s likely the fish have shucked off the post spawn doldrums and typical summertime tactics will now be effective.

Typically, the post spawn period seems to last around two weeks. Though the fish can be challenging, they can be caught. And when the switch is turned back on bass are often extra aggressive, restocking energy lost during the spawning phase.

Jeff Knapp is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle