Shallow-Water Bass After the Spawn: How Pros Target Giants Post-Spawn
Once the bass spawn wraps up, many fish head for deeper water—but plenty stay behind in the shallows. This period is one of the best times to catch bass in skinny water as they protect fry and take advantage of ongoing spawning activity from bluegill, shad, and herring.
Professional anglers Luke Clausen and Drew Gill stay shallow through the post-spawn phase, each using a unique set of tools and techniques.
Luke Clausen Combines Visual Tactics with Technology
Despite his modern bass boat rigged with high-end electronics, Bassmaster Classic and Forrest Wood Cup champion Luke Clausen prefers to lean on natural instincts and observations during the post-spawn period.
“Tools like side scan are good for locating bluegill beds, and you can use your forward-facing sonar to find baitfish and bass guarding fry this time of year, but so much of it is just done by watching and using your eyes,” he said. “Your electronics help a bunch with deeper bluegill beds, but the shallower ones are best just looking around on flat places, around vegetation, or the back of a pocket. They rarely spawn on something that’s not very flat, and it needs to be somewhat protected.”
Matching the Hatch with Bluegill and Shad
Clausen focuses heavily on bass feeding on spawning bluegill by using a blend of finesse and power-fishing techniques:
“I like a popper for the sound and the ability to stop it in place, and a small walking bait is a great choice,” he said. “I fish it on 30 lb Seaguar Smackdown in the Stealth Gray color, and that thin line is great for accurate casts with those light baits. The worst thing you can do with a topwater is to pull a topwater bait away from a fish, so I keep the bait in place when one rolls on it, and you’ll hook a lot of those fish because there’s no stretch in the line.”
When targeting spawning shad, Clausen adjusts his strategy and uses moving baits:
“The shad spawn is always going to happen first thing in the morning, and they’ll always spawn around hard places, either rocks, docks, or somewhere with a hard surface,” he said. “It’s hard to beat fast-moving baits like swim jigs and buzzbaits, and I fish all of those on 50 lb Seaguar Smackdown, which is still very thin to get long casts to reach any surface activity you see. I like 15 lb Seaguar Red Label for my spinnerbaits because it has a little less stretch, which is important for short-range hooksets.”
Drew Gill: Sonar and Finesse Meet in the Shallows
Bass Pro Tour angler Drew Gill is part of a new generation of professional anglers who fully embrace electronics, even in shallow water. His approach showcases the versatility of forward-facing sonar during the post-spawn bass fishing window.
“After the bass spawn, you have the bluegill bed thing and throwing topwaters around shallow cover,” said Gill. “It’s a tandem thing, and forward-facing sonar plays a role in both. It helps you locate the bluegill beds, showing the harder bottom areas they use to spawn. It’s also great for finding shallow targets that provide shade to cast a topwater lure to.”
Heavier Finesse for Aggressive Fish
Gill turns to plastic worms rigged multiple ways—but always with heavier weights to force a reaction bite from bass protecting bluegill beds.
“I’m going to use a plastic worm in some form or fashion, but want something fast and snappy, so I use heavier weights than I normally use,” he said. “I want something a little more intrusive, whether a Texas rig, drop-shot, shaky head, or some other way to rig the worm. The heavier weights allow me to get that bass to react when fishing around bluegill beds.”
Even with spinning setups, Gill switches to stronger leader lines:
“This time of year, fishing this way, your average size of bass goes way up,” he said. “I like to use heavier lines to manhandle the fish because you tend to catch some really big post-spawn fish doing this.”
Gill stays back while casting, using sonar to track shallow fish from a distance of 50 to 80 feet.
“Fishing at a distance is critical in shallow water because the bass are very mobile this time of year as they roam chasing bluegill and tend to be very aware of their surroundings,” he said.
Gill’s Two-Part Approach: Search and Trigger
While finesse plastics dominate Gill’s setup, he frequently uses moving baits to both search and draw reaction strikes:
“It’s a one-two punch for me, and I also like to use a lure that will call them up to the surface, either a walking topwater or some sort of bait that will draw them like a glide bait,” he said. “These baits are great when searching and looking across shallow flats. For topwater walking baits, I like 20 lb Seaguar Smackdown in Stealth Gray with a very short leader of 15 or 17-pound Seaguar Tatsu to keep the braid from wrapping around the treble hooks. It seems light, but I like how the bait reacts to each movement, and heavier braids tend to overpower a bait.”
Post-Spawn Power: Big Bites Still Live in the Shallows
Fishing shallow remains a top strategy in post-spawn, especially when bluegill and shad spawns overlap. Whether it’s Clausen’s visual approach or Gill’s sonar-powered strategy, both pros agree: shallow water holds quality bass this time of year.
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