Jared Lintner

LOCATING 
POSTSPAWN FISH 
IN THE TRANSITION

Always Fish Your Strengths

WHEN most guys think of California fisherman they think of the guys who are great with the small finesse baits that they learned fishing in deep clear water reservoirs. And you know what? I probably wouldn’t disagree. There are some guys that can use their depth finder and find a pebble out in 60 feet of water where they will drop shot a 4 inch worm and catch a 30 pound limit. But, that’s really not me. I feel most comfortable when my depth finder is sticking my 7 foot rod in the water and seeing if it touches bottom. 

Learning the ropes in California you’d think offshore structure would be my specialty, but its really not, up until fishing the elite series most of the fishing I did was in 10 foot of water or less, and I did alright. I’m not sure if that helped me or hurt me, my stubbornness to fish deep water showed me that there will always be some quality fish up shallow and the water was much easy to dissect then in 30 feet. Some guys will spend their whole practice time looking for that magical offshore hump or break that holds the winning fish, but I’ve always thought that a good post spawn bite can be found up shallow throwing shallow running crankbaits through cover. 

The post spawn offers a period where the fish are hungry and active, and when they are up shallow they will be looking to feed on shad or bluegill that are in their own transition of getting ready to spawn. I will throw a Jackall MC 60 shallow crankbait in and around the best creek channels on the lake. I think the key to finding a great post spawn crankbait bite is going through a lot of water and find the most productive creeks on the lake. There are four main things I look for in a good creek. There must be a deep channel swing that runs around the mouth of the creek. This offers the fish a steady migration route and deep water access. Many fish will use this route to facilitate their feeding patterns moving from the shallow spawning water to the deeper water they will continually move back up more shallow to feed on the spawning bluegill or shad. I try to define deeper water as about 15 feet and I fish from that point up to more shallow water. Another key factor seems to be wood. I think that wherever you are fishing if you find shallow wood in a creek channel there will be fish around it. The wood offers unique structure and maintains heat better than any other structural element. It also offers great deflection points for the crankbait as it runs through the water. Stained water also seems to hold the most fish and creates minimal visibility for the fish. This allows the fish to react to the bait rather than fully seeing it and deciding to eat it. Another element I will look for are large boulder in or around the opening to the creek. The larger boulders are great transition spots for the fish actively looking to feed on bait, and those boulders are almost certainly holding good sized fish. 

Those are just four good elements to the creek channels, and depending on where you fish there may be others, but across the nation those four will allow you to fish the most productive water. I do find fish in creek channels that don’t possess those qualities but it’s never a good concentration. It’s usually a fish here and there, rather than a spot that replenishes itself daily like the good creek channels. And why wouldn’t you want to fish the spot that has the most productive features? 

I have two different setups for fishing shallow crankbaits post spawn. The first is a Powell 703cb regular fiberglass crankbait rod with 10-12lb fluorocarbon when I am fishing 8-10 feet of water. The second is a bruiser, used for heavy cover and horsing fish out of it. I will throw a Powell 765 specialty fiberglass composite rod with 50lb braid. This rod has a really fast tip and all the backbone you could ever need to get fish out of the wood and stumps in just a couple of feet of water. I try to match the hatch with my crankbaits but after a while you just have some colors that will perform better no matter where you are at and what time of the year it is. For me it’s the Jackall MC 60 in chartreuse shad. It just catches fish for me year around. 

I think that being stubborn about deep water is a catch 22 for my fishing, but I have had success with it in the post spawn fishing crankbaits. I just look at it this way; it’s much harder to put together a pattern and eliminate water in 60 feet then it is in less then 10’. There’s much less water to cover and very few variables that can be changed, the fish are either there or they aren’t. Anytime fishing can get simpler I think that’s a good thing. So the next time someone is on your offshore rock pile with a Carolina rig take the opportunity to crank out a few bites up shallow.