Bass Crash Course: Pattern Bass with Squarebill Crankbaits

One of the most fascinating things about bass fishing for me is the concept of pattern fishing. For the uninitiated, pattern fishing is based on the idea that populations of bass in different parts of a lake behave in a similar manner given the same set of water conditions. For example, you may discover you’re catching bass in Creek A on shallow points at the mouths of pockets with scattered brush. When you go into Creek B, you find bass on the same types of points. This is not a coincidence.

When attempting to pattern bass in shallow water, one of the best lures in the tacklebox is the squarebill crankbait. Due to their fast retrieve, these little dynamos can cover vast amounts of water in a relatively short amount of time, and their distinctive squared-off bill allows the bait to deflect off shallow cover or the lake bottom effectively, eliciting strikes from bass.

When searching to unlock that shallow-water pattern with a squarebill, take into account the following details: the slope of the bank, the bottom composition and the available cover type.

SLOPE OF SHORELINE

Bass can often be patterned by the slope of the shoreline. That is, are they on steep or flat banks? The productiveness of the banks can often be traced seasonally, with steeper banks more productive in cold water and the weeks of early pre-spawn, while the flatter banks can become productive in late spring, throughout the summer and into the fall. One of the most effective means of searching out these various bank angles is with the squarebill, making long casts to cover as much water as possible with each cast.

BOTTOM COMPOSITION

Interestingly, the composition of the lake bottom can play a major role in how bass use these shorelines. Take note with each bass you catch if the bites are coming from chunk-rock banks, gravel, sand or mud, as you can often replicate the bite along these same types of banks in other locations of the lake. In the spring, gravel shorelines are prime spawning grounds, whereas heavier chunk rock may be the ticket in the winter months. Keep in mind the importance of deflecting the crankbait off the bottom in order to trigger reaction strikes from the bass.

COVER TYPE

Naturally, cover type is always important when piecing together a pattern, but observing detail within the cover will add to more bites as you attempt to replicate your efforts. For instance, when patterning bass around wood cover, take note if the bass are located in scattered stickups or in heavier brush along the shallows. Is the wood cover located on points or flats, stained water or clear? These are the details that can turn a few bites into the motherlode.

PUTTING IT ALL TOGETHER

Most successful patterns contain a combination of the above ingredients, so let’s put them all together in an imaginary scenario. Let’s say you are fishing in late spring and you’ve been catching bass on flat, gravel banks outside of spawning cover with scattered isolated brush. As you move to various parts of the lake, these are the types of shorelines that should catch your eye. Perhaps you can’t replicate every detail of the location where you initially caught them; however, matching as many of these as possible as you search with a squarebill crankbait will increase your odds of success. And, just as importantly, you can bypass those stretches of shoreline that don’t have any of these characteristics—or at least fish through them quickly.

Fishing is a game of trial and error, and the more casts you can make in a given amount of time, the higher your odds of unlocking the pattern to success. The squarebill crankbait is one of the best tools for cracking the code.