May Tackle Warehouse Staff Picks

The Gavacho imitates frogs, bluegill, shad, and other forage and is great for fishing everything from shallow cover to clean, open banks. Built to be extremely weedless and easy to walk, the addition of the cupped face produces a splashing commotion that helps generate explosive topwater strikes. It’s an exciting bait to fish!

I love going down the bank and walking and/or popping the Gavacho around most forms of shallow cover, with the exception of thick weed mats. On a side note, I usually trim the skirt and insert a couple of 1/16-oz tungsten weights into the hollow cavity, just enough that the bait still floats. It makes the Gavacho cast like a bullet and sit a little lower on the surface, causing it to move more water and (hopefully) be a bit easier for a big hawg to slurp down.

I keep it simple with color selection and usually opt for White, Black Gill, or Chart Strike Gill.

I’ve caught so many 4–7 lb bass on frogs that I can’t say one big fish in particular stands out. May often yields some of the first surface bites of the year for me, so they’re all good ones when you haven’t caught a topwater bass in over six months!

My current favorite rod is the 7’6” medium-heavy fast Dobyns Champion XP 763. I like a longer, more limber frog rod than most anglers and have never had a problem working the bait or hauling big bass away from cover. I find a long rod is very beneficial for line control, allowing long casts, and making more efficient hooksets at distance. However, the length makes it more difficult to skip with if you’re trying to slip your bait under limbs or docks.

I pair the rod to a Shimano Curado 150XGM with a fast 8.1:1 gear ratio. That high-speed gear ratio gives me rapid line pick up on the hookset, or when I need to boogie the bait back to the boat. The Curado is filled with 65-lb or 80-lb PowerPro MaxCuatro braid. This line is thin, incredibly strong, casts a mile, and has zero stretch for powerful instantaneous hooksets.

Throughout the month of May in much of the Southern United States, bass are finishing up their yearly spawning rituals in shallow pockets and heading to deeper water. In my experience, most postspawn bass go to the deepest ledge holes first to recuperate. With an impressive diving depth of 33 ft on 16-lb line, the Korrigan easily gets down to extreme depths to target bass that many crankbaits simply can’t reach.

I like idling with the big motor until I find a group of bass, typically on a main river channel or creek-channel ledge. Creek ledges are often better early in the postspawn, but you can absolutely wreck the fish if you’re one of the first to find them schooled on a main river channel. I’m typically reeling this bait as fast as I can but also have great success with a burn-and-stop retrieve.

Blue Shad and Sexy Shad UV are two favorite colors that get consistent bites.

One of my most memorable days included winning a tournament on Lake Eufaula with nearly 23 lbs while cranking river ledges.

I’m a big fan of the Shimano Expride 7’10” glass rod, which has a heavy power and moderate taper. I like pairing it with a Shimano Tranx 200 for the beefed-up gears and X-Ship technology that make cranking a bit less taxing. I’m typically reeling the crankbait fast, so I prefer the 7.2:1 gear because it’s still quick but doesn’t wear me out like an 8:5:1. The reel is spooled with 16-lb Sunline Sniper fluorocarbon.

For northern anglers, the month of May is spawning time and nothing aggravates protective smallmouth and largemouth more than an egg-stealing goby. The Jewel Sculpin exhibits lifelike fin and tail movement along with a profile that perfectly imitates a sculpin or goby.

Keep a close eye on water temperature, as 60 to 65 degrees is the magic window where you will start to see bedding bass. Look for signs of beds, which usually appear as light circular depressions on shallow sand or gravel areas of the lake. I like to cast over the bed and gradually reel and shake the goby until it's in the bed. Once there, let the bait sit and give it another shake or two. This should hopefully be enough to trigger a bite.

Watermelon Seed is one of my top colors because it’s natural looking and provides enough contrast against a light bottom, allowing me to see where my bait is in relation to the fish and bed.

I have caught several 4-lb smallmouth on the Jewel Sculpin.

I’m fishing this bait on a 7'1" medium-light fast Daiwa Tatula Cork Spinning Rod coupled with a 2500 Daiwa Tatula MQ LT spinning reel. The reel is filled with 15-lb Seaguar Smackdown Braid in the Flash Green color tied to a 10-lb Seaguar Carbon Ultra Fluorocarbon leader. I’ll often rig the Jewel Sculpin on a drop shot using a #2 Gamakatsu Aaron Martens G-Finesse Drop Shot Hook and 1/4-oz teardrop-shaped tungsten weight. A second option I like is rigging the bait on a Keitech Super Round Tungsten Ball Jighead.