We've had a good amount of rainfall here in California this year and a lot of small lakes are full already. With each passing storm some are even flooding for short periods of time. This is a luxury we have not had for a number of years and it gets me really exited about going out and shore fishing.

Bass start gravitating towards the shallows whenever there is a high water. High water means food, as all kinds of small forage will get up in the grass and other vegetation that has had a chance to sprout up during the low water period. I really watch the weather this time of year. Whenever there is a stormy, balmy day I will drop everything to go spend a couple hours fishing from shore.

Bass fishing in grass – tackle recommendations:

For the most part I am burning a spinner bait, swim jig or chatter bait. The water clarity is usually not too good but the fish are up feeding and will key in on a fast moving bait. This is a technique I also use fishing out of my boat as well. I will usually wake the bait, otherwise I keep it in the upper six to eight inches of water.

The strikes are usually pretty voracious this time of year. A lot of times you will be watching your bait wake and you will see another wake rise up behind or to the side of your bait moments before you get crushed. Color selection is simple as well: I go for white, chartreuse, a combo of the two, or an orange color scheme.

There is going to be a lot of different forage up in the grass this time of year. Bass will be chasing bluegill, shad, crawdads, worms that have been washed in, salamanders and a number of small prey. Look for coves and areas where water is running in and you will find the highest concentration of fish.

My favorite baits include a Revenge Spinner Bait or Viberator in 1/2 ounce, Black Dog Weedslinger, or a Dirty Jigs No Jack Jig with a small swimbait trailer. The trailer on the jig or spinner bait can resemble either a craw or a small fish. Sometimes they seem to prefer one over the other. I suggest trying the red or orange color scheme as well as the chartreuse or white set up. Sometimes they also like one color over the other.

So there you have it, when everyone else is either fishing deep still or not out fishing at all. You can be out in a crushing bass in the middle of winter in the shallows.