What Ott's Fishing Right Now
Pro angler Ott DeFoe lives in Knoxville, Tennessee and he's been fishing quite a bit lately around his home between tournaments. The bass in his region are getting oh so close to spawning, but they are not quite there yet.
He shared that he has been having success targeting those pre-spawners with a variety of methods that he relies on every year when the bass are just about to head to the spawning beds.
Lipless Crankbait
DeFoe has been catching them on lipless crankbaits all year and as the water has warmed and crept closer to the magic temperature where bass spawn, he's changed things up.
"I'm fishing it with more of a straight retrieve instead of the 'yo-yo' type retrieve I was doing a few weeks back when the water was colder," he said. "I still give it a few pops of the rod every cast to make it rise a little bit. That gives it a little variation and seems to help."
He has been fishing the Storm Arashi Vibe in a variety of colors but says that lately, Wakasagi has been his best producer. This lipless is also the bait that helped him win the 2019 Bassmaster Classic, although it was the Red Craw color during that event.
One reason he likes a lipless this time of year is that he can quickly cover ground and fish it in a variety of locations. "I was catching them here at Douglas Lake the other day out over gravel points and around rocks. It is also a good choice anytime you are fishing around the grass."
DeFoe has been experimenting with adding the VMC Bladed Hybrid Treble and likes it on a lipless and all of his moving baits. "I'm liking it more and more and after using it on Lake Athens on my wakebait, I'm using it everywhere," he said as he referenced the final day of his win at the Bass Pro Tour Stage Three in mid-March.
DT4 and DT6 - Plus Some New Colors
A shallow crankbait is always a good choice anytime the bass during the springtime. That's why DeFoe has been using both of these baits often this year.
"Most of the fish are going to be in shallow water and a crankbait is great for covering water. You can fish it around rock, wood, and grass and it comes through everything pretty well," DeFoe said. "I think a crankbait does so well because it gets the reaction bite and the feeding bite at the same time."
DeFoe let the cat out of the bag about the new DT series colors when he won the last Major League Fishing event. He was using a new color called "Bigg's Shad" and shared that there are five new colors to be released later this year.
"The whole pro-staff worked to put together colors that we wanted and that was one that I wanted. Bigg's Shad is from a custom color that my buddy paints," DeFoe said.
Bigg's Shad has worked its way into his favorite colors list, but he shared a few others that he relies on this time of year.
"Penguin is a great one for the DT4 and I also really like Disco Shad because it is a nice, natural color. Another good one is Old School," he said. "If you are further north and the water is still colder, any of the browns and reds are going to be great."
Pitching and Swimming a Jig
Once the bass in Tennessee start to spawn, DeFoe will switch gears to a jig and will keep it in his lineup well into the post-spawn.
"I'll start to flip and pitch cover and anything where the fish should be holding. A jig is also an excellent sight-fishing bait for me," said the Tennessee pro. "After they finish up spawning, I'll swim a jig quite a bit and start targeting the shad spawn bite."
No matter how he is fishing a jig, he likes one jig in particular because it can do so much. The Terminator Pro jig is one of his go-to's.
"It is a great all-purpose jig. It flips great and also swims really good," DeFoe feels and says the only thing he will do is alternate his trailers from a Bass Pro Shops Elite Chunk to a Swim-N-Elite Chunk when he is swimming it.
There are quite a few colors that he uses for the Terminator Pro jig but added that Bama Craw is an excellent all-around choice and he will mix in O.D. for dirtier water. For swimming, Glimmer Blue Shad is his choice.
The lipless crankbait, shallow diver, and jig will cover all of your bases this time of year and are precisely what Ott DeFoe is fishing right now.
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