This post on Salem Pond spring bass fishing was written by Kraken Bass follower Patrick Palepoi. He has provided us with some great tips for spring fishing on his favorite body of water. Hopefully, you can pick up some ideas as to keep yourself stoked and “Kraken” bass.

Salem Pond Spring Bass Fishing

Author: Patrick Palepoi

During the spring Salem pond is one of the most productive bass ponds in all of Utah. It is a large pond with a lot of bait-fish, crayfish, and it gets regularly stocked with small trout to help produce some giants. The spring is a great time on Salem pond to possibly catch a personal best. This is because the bass are filled with eggs making them weigh more. I know from experience. My personal best was 5.3 lbs. here last April, and it was the most exciting time of my life.

The spring is when the bass lay eggs and guard their fry. This makes the bass in Salem pond in the spring very aggressive towards other fish, animals, crawdads, and insects. The bass are willing to hit almost anything, even another bass if it feels like it’s being threatened. The bass usually lay their eggs in 60­ – 70 degree water. Usually these water temperatures start happening on Salem Pond at the end of March and go through April. Once the eggs are laid bass will be protecting the nest of fry until the fry are at least 5 inches long, which will often extend into the first of July on Salem Pond. This is when the bass are the most vulnerable. Let me get to the point and share with you my favorite techniques and baits for catching them at this time of year. This is highly classified information worth millions. I’m sure secret local bass agents would kill for this! (Almost)

Salem Pond Spring Bass Fishing Reaction Baits

Here are my favorite reaction baits for catching bass on Salem Pond in the Spring. Plus, some details of the equipment to use, and how to present these baits effectively to get the big boys to bite.

Crankbait

My go to bait as soon as I get to Salem is a Strike King Square Bill in Chili Craw. It is very effective parallel to the shoreline almost everywhere In the pond. Typically, a faster retrieve with a crankbaitin the mornings and nights can bring bites with the square bill. During the mid-day try retrieving it slower to get bit. My preferred setup for this bait is a 6’10″ to ­7’3″ medium ­fast action rod with a 5.3:1 gear ratio bait casting reel. Spool your reel up with 10 or ­12 pound Sunline Super FC Fluorocarbon line. This set up will get the job done.

Swim Jig

My next reaction bait I often use is the Rippin’ Lips Swim jig with a Strike King Rage Chunk as the trailer. Fish it next to bushes, tullies, and brush. Often times,  you don’t need to pitch the jig right into the cover. Simply fish the outside edges with the jig, and it will draw them out. Use a moderate retrieve with the swim jig, and sometimes flick your rod up and down every 3 seconds. This can often trigger strikes. My personal preference for fishing a swim jig is a Medium Heavy extra fast action rod paired with a 7.3:1 gear ratio reel spoiled with 15 lbs. Sunline Shooter Fluorocarbon line or 30 lbs. Power Pro Super Slick Braid. By using a beefier medium heavy rod, and the faster reel you can crank fish quickly out of the cover.

Spinnerbait

I also love to use a Spinnerbait if the water is more murky. My favorite is the Rippin’ Lips Spinnerbait in a bluegill color. Anything in a bluegill color is a good choice because bluegill are an abundant forage for the bass at Salem Pond. A good spinnerbait for Salem Pond is a colorado and willow blade combo. The Colorado blade provides some decent movement, and the willow blade gives tons of flash. Both of these blades compliment each other very well. When retrieving the spinnerbait cast past the bass’s typical hang outs, and reel it straight back. Oftentimes, you don’t need the fancy twitches just cast and retrieve. Also, like with the crankbait, make casts parallel to the shore. When fishing with a spinnerbait try using a 6’10 medium heavy fast action rod. This will give you enough back bone to handle big bass, but still you will be able to feel the blades turning. Pair your rod up with a medium gear ratio reel spooled with 15lb fluorocarbon. You will be set for spinnerbait fishing.

Salem Pond Spring Bass Fishing Finesse Presentations

A solid technique for the for the finicky at Salem Pond is a dropshot. The dropshot is one of the most productive rigs in bass fishing. It can be really hard sometimes to pick a bait for your rig, but in all honesty pick a dropshot worm under 5 inches in any natural color such as green pumpkin, watermelon, and white. Pair your bait up with a 3/16 oz drop shot weight for fishing anything less than 20 feet deep. If you go deeper you might want to beef up to 1/4 oz weight.

Fishing a drop shot is very easy. Especially if you see a bass guarding a nest in the spring. You want to cast it out on to different parts of their beds until they bite. You want to make sure your line is tight. Most importantly, only move the rod a little, like 1 inch up and down. Your goal is to move the bait and not the weight. For hooks on your drop shot rig use a Gamakatsu Split Shot/ Dropshot hook in size 1. You might get confused but you want to get a size 1 hook but not a 1/0 hook. For the setup you would use a spinning rod with either a Medium Fast action or a Medium Light fast action. You don’t need a monster spinning reel. A good 20 or ­30 sized spinning reel works well for all drop shot applications. Spool your reel up with 6lb fluorocarbon line and you should be set.

Thank you so much for reading my article! I hope you can apply these tips to improve your fishing skills.

-Patrick
Stoked Kraken Bass Contributor

Special thanks to Patrick for being willing to share his techniques for Salem Pond spring bass fishing. I’m sure he would love if you could leave a comment below, and share his post. Also, if you have some local knowledge you would like to share with the “Kraken Klan” of followers feel free to reach out to me through my contact form: Contact Kraken

Let’s promote our passion by helping others enjoy the sport like us.

As Always,

Stay Stoked!

Gear Mentioned

The links above and below in this post are affiliate links were you can pick up baits, rod’s, reels, line, and anything else Patrick uses to “Krak” bass on Salem pond when spring fishing. Krakenbass receives a small percentage of the sales through these links. These links to baits and gear I personally trust and know work. I put these links to make them helpful for you, and not for the small amount I make for the sale of the products. I hope these products can help you “krak” some bass! Thank you for your support.