They say spring is the best time of year to catch big bass. Then again, “they” say the same thing about summer…and about fall too.

It’s all about timing and location—putting yourself in the right place at the right time (and with the right bait too). You can do that in any season as long as you have the knowledge.

That said, in my experience, your odds of doing this successfully go up in early spring when bass move shallower as the water warms up. During this time, the bass feed like crazy as they prepare to spawn .

There’s a sweet spot between those first movements and the spawn (when water temps are between 60–65°F), and this year, I timed it pretty well.

Spring bass fishing in NJ

I caught more bass in New Jersey this spring than I ever have before. The majority were caught at Manasquan Reservoir, a well-known trophy bass lake.

Manasquan is notorious for being heavily fished. That makes it more difficult to catch fish there, but the monsters will still bite if you can find where they hide.

I used drop shot for almost every fish I caught there this spring. It has long been my most successful technique—it works nearly anywhere, especially when the fishing pressure is high.

See the equipment section below for more details on what I used.

My top catches in spring 2025

Spring had a slow start this year, but that was actually quite nice. The last few years, it went from cold to hot in days—this year, we had a slow warm up over a couple of months.

So basically, it was a normal spring. As a result, the water was colder for longer, which meant the bass weren’t as active early in the season, and the spawn was delayed until almost June.

I fished a couple tournaments in early April with a buddy, and between us, we only caught three bass—most others struggled too. So it was a big relief to finally start catching them consistently in late April.

April 22, 2025

My first notable catches came near the end of April. I fished one of my honey holes at Manasquan for a couple hours and got two decent fish.

April 23, 2025

After a successful session the day before and perfect weather in the forecast, I had to get back out there!

It paid off, and I landed a fat largemouth bass—my biggest of the season up to this point.

May 1, 2025

After taking a break for a few days, I was back.

I headed back to my honey hole and it paid off again—the fish were there, and they were much bigger!

These were now my biggest fish of the season to date. I caught one on the same drop shot rig as the others. The larger fish was caught on a Texas rigged 5-inch worm, fished on the bottom.

May 8, 2025

The fish just kept getting bigger.

I came back to the same spot a few days later and hooked an absolute beast, again on the same drop shot rig.

This was now my biggest fish of the season, and my biggest in years! I didn’t have a scale with me, but based on other catches, I estimate this fish was around 4 pounds.

May 16, 2025

It was an extremely foggy morning, so much that I could barely see the shores of the lake while paddling across open water.

I almost got vertigo out there—you couldn’t see any landmarks with the dense fog. But I kinda like those conditions, and so do the fish!

I only caught one fish this morning, but it was so cool to get one in the dense fog. It put up a strong fight too!

June 4, 2025

At this point in the season, the weather started to warm up quickly. The spawn happened sometime in late May, and the biggest bass were already going back into hiding.

That said, some smaller ones were still cruising around the shallows. I managed to catch two on the drop shot within a half hour of each other.

Equipment

Most of these fish were caught on the same drop shot bait. I also got a couple on a Texas rigged Senko style worm.

Below are the two setups that I used.

That was it for my spring season! It was a good one, my best to date.

Now that it’s summer, I’m focused on saltwater fishing. I’m also planning some trips to a few secret spots up north, so stay tuned!

More fishing adventures are coming soon.