Moving baits like crankbaits are one of the most effective tools for covering water and catching bass before they spawn. These baits are perfect for bass feeding heavily, and a square bill is excellent for shallow water because you can fish them through just about any piece of cover and structure. It’s one of the top weapons for Bassmaster Opens angler and Lake Lanier, Georgia guide Jake Maddux, who uses various crankbaits depending on the situation and depth.
How to Use the Square Bill
One of the benefits of shallow-diving crankbaits with plastic bills with squared corners is their deflecting properties when they hit an object. This makes them effective for fishing around rocks, wood, and manmade objects.
One thing he likes about crankbait fishing, in general, is the ability to cover water, but square bills also give him a chance to make repeated casts to specific targets. “You’ll often find the bass grouped up on hard spots this time of year, and burning a bait can be a big deal in getting them to react,” he said. “But, you can also slow down and target individual pieces of cover at different angles. Both can be the way to go in the prespawn.”
Maddux also firmly believes in mixing up different retrieves. “I like to do a lot of ‘stop and go’ during the retrieve while purposely trying to hit the bait off of cover,” he said. “Another thing I’ll do when I know I’m around some fish is to slow down and worm the bait through cover by getting it to the bottom and then slowly pulling my rod to get it to slide through areas.”
Selecting the Right Color
According to Maddux, choosing the right color crankbait is relatively straightforward. There are two approaches: one that matches what the fish are eating and another that is based on the color of the water.
“A lot of times, they’re eating crawfish and bluegill right now in shallow water, which is where a square bill plays,” he began. “Shad will push shallow, but most of the time, they are out in the middle of the lake, so I use bluegill and crawfish colors much more often in the spring. Then, you have to include your super bright reaction colors like chartreuse, especially if the water is stained from spring rains.”
For deeper diving baits, Maddux opens up the color pallet even more and will mix in more shad patterns. “Chances are the bass are eating shad somewhere on the lake,” he said. “I’ll mix in shad colors for deeper water and later in the year, but more times than not, I’m going with a red or crawfish color early in the year.”
They're eating crawfish and bluegill right now in shallow water
March,2025 Release
You have to include your super bright reaction colors like chartreuse, especially if the water is stained from spring rains.
"I'm going with a red or crawfish color early in the year"
Where to Use It
There are endless places where a square bill crankbait will work during the prespawn, but Maddux looks for high-percentage areas near where bass will spawn.
“During the prespawn, I’m looking for channel swings and then seeing where the bass will eventually spawn and then pick places that connect,” he began. “I often use my mapping and Google Earth to find corners and points going into shallow spawning areas. Any corner, either a bluff end or transition heading into spawning areas, can be excellent.”
Bait Selection
There are several styles of crankbaits, even within the square bill category, and Maddux will use them all depending on the situation. Here’s a quick rundown of where each bait he uses does best.
“The ima Square Bill is shallow diving bait. That’s what I like for deflecting off of wood and in the back of creeks in the prespawn,” he said. “Then, after they spawn, it comes into play again for me targeting riprap and using more shad colors.”
The ima Shaker is a flat-sided crankbait with a square bill, and Maddux will also use this in some situations. “To me, the Shaker is like a lipless crankbait with a bill because of the action,” he said. “A lipless is a great early spring bait, but you can’t fish them easily around shallow wood. The Shaker has that same action but works well for covering water and deflecting off of cover.”
Maddux will also employ several crankbaits from Deps each Spring, each with a different purpose. The Evoke Series includes several sizes with different diving depths, and one of his favorites is the jumbo-sized 4.0, which will reach depths over 10 feet deep. The same depth can be reached with the Deps Korrigan 350 Magnum Squarebill.
“Those baits get deeper and still have the same deflecting properties you want,” he said. “It’s good for fishing those stumps, brush piles, and hard spots outside of spawning pockets before the fish move up to spawn. Then, they’re really good again after they spawn, and you want to get a little more depth and fish away from the bank.”
Similarly, he mixes in the Evoke 1.8. “It gets down a little bit deeper than your regular square bill and will reach 4 to 6 feet deep,” he said. The 1.2 is what I use most because of its size, but the 1.8 has been one of my go-to crankbaits lately because it has a tighter action that’s good for colder water. If you come across a laydown, it will still deflect because of the lip, which a lot of other cold-water crankbaits won’t do.”
Recommended Tackle
Depending on the bait, Maddux changes his line size but keeps it consistent with a standard cranking rod and quality reel.
“I like to fish these baits on a fiberglass cranking rod, a 7-foot, 2-inch medium heavy Shimano Expride,” he said. “I like a slower retrieve for reels, and a 6.2:1 is perfect. My go-to reel is the Shimano Metanium MGL 150.”
For line, Maddux opts for fluorocarbon and adjusts the pound test based on the bait. “A 12-pound test fluorocarbon is a good starting point for all cranking, and I’ll use Shimano Mastiff fluorocarbon for many different baits,” he said. “12-pound is good for any open water stuff, where I’m fishing the Deps Evoke series, but I’ll go up to 14-, 16- or even 20-pound for the Ima Square Bill. That bait doesn’t dive very deep, to begin with, but for super shallow water, you can keep that bait even higher in the water column, which can be good for real shallow cover when the fish get closer to spawning.”
A square bill crankbait is the ultimate weapon for prespawn bass, and there are many different baits to choose from. Each different bait is a tool for anglers like Maddux, and knowing how and where to use them allows him to find success every year before the bass spawn.