Bass Pro Anglers Offseason Targets

Posted on: Aug 23, 2023

Becoming a professional bass angler is a dream job for many and those who make it to the top can pursue a fishing passion while earning a living. While it's plenty of fun, it can also be a little stressful when money is on the line every time they compete. To wind down during the offseason, professional anglers Mark Rose, Gerald Spohrer, and Luke Clausen spend plenty of time on the water with different approaches and target species. They each have reasons for targeting things other than bass when the tournament season wraps up, whether to fill the freezer or give them a much-needed reset as they prepare for the next season.

Switching gears to crappie

Bass Pro Tour angler Mark Rose loves bass fishing, but fishing for crappies is a true passion he's had since his teen years. It also offers a nice change of pace and off-season target after the tournaments wrap up. "I love crappies because I don't compete in tournaments for them – it's my joy," he said. "I take it just as seriously as bass fishing for my preparation. I still get up at 4 a.m., make a thermos of coffee, put on my coveralls, and make sure my gear is ready to go. Plus, I don't think anything in freshwater tastes as good as cold-water crappie." While he can catch them anytime around his Arkansas home, October and November are when things are about perfect. "Crappies are like bass as they are always following the baitfish," he said. "When the surface temperatures drop and we get the cooler nights, the shad will migrate to deeper water. That's my favorite time to fish for crappie, and I spend my time searching and hunting for them with my forward-facing sonar. It could be over brush or standing timber, just somewhere over deeper water where the shad are." His approach is straightforward and he utilizes either a 1/16 or 1/8-ounce Strike King Mr. Crappie Jig Head with either a Strike King Lightning Shad or Shadpole on the back. He uses a 6-foot, 6-inch medium-light spinning rod and size 100 spinning reel spooled with 4 lb Seaguar Tatsu fluorocarbon. Instead of the normal braid-to-fluorocarbon that he uses for bass fishing, he likes the feel of straight fluorocarbon when targeting crappies. "The thin line cuts through the water better with small baits and you don't have any draft so that you can get right to the fish quicker," he said. "You also want a little stretch from the fluorocarbon and if you use braid without stretch, you'll pull the hooks from the crappie's mouths. I choose Tatsu because of how manageable it is. You don't get line memory as easily, even on a tiny spinning reel." Read more here.