Staff photos/Stephen Jones An employee of Big Buck Sports shows off two types of lures used for catching crappie. On the right is a bag of plastic grubs and on the left is a Hildebrandt Pan Dango spinner. Don Winship, pictured left, and Larry Walters, both of Ellisville, were fishing at Larry and Deann Walters' lake, Di-Lar Pines, on Sept. 5, when Winship hooked this bass. The bass weighed in at 12 pounds, 14 ounces. Above, a top-of-the-line Lucky Craft live-pointer 80MR crankbait meant for catching bass sits front and center in a tackle box with two of its sister lures, a flat crankbait and a Sammy 85 lure.

As the temperature rises so does the chance of catching fish, and area fishermen take advantage of this as spring rolls around.

Don Winship, 60, of Ellisville said 2005 has so far proven to be one of the best years in bass fishing. Winship said he recently caught a 12-pound bass at his friend Larry Walters' lake.

"This was my biggest catch," he said.

Before this fish, Winship caught a 9-pound bass out of that same 20-acre lake.

Walters, 57, of Ellisville said he drained the lake years ago and filled it up with new fish. He said he never thought he would see one of the largest bass in the area come out of it.

But wherever they fish, both Winship and Walters say the type of bait makes a difference according to water temperature and the season of the year.

As the weather warms, Winship said he's getting good bites by using a soft blue-colored artificial worm.

"I like the blue worms," he said. "The softer the worm, the more action you get."

Walters said he uses 6- to 9-inch purple and black worms.

The pair say they prefer worms because they look natural and fish go for the bait. Their tackle boxes contain 15 to 20 worms in an array of colors.

Though Winship said as the weather changes, he tries not to change bait too often, fish sometimes suddenly stop biting some of his favorite bait.

"If they stop hitting it, I will try other colors and styles of bait," Winship said. "You fish until you find the right color that gets you the most bites."

Some of Winship's favorite baits are lightweight and move like fish in the water.

"They just tear those up," he said.

For areas where there are a lot of covered places such as a pond, Winship suggests using a spinnerbait to maneuver through the water.

Walters said that as spring approaches, lily pads appear on his lake and make it difficult to use worms.

"I'll use a floating bait or a top plug," Walters said. "I'll fish with that for 15-20 minutes, but then it's back to the worm again if I don't get a hit."

Bass bed when the weather warms, another reason to switch bait.

Walters said if a worm is used, the bass may think it is an approaching snake and may be reluctant to go near it. This is when Walters and Winship would use other types of bait like jigs or spinnerbaits.

For deeper water fishing, Winship said a fisherman should experiment with different baits.

"In bigger lakes, you have to alternate what you use. I use a shallow running plug in deeper water."

Walters said he uses a worm with a weight attached to it or deep-diving plugs.

But when spring comes, Walters said he doesn't look for fish deep down, he looks toward shallow areas. He said fish tend to stay closer to the water's surface as the weather warms.

No matter the temperature, both men suggest trial and error to find the right bait.

"You just try to find what is getting the most hits and stay with that," Winship said.

Originally published Sunday, March 6, 2005