Regardless of the weather, and regardless of the size of water you plan to fish, May is a month during which you also should be prepared to be as deliberate and thorough as you can with your tactics and approach. This is not something that will appeal to some anglers -- those "Type A" bass fans who live by the spinnerbait and/or crankbait. But there may be a way to make this post-spawn fishing tolerable even for them.

You may be surprised to hear this, but the No. 1 bait for post-spawn fishing just might be a Carolina rig. And for me, going to a light-line "finesse" rig -- precisely the rig that led to the amazing day of bass fishing on the strip pits that I mentioned earlier -- is probably the best bet for consistent success.

That day I used a 6-foot light-action rod fitted with a reel spooled up with fresh new 8-pound line. My Carolina rig consisted of a couple of large split-shot weights about 18 inches up the line from a light wire, size 1/0 worm hook. My bait of choice was a 4-inch plastic worm -- no specific design or color.

One of the reasons for that day of fishing's being so memorable is that I caught bass on every small plastic worm I had along -- curlytails, straight tails, colors of the rainbow. It was amazing.

Some undoubtedly are thinking that it was just the particular place I was fishing, not the technique or tackle. That might be true -- except that this day unfolded on the waters of several different strip pits, not just on one. And the action was consistent on every one of them. That's what made it so surprising and wonderful.

Indeed, this was an approach that proved effective on bass no matter where I fished. And since that day, this approach has continued to produce better than any other for me during May.

There isn't even some kind of magical retrieve or special action involved. There is, however, a need to understand what's going on with post-spawn bass to make the most of this kind of fishing.

Remember that (as was noted earlier) bass coming out of the spawn are going to be fairly lethargic; they're weak, in recovery mode. In general terms, they'll have moved back out of the shallowest of water to slightly deeper structure that will provide cover and the ability to ambush an easy meal.

I use the phrase "in general terms" because you'll still find some bass fairly shallow. They most likely will be males, and they likely are going to be fairly active. Let this fact dictate how you fish a given area.

Personally, I like to find places where a shallow cut, bay or cove has a nearby dropoff into deeper water -- say, a break that goes from just a few feet of water into 8 or 10 feet. Unless you're fishing a strip pit or farm pond, this kind of a spot is really attractive because it's going to hold bass, and it may hold them at multiple depths.

The best approach is to cast to the shallow area and work the bait back to the break; then, let it tumble down the structure into deep water before slowly continuing to work it back to the boat.