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"If you find an isolated twig, make sure you hit it. If there's a little bit of grass in there, watch for movement. It may be a carp or it may be a bass. Don't hesitate to throw to it," he said.

While buzz baits and frogs are highly effective, there are other top-water offerings that shouldn't be overlooked, including a Rebel Pop-R, Storm Chug Bug, YoZuri ZZ Pop, Rapala Skitter Pop, or Lucky Craft G-Splash, Smithwick Devil's Horse, Arbogast Jitterbug and Heddon's Tiny Torpedo or Zara Spook.

Going deeper

As good as top-water action gets, sometime it just shuts down. That's when both anglers hit the tackle box for their next weapon of choice, a blue-and-black rattling jig with a sapphire-colored trailer.

Both anglers use jigs of their own design, Szczerbala one he makes himself and Brown one he designed for Hildebrandt, the JigZilla.

"It's an awesome bait to use at this time of the year," Brown said. "It works in pretty much any color water. I like a 1/3-ounce. If you jerk that thing a couple of times and twitch it and that rattle goes off, he's looking for it, the second time it happens he sees it, there won't be a third time."

When using jigs on Falls Lake, Brown uses a shorter rod than most jig anglers.

"I don't fish a conventional flippin' stick like most people do. I go with a little bit lighter stuff because I want it to be more sensitive. I use 14- to 17-pound test line, with a [6-foot, 8-inch] rod made for Carolina-rigging with a fast tip and nice butt action with a high-speed bait-caster. I use the Quantum PT Pro bait-casting reel."

On Harris, Szczerbala is working his jig on the beds of primrose.

"I try to penetrate the primrose, the thickest cover available," he said. "I use 30-pound Power Pro braided line, you don't have to worry about line visibility, because you are fishing vegetation. You have to drop the bait right on the fish, and you have to agitate them by pumping the rod before you get a strike."

On Jordan, Szczerbala fishes other types of cover.

"I target any visible cover with that jig. The female fish are still close to the beds and you can still catch the bigger fish," he said. "I always have one rod with a jig that's rigged with braided line but most of my flipping rods are rigged with at least 20-pound test Big Game Trilene."

"I only throw a 1/2-ounce with a sapphire blue or Zoom blueberry flake trailer. The rod is an All Star, 7-foot, medium-heavy action," Szczerbala said.

On any of these three lakes, the major creeks are the key -- the bass spawn at the backs of these creeks and move out as May progresses.

On Harris, try Buckhorn, Tom Jack and White Oak creeks. On Jordan, anglers should try Bush and Beaver creeks, and on Falls, start with Lick Creek and on to Ledgerock, Lower and Upper Barton's creeks.

The month of May can be one of the best times of the year for bass. Though you may not catch those fat sows, heavy with eggs and heavy on the scales, good quantities of bass are readily accessible in the shallows.

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