Fishing in June can be challenging, but also very rewarding. Elite Series pro Brandon Palaniuk says the bass are doing one of two things: bunching up and relating to bait in deep water, or cruising the shallows in a postspawn funk if they're still on the banks. In tackling this month, Palaniuk looks for bait if he's fishing deep, or cover that offers shade if he's shallow. "Finding the bait is key this month," he says. "If you find it, you'll likely find a bunch of bass. You need to cover a lot of water, too."

Berkley Power Worm:
Palaniuk likes a 10-inch model in either red bug, green pumpkin or blue fleck when targeting deep bass. "Once you've located fish, this worm will catch the biggest ones in the school," he says. "Those big females are deep and getting their feed on." He targets weedlines, shellbeds, ledges and other areas where bass are ganged up. "I can fish it in a foot of water down to 50 feet if I want. I just change the weight," he says.

Rapala DT-14:
Palaniuk will often start his day with a crankbait because it's most efficient at covering water. "It was a toss-up between this and the worm for No. 1. I like this to cover a lot of water, and I throw it in the same places I throw the worm, typically that 12- to 16-foot range. Plus, when I find a school it'll fire them up, and you can catch a bunch in a hurry." He prefers the line of Ike's Custom Ink colors, saying their faded hues look more natural in the water.

Snag Proof Ish's Phat Frog:
If the offshore bite is nonexistent or not hot, Palaniuk focuses on shallow fish, most of which will be hanging under or around cover. "I like to skip a frog under overhanging trees or docks or work it across grass mats," he says. "All of these places offer bass shade and food." More often than not, these are postspawn fish that haven't come off the bank yet. Palaniuk uses either a black or a white frog. "You can catch big ones this way."

Berkley Havoc Bottom Hopper:
This finesse worm pulls double duty for Palaniuk. He'll put a green pumpkin model on a shaky head when fishing shallow for bass, or he'll thread it on a drop shot when targeting finicky offshore fish. "You can also skip it under docks weightless and that super slow fall makes for an easy meal," he says.

Story provided by: rbbass fishing