Hey, folks.
Glenn May here with BassResource.com.
Today I want to talk about seven winter bass
fishing tips that can help you catch more
bass this wintertime.
You know, it's funny I do get people that
ask me, "Hey, can you catch fish during the
winter?"
Absolutely.
You sure can.
There's a misconception that the bass just
kind of hibernate, hang out, don't really
eat much, and it's hard to catch them.
They're really lethargic and slow and all
these other things I hear about.
And the reality is, bass are cold blooded
creatures and the water temperature is what
dictates their metabolism.
Meaning, they'll eat a lot more and their
metabolism, they'll churn through those calories
a lot faster when the water is warm versus
when it's cold.
So in the summertime, they may eat seven times
a day, whereas in the wintertime, they might
eat once every seven days.
So the bite is going to be a lot slower.
Imagine if your lake that you love to fish
in had 75% less fish all of the sudden.
You're presenting your lure to less fish that
are more apt to bite your lure because there's
less fish that are in the feeding mode in
the wintertime.
So just have that mindset going in.
It's going to take a little bit more work
to get bites.
But it can be worthwhile because this time
of the year is when the bass are real fat,
they're big, they're almost at the biggest
they're going to be all year round.
So when you do catch a fish, it's going to
be a good one.
So let's get into the seven tips.
Starting out with number one, bait choice.
Bait choice is actually easier during the
wintertime because as a general rule, the
bass aren't aggressively hitting topwater
baits and fast moving lures.
So that kind of eliminates topwater, spinnerbaits,
crankbaits, those type of things.
And instead, you're looking for bottom hugging
baits or baits that stay near the bottom,
or baits that represent dying baitfish.
Because this time of year, the baitfish and
the forage the bass are feeding on are far
more affected by the cold temperatures than
the bass.
And actually as it gets colder down into the
mid-40s and lower, these fish are struggling
to stay alive.
You know, especially if you have like threadfin
shad, that sort of thing, they're dying off.
So lures that imitate that action can really
pay off for you in the wintertime.
So for example, using metal baits, blade baits
and spoons are really good baits to use because
they mimic dying fish, that action, the falling,
fluttering, dart and diving action that baitfish
look like when they're dying.
It triggers that instinctual behavior in bass
and you can get bit that way.
Using jigs crawled on the bottom, they look
like slow moving gobies or slow moving sculpin
or even crawdads that are moving along in
the bottom.
You know, they're not going to hop and jump
and bounce around.
Sculpin for example, don't have air bladders.
So they can't jump.
So keep it on the bottom, crawl it nice and
slow to mimic the prey that the bass are keying
on.
Another type of baits to use are jerkbaits.
Deep diving suspended jerkbaits can be really
productive this time of year, those that get
down to 10 feet or more and just sit there
and suspend.
It's a great bait to use.
You don't pull on it as hard as you normally
do during the warmer months.
So it's more subtle jerks, don't move the
bait as far, and the pauses are a lot longer,
three to five minutes.
I mean, long, long pauses, barely move it.
This is why it needs suspending because you
don't want it to float back up to the top.
Sometimes what I'll do is I'll take like some
golfer's tape or something like that or take
some solder wire, wrap it around the hook
shanks to give it a little bit more weight,
not a ton, but just enough to make it slowly
barely sink.
Because again, there's long pauses in between
so you don't need it to fall rapidly.
But that'll give it that kind of dying fish
action again, and you give it those little
twitches and it looks just like a dying baitfish.
So those jerkbaits can be really, really productive.
And then finally, I like to use finesse tactics
using drop shot and split shot rigs.
I'll throw things like three-inch tubes, maybe
three-inch minnow type baits, or four-inch
finesse worms, those hand poured finesse worms
on these rigs.
And again, crawl on them nice and slow on
the bottom, trying to imitate those baitfish
or this forage that's moving real slow can
really trigger a lot of bites.
So that's number one, lures.
The second tip I can give you, like I mentioned
earlier, is moving it really slow, if you
haven't got a theme yet.
It's because the baitfish are really lethargic.
And the forage is really lethargic.
And so they're moving slow.
It's not because the bass are lethargic and
that they can't chase down a fast-moving bait.
They can and will.
They're still able to do that.
But it will look out of place if you're moving
a bait really fast because all the forage
that the bass are keying on right now are
struggling to stay alive at times.
And so they're moving slow, they're moving
lethargic, and they're moving irradically.
So you want to mimic that behavior.
That's what they're really triggering on right
now.
So if you just move your bait really fast
across the water, well, it looks out of place.
So slow down your bait movement, focus on
those slow, methodical moves.
You really have to focus hard on that bite
because it's gonna be real subtle, but that's
the key to catch them during the wintertime.
Tip number three, if you're fishing current,
fishing rivers, that sort of thing, look for
eddies, look for little shallow areas that
are off the main current area, the main river,
places where the water can get stagnant for,
you know, lack of a better word.
Those are areas that will warm up.
If you get a quick little warming trend, it
gets sunny out, those areas will warm up and
the bass will go in there because baitfish,
again, they're trying to survive the winter.
So just a couple degrees difference is all
they need.
You know, so they'll move up in those areas,
little back pockets out of the current to
help survive the winter and those bass will
follow right in.
So look for those areas, those little back
pockets and back current areas.
Those things can be really productive for
rivers.
The next tip, for lakes, you want to look
as a general rule, deeper water.
You want to find areas that for example, if
you knew an area that was really productive
during the pre-spawn on this lake last spring,
back up a little bit, go a little bit deeper
near there and start there looking for fish.
You want to start...I usually look around
15, 20 feet and go all the way down to 55
feet deep.
And you're looking for structure, you're looking
for long lake points, humps, ridges.
Deeper water typically is more stable during
the wintertime so the water temperatures don't
fluctuate as much and it's a little bit warmer,
because that surface temperature changes more
rapidly as it gets colder during the wintertime.
So those deeper temperatures are where the
baitfish are going to be, and that's where
the bass hang out chasing them.
Tip number five, use your electronics to find
those deep water areas.
You have to understand what you're seeing
on your depth finder to be able to find these
great areas that can hold a lot of fish, and
to find the baitfish.
Typically, what I like to do is find balls
of baitfish and figure out what depth they're
hanging out at and look at the structure,
look at the map of the lake and find those
points, those ridges, those humps that intersect
at that depth level.
That's where I'll begin fishing.
And the depth finder is really important in
locating those areas.
It's more than just finding out how deep it
is, it's looking at, are you looking at boulders
versus chunk rock versus gravel?
Can you find something that's hanging out
on that point?
Say if it's a stump, or maybe big boulders
on the point.
Those type of things is where the bass are
going to be holding.
You're not looking specifically for bass,
but baitfish and then the structure and hopefully
something on that structure that's going to
locate them.
Understanding what you're seeing and interpreting
your graph is going to be super important
during the wintertime and to help you succeed
better.
The next tip, number six, dress for success.
I can't emphasize enough the need to wear
warm clothing.
I dress in layers.
I have, you know, thermals on, and then I
have a layer of clothing over that, and then
I have a nice warm jacket over that, it's
a wind-proof, rain-proof jacket.
If you don't have rain-proof jacket, then
make sure you got your rain gear nearby, both
your bibs and your jacket in case the weather
turns bad.
You don't have to fall in the water to have
effects of hypothermia.
Cold weather, especially wet cold weather,
you can get hypothermia during the wintertime,
trust me.
Been there, done that, I have a t-shirt, don't
want another one.
It's not fun.
Dressing warmly is critical to your success.
Not only is it safer in the wintertime but
also, being comfortable, being dry, will enable
you to focus more on fishing and what you
need to do and concentrate.
If you're uncomfortable and cold, you're not
gonna be able to focus as much on fishing.
So dress for success.
And finally, tip number seven is be patient
and keep your focus.
As I mentioned earlier, in the wintertime,
the bass, there's just not as many that are
biting.
So the bites are going to be few and far between.
So understand that going in, it's not going
to be fast and furious like you would have
normally during the summertime.
There are exceptions.
I have caught bass on New Year's Day on buzzbaits.
But that doesn't happen very often in the
wintertime.
For the most part, it's slow fishing.
So know that going in, be patient.
And the other thing you need to do is absolutely
maintain your focus.
This is difficult to do when the bite is really
slow.
You've gone an hour or so and you haven't
had a bite and your buddy wants to talk or
you listen to the radio or you're looking
at the shoreline and what's going on, whatever
it is, you're distracted.
Those bites because you're moving so slow
with your baits, they're very subtle.
The bass don't have to run down and annihilate
and hit and attack your bait.
So the bites aren't going to be real strong
bites.
For the most part, they're going to be real
subtle.
I've seen it where I've had my bait in 35
feet of water and the rod tip just moves,
you know, a 16th of an inch, not even an 8th.
You can't even see my finger moving, I bet.
It barely moves.
And I'm looking at that rod tip going, "You
know, I didn't do that."
So either I just pulled across a weed or a
rock or something as the boat moved a little
bit or maybe something on the other end bit
it.
And there's been times I've just set the hook
just to see what's there and it's a fish.
The bite is that subtle.
If you're not focused and paying attention
all the time, you're going to miss that.
And you could miss out on the trophy of a
lifetime because a lot of these fish are really
big this time of year.
So pay close attention, be patient and follow
these seven different tips I just gave you,
and it's going to up your chances of catching
some really nice fish this winter.
Good luck.
And for more tips and tricks like this, visit
BassResource.com.
