texasman42701:

i am a firm believer that natural color baits work best in cold water.
and this is the reason why……when the water is cold and the fish metabolism slows to a crawl,u must fish really slow.
i prefer jigs,worms or creature baits.of couse these are all downsized from the regular 7″ worms,1/2 oz jigs.
i usually stick to main lake points.the fish will usually stage there.

i have caught fish with ice on the water using this technique.
good luck to u.

malissarusher:

They are going to be in the deep water now because they are trying to keep warm. We know the deeper the water the warmer it is. You might want to try grey lures. try fishing in the middle of the lake.

BASS Fisherman:

(Setup story) Winter has its icy grips on the country. You and your buddy are out on the lake, at about 7:00 a.m. You tighten up the cord on your jacket as a chilling breeze blows by. As you crank the outboard on, you wonder what the bass will be hitting today. There are two spots you want to start off fishing – a nice cove filled with dead hydrilla, and a point that drops into 15 feet of water about 50 yards from the cove.
You caught some nice three and four pounders in these areas last week by slow rolling spinnerbait in and around the hydrilla, and occasionally bouncing the bait up and down off the bottom. You worked the spinnerbaits where you could just barely see it from the drop-off. Today, you repeat the same technique.
After about an hour and half you and your friend get only two strikes. But something’s wrong here. Last week the bass came up and ripped your bait to pieces so bad, you had to buy a new skirt for your spinnerbait. But now they barely seem to peck at it. It almost seems like they’re merely mouthing your bait like a child does spinach. A couple more casts in the hydrilla only bring back a wet lure. Time to switch to plan B.
Snip, snip. Off with the spinnerbait and on with a jig-n-pig. Your buddy, after some more casts in vein, ties on a very small, greenish colored shallow diving crankbait. You laugh to yourself at the sight of this lure. It goes against your rules of winter lures. He casts parallel to the weed line.
About a minute later, just before your second cast, you notice a fish bust the surface to your left. Then almost simultaneously, your buddy shouts, “There he is!” After an exciting battle, your friend pulls up a chunky three pounder. Your jaw drops. How could this be? He casts again. He twitches his rod a few times. BANG!! Water flies everywhere. You hear line stripping off his reel. You forget about how cold it is as he pulls up a thick chunky bass.
This is not making sense to you. But it makes all the sense in the world to your partner. At the end of the day you pull up to the launch, beaten, confused, and humbled.

What happened?

First, just because it is winter doesn’t mean only a select few lures will work. I’ve caught bass on a Zara Spook in the dead of winter. Second, last week is not this week and yesterday is not today. This means that weather can change, which can change the mood and activity level of bass. In the story, last week the water visibility was probably poor. You both realized when a bass’s vision is limited, he relies more heavily on sounds he hears and vibrations he feels to detect and find prey. This made you both choose to use a larger lure that made lots of vibration, a spinnerbait.
But this week, your buddy noticed that the water had cleared up. But you stuck to lures that had been working in the past. Not to say that past experiences don’t work. You just have to be willing to look at the conditions and problems, and adjust. He figured out that since the water was much clearer, the bass would be going back to more sight hunting. So he adjusted and scored. A small crankbait tapped and slowly reeled will imitate an injured minnow trying to get away. This is an easy meal that won’t cost the bass a lot of energy to chase.
In cold clear water conditions, smaller lures will sometimes work better. Some good lures for situations like these are mini spinnerbaits, small rattletraps, and four-inch weightless plastic worms. You might want to use spinning gear for some of these lures. I recommend using 8-pound line for these lures and baitcasting gear isn’t as effective with light line and light lures as spinning gear.
Each lure is like a tool. It has certain abilities for certain jobs. You wouldn’t use a hammer every time you needed to tighten bolt would you? Then you won’t need to use a jig or spinnerbait all winter long. Don’t get me wrong now. These two lures can be very effective. I caught my biggest bass on a jig (it was 10 pounds). But lost the biggest bass I had ever seen in my life and my friend’s life (Greg) last fall on a shad rap (I’m not joking, it was at least 20 lbs.! I haven’t forgiven myself yet.).
I hope you share the story and the information with your fellow bass fisherman. Stay warm, be prepared, and have fun!

Click on the link below to read more articles on winter bass fishin’.

exert-7:

Bass

Current Perspectives On Coldwater Bass

It’s the hottest bass bite of the year. Here’s where to find ‘em and what to throw.

By Steve Quinn

True fall fishing begins after turnover in waters that stratify, or when water temperatures drop into the 50F range. Turnover, of course, is that mysterious biological flip that gives anglers an excuse for bad catches from the first cool day in September through mid-October. In fact, turnover is an easily determined (with an electronic temperature gauge) as the water cools.

EARLY FALL PATTERNS
The first phase of fall starts when waters stabilize after turnover. Turnover produces unpredictable fishing because productive patterns suddenly fail as cover, water color, temperature, and oxygen profiles rapidly change. We don’t know whether this change causes bass and other species to feed less actively following this change or if they feed in places where anglers don’t fish. I suspect the turnover slump stems from a combination of these factors.

But within a week after turnover, be ready for the fastest bass bite since prespawn, with the exception of a few hot summer evenings when bass pop anything that splashes. And fall means the biggest average size of the year.

Presentation–Fish big willowleaf spinnerbaits over shallow flats or through pad beds and stickups. Shallow cover near deeper water always produces more fish than similar objects on a shallow flat. Evening is prime time, particularly after a warm afternoon that may raise the water temperature 5 degrees and increase the metabolism of cold-blooded creatures

Fish cabbage with lightly weighted worms, either Texas-style or on a jighead with an exposed hook. Also test weedless jigs weighing 3/16 or 1/4 ounce and dressed with pork or plastic craws. Some days, one type of bait outproduces the other, for no obvious reason.

Light baits fall slowly among the plant stalks, attracting bass that sometimes suspend high in the leaves. Spinning tackle including 6 1/2- to 7-foot medium-action rods and 8-pound-test line, works best with jigworms. Medium-power casting tackle is the choice for jigs and Texas-rigged plastics.

MID-FALL
Once water temperatures fall below 50F, the shifts that began after turnover become more pronounced. Submerged vegetation thins further, and emergent plants like bulrushes, maidencane, cutgrass, and wild rice result in a dry rattle when a jig is pitched through them. Bass congregate in particular spots, producing slow fishing until you find them, then bonanza.

In natural lakes, inside turns that hold green cabbage or coontail concentrate largemouth bass, even more so if they’re located on a steep break near a large flat. If a few large rocks are present or a change in bottom content occurs, so much the better.

Steep breaks allow fish to shift depths without long horizontal movements. And shift depths they do. On mild evenings, bass may nose into emergent vegetation or the tattered remains of a lily pad; yes, just one may suffice. Even at dawn, when water temperatures fall a few more precious degrees, bass may move shallow, retreating as the sun rises.

Presentation–Lure selection is refined during this period, with crankbaits and spinnerbaits scoring well in the upper 40F range, but gradually losing effectiveness as temperatures drop. Instead, rig rods with a wider selection of soft plastics and jigs, basic baits for these patterns until freeze-up.

These baits fish effectively at slow to moderate speeds, from a foot deep down to the basin of the lake. Slow retrieves work best once you locate fish and often you can’t find bass unless you fish slower than you’d like. Deadsticking always is an option; you may spend four hours in a 3-acre section of a bay.

Fish as light a slipsinker or jig as possible, given wind conditions and the thickness of weed or wood cover. A slow fall attracts bass and the light weight helps when fish barely mouth your offering. Drag lures slowly instead of jigging them. Prey of all sorts are much less active in cold water, and likewise your lures.

Carolina rigs often excel in cold water. The plastic bait falls horizontally and slowly, then lies helpless. A fish feels almost no resistance when it mouths the lure. Give all standard plastics a try on this rig.

Some days, tiny hair jigs with mini craws work best. If you don’t usually apply scents or use impregnated baits, give ‘em a try in cold water. You’ll see a difference in the number of bites and percentage of hookups.

PRE-ICE
Hardy anglers are the only ones left after duck hunters depart. In water less than 40F, bass aggregations are as big as ever, but catches dwindle as digestion time lengthens, causing little need to feed. Add the difficulty of feeling the lightest of ticks on ice-coated line through ski gloves, and you have a fine fishing challenge.

But if you’ve followed the season’s bass bite this far, wouldn’t you like to see what happens right up till the lake freezes? I do, and I’m saddled with a circulatory system that leaves my hands numb in an August rainstorm.

Presentation–Pick prime days with light wind and moderating temperatures. Anything over 32F is a plus because you won’t have to face freezing guides and lumps of ice on your line. Plastic baits continue to work until lakes freeze.

john K:

usually slow natural presentations are the way to go here.however/it pays to experiment.ive caught bass in 40 degree water on ratl traps.and dont assume bass will be deep in cold water.if there are live weeds shallow/bass will use them.active fish will always move shallow looking for a meal.in fisherman is an excellent reference for this info.good luck and have fun.