When winter sets in, Bassmaster Elite Series pro Brandon Cobb is on the water fishing as a top-level professional angler, but he fishes as much as possible around his South Carolina home to keep his skills sharp. He keeps it relatively simple with his approach no matter what lake he is fishing. Typically, he’s fishing shallow with crankbaits or fishing away from the bank with a jerkbait and utilizing his forward-facing sonar.
“Those are two main ways that I catch them during the winter months and how I decide what to do is usually based on the weather,” he said. “Shallow cranking is the way to go when fishing muddy water or on windy days on clear fisheries. If it’s calm and clear water, I’ll be out chasing fish with my Lowrance ActiveTarget.”
Cold Water Shallow Cranking
A crankbait is a proven winter lure, which Cobb uses when the conditions align. Starting with the fall-to-winter transition and all the way until the water starts to warm up in the spring, Cobb will have a handful of shallow crankbaits rigged up.
“My favorite shallow crankbait is the Yo-Zuri 3DR-X Series, both the SR (shallow runner) and MR (medium runner),” he shared. “I start with shad patterns in the fall and transition to the brown and red crawfish imitators as it gets colder. I also switch what cover I’m looking for as it gets colder. It’s usually wood earlier in the winter and there’s a big switch to rock cover as it gets colder.”
The baits come in an SR version that hits around 3 feet deep and an MR version that will hit 6 feet. Cobb fishes both on 10 to 12-pound Yo-Zuri T7 fluorocarbon line. How he decides between the different baits and line is situational.
“The SR is good for shallower water, of course, but the bill also comes through wood really well,” he added. “I tend to use the MR more in the winter because the six-foot zone is a great one this time of year. For line, I use either 10 or 12-pound test to get the best action out of the baits.”
There are plenty of good shallow crankbaits on the market and Cobb says what makes the 3DR-X so good because of the casting distance. “It’s a little finesse crankbait, but it casts very well even though it’s small,” he said. “It’s a great little bait that runs true right out of the package.”
Jerkbaits with Forward-Facing Sonar
For better or worse, forward-facing sonar has changed how anglers fish and bass react. Still, using a jerkbait while watching your screen is one of the best ways to fool bass in the cold months. Cobb does it every winter, especially when he finds a group of baitfish.
His top baits are the Yo-Zuri 3DB Series Jerkbait 110 in both the standard and deep versions, depending on how deep he is fishing. One of his favorite colors is the simple white pearl shad and he opts for 12-pound Yo-Zuri T7 fluorocarbon line.
“Bait is the key this time of year, and I spend a lot of time idling and looking for it instead of just panning around with my forward-facing sonar because you can be more efficient by idling,” he said. “I search the backs of pockets and the ditches and drains, whatever you call them where you live. Those baits are good because of the weight transfer system and how far you can cast to reach the fish you see out in front of you.”
Besides just finding the fish and casting to them, Cobb does have some tricks that help him catch more fish. A lot of it has to do with the cadence of the bait.
“Each day is a little different in terms of how the fish want it and you have to be willing to experiment with different retrieves until you see what the fish want,” he said. “Some days they want aggressive snaps and sometimes, pulling the bait is what they want. Another thing I’ll do is crank the bait down before starting to twitch it; that will get the bait down a foot or two deeper than if you start jerking the bait the second it hits the water after a cast.”
Another tidbit Cobb shared is that sometimes he intentionally avoids looking at his forward-facing sonar while fishing his bait, which sounds counterintuitive.
“Fish are getting conditioned to forward-facing sonar in some lakes, so sometimes I use it just to find the baitfish and then blindly cast around in areas where I saw the bass and baitfish without my transducer pointed at them,” he added.
Fishing during the winter months can be challenging without the right outlook. Brandon Cobb keeps it simple and looks for prime areas with baitfish while utilizing his forward-facing sonar and if the conditions are right, he covers water with a shallow crankbait.
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