Winter Bass

[BuckSnort]

Here's the deal...I fish clear water reservoirs mostly (Pine Flat and Millerton) .. I have not been able to go yet this winter (snow)..But last year and years prior I have had a hard time finding bass when they are deep 40' and deeper... My FF is a x50 that is really only good for getting a depth reading, I dont think it marks any fish unless they are suspended in the upper third of the water column..

I am usually throwing either plastics on a dart head or drop shotting ..And also dragging a jig with a pork trailer...I try and fish steeper banks this time of year mostly main lake points..

Should I be expanding my techniques with swim baits and deep cranks?

Am I wasting my time drop shotting blind without a FF?

Someone help....

[jazzwannabe]

I don't think you're doing it wrong if you fish a spot even though the meter doesn't show fish. If you know that the structure has the likely ingredients to hold fish, you're not fishing blind. My opinion only. I know a guy who told me he doesn't care if he sees fish on the screen — in fact, he doesn't look for them. All he cares about is the depth and contour information.

[acm95301]

First, In the winter fish hug the bottom, sides or cover tenaciously and don't move much...so no sonar return.

Second, You might see baitballs either skattered or in tightballs. Some fraction of bass follow the bait around, so maybe adding spoons and ice jigs is a thought...also deep cranks if the bait is in less than 20'.

Third fish points, and creek mouths/ bends slowly...football jigs and dropshot are great winter baits....although jigs work better on windy days and dropshot on less windy days.

checkout truebasstv.net and watch real fishermen fish tough conditions...they might get 3,4 maybe 8 bites and all mostly dinks....so don't get too frustrated (yeah I know....can't help getting frustrated...but you need to fish high percentage baits in high percentage areas and just wait for that 20 min window where you actually get the right combination of factors to trigger a better bite.

Also remember, some small fraction of bass are always shallow so If you give up you can work the bank....not as effective but , It can work....

[tunaman]

For many of the reservoirs, you won't meter bass if they're not active as stated - they'll be bellies in the mud, and you may actually find that to be the case should you actually catch some of these inactive bass.

What you really want to do is to find the active bass feeding on the deeper shad... here's some meter screen shots of what you really want to find:



Your meter is your friend, most especially during the really cold months, and you will find the majority of the bass bunched up at this time. Find the school, find the mother lode.

Good luck!
Roger

[g-man]

Find the bait, and jerk a spoon! Drag a C-rig lizard at the 40ft depth too...

[tunaman]

Yep... dropshot, spoon, ice jig (my personal favorite!)... they'll catch 'em when they stack up and are active!

Roger

[Jeff Antenucci]

In my opinion, it all depends on how use like to fish. I personally hate light line finesse fishing and fishing deep. I love to power fish year round, big cranks, swimbaits, rip baits, lipless crankbaits, ripping a spoon, and so on.

You can go out blind with no electronics and do good, but it is harder. Change is key, if you can find an underwater island chances are there will be some fish on it. The only thing I really use electronics for is GPS, depth contour, and looking for bait.

Like ACM said, there's always agressive, shallow fish and that's what I key on. I'd much rather catch 5 reaction fish all day then 15 finesse fish. As I said before, I'm not a light line person. With the reaction baits, the key is, that I've found, is fishing them as slow as you can with. With crankbaits, just make sure your deflecting them off some type of structure; bottom, rocks, trees, or grass. Rip baits have become my favorite Winter lure this year and what I've found the trick to be is pause for as long as you can stand it and make it erratic. I'm also not very patient so that's about MAYBE 5 seconds

If your after numbers without electronics, I would study a lake map and figure out how low the lake is and put 2 and 2 together. As ACM said, high percentage lures (finesse worms) will give you the best chance at getting some fish at high percentage spots (points, humps, ledges, off shore structure.)

As far as expanding your lure selection to swimbaits, no need, chances are you'll be more disappointed then you were before - all goes back to high percentage lures. For expanding to deeper cranks, you can try it, but you have to cover water. Fish it slow, but cover water, and once you catch one, throw a finesse worm out there and see if there's a school of them willing to eat. I caught my PB spot earlier at the end of December in about 10 feet of water burning a crankbait.

Just my .02$
Hope this helps
Jeff

[Oldschool]

The Jan 2010 issue of Bass Anglers Guide mag has some good winter fishing articles, read them.
You don't have to always target deep bass, in fact the bass that up and far more aggressive.
Before we had digital high powered color sonar units, we relied on real time flasher type FF. Before flashers we used deep diving birds to located suspended deep bait fish and bass. Your X50 can track your lure down through the signal cone area, watch the real time bar at the right edge of the display screen, it's important to know how deep your lure is. If the sonar unit can't tract the lure (structure spoon), get a new TD.
Also learn to watch birds (grebes) and notice which direction they are moving as they feed on shad. Move in front of the birds to the nearest under high spot that is shallower than the baitfish school and wait for the birds and baitfish to get within casting distance. Cast a structure spoon the size and color of the shad, let it fall through baitfish ( heavy spoons fall about 2" per second) then jig it back to the boat. After the birds have gone past, try your drop shot around the high spot, then relocate to another similar area and repeat the presentation.
Good luck.
Tom

[acm95301]

Hey Tunaman,

Thanks for putting up that captured Fishfinder image. I've seen a number of diffrent "presentations" from big scratches, arches, and others....but I'm still new to my HD7 and this "spagetti pattern" which I saw today on Pedro.....next time I'll spoon this pattern....I tossed a darter head into this and kept getting hung up on the bottom(exposed hook)......next time spoon or c-rig, or football jig.

[milehi]

Silver buddies are hard to beat in cold, deep water. Rip it off the bottom or vertical jig it, it's a killer bait. You need more than one though cause they do get hung. PunisherII hair jigs are also a great bait, no trailer, use them right out of the package.

[Guest]

At pineflat or millerton key on deep cuts coming off the banks this time of year i fish as much as 60 feet deep and i throw 3/8 oz standup head jigs in 2 or 3 different styles of skirt patterns. This pattern always seem to works for me in the winter months.

[D.B.COOPER]

I like that ol song Neil Diamond sings. It's called Sweet Caroline with a baby brush hog(green pumpkin) thrown in for good measure . Works great during winter, but a lot of people have gotten away from it. D.B.COOPER

[BuckSnort]

WOW...Thank you all for the very informative post's....Very appreciated !!!

I am going nuts wanting to get on the water but now that the snow has finally melted enough to get my boat down my driveway we are getting another storm with more snow expected this weekend...

Anyway thanks again for the tips and advice....!!

[Oldschool]

General advice; avoid fishing memories. The spot, the lure you caught them on the last trip may work, but not knowing why the bass where there, you maybe fishing blind and hoping the bass will eat what you are offering.
There is a more productive method; find the bait and the depth the bass are feeding. Location and lure type should dependant on where bass are and what prey they are targeting.
The lure and technique or presentation that works for one person may or may not be the best for your skill and the way you like to fish.
(Winter) bass fishing is all about locating the bait and the feeding zone. Bass tend to suspend inactive and trying to get those bass to bite can be really difficult.
Use all your skills, keep an eye out for feeding fish activity, trust your sonar and your gut feeling. Enjoy your time on the water, good luck.
Tom