Winter Fishing: Top 5 baits for Cold Water Bass

With winter fast approaching most lakes have turned over and the bass have headed for warmer deep water haunts. "Deep" is a relative term that varies lake to lake but when bass head for the depths a lot of anglers lose confidence.

In this week's video we break down our favorite baits for seeking out those deep water bass. This list may be missing some baits you expect but when the going gets tough, these 5 options are consistent producers.

1) A Football Jig: Tim and I vary a little on our specific choices. I lean toward a 1/2 oz or heavier Dirty Jigs Finesse Football (Give "Go To" or "Super Matt Brown" those colors are deadly). Tim takes it a step further and will occasionally go as light as 3/8 oz with his Dirty Jigs HP Football Jig. Why go with a light weight in deep water, you ask? With the lighter weight comes a smaller hook, allowing you to drop to lighter line and even throw the jig on a spinning rod if conditions require.

2) A Drop Shot: Tried and true, this bait is deadly in deep water! Tim likes to downsize, often using a size 2 Owner Mosquito hook with a small tungsten weight. He insists that the light hook allows his bait to have maximum action in deep water. As for baits, he uses a wide range of options but a 6" Roboworm Margarita Mutilator is a proven winter time color.

View fullsize

3) Ball Head: The ball head is such a simplistic way to fish and consistently catches quality fish in the cold water months. Much like a darthead, you should thread the worm on so the point of the hook is left exposed. The difference between a ball head and virtually every other head design is that it has almost no action of its own. This is a drawback most of the year but when the water is cold that "dead action" drives the fish crazy. Tim and I both agree, a 5" senko is your best option with this presentation. Day in and day out, it gets a significantly larger bite than smaller worms.

4) A Jigging Spoon: The spoon is a deadly bait throughout the fall but don't lose faith as cooler temps take over and the bass become lethargic. Using a very subtle flip-flop approach, keeping the jig on bottom at all times, is a phenomenal way to get a big bite in winter. Matt prefers the Blade Runner DUH spoon for its ideal weight, size, and color schemes.

5) The Small Swimbait: I prefer the 6" Basstrix or the 4.8 Keitech coupled with 1/2 and 3/4 oz Swimbait Heads. With an exposed lead head its very easy to maintain bottom contact. From rock to gravel, sand to mud, you'll feel every change in contour and the bite will be unmistakable. For this method I maintain constant bottom contact and swim the bait as slowly as I can stand. It presents a sizable but slow moving meal to the bass that is hard to resist.

This Winter, consider not getting your boat winterized. Instead, head for the lake! The bass are still there and they still need to feed. You may be surprised to find that some of your biggest bites of the year come when the water temperature is below 50 degrees.

Top 5 Baits for Spotted Bass

Okay, so we can't really count. Its more like 6 categories and 12 baits but its hard to narrow it down! There are a lot of great ways to catch spotted bass but we can narrow it down a little for you. With all the giant spotted bass being caught in California there are a lot of rumors flying about secret baits, modifications, etc.

The reality is, nothing can replace time on the water. I say again, if you want to catch a giant spotted bass you have to put in the time. In addition to time, you need to be sure that your gear is dialed in. Tim breaks down the various baits that we use day in and day out to put spotted bass in the boat.

Spotted bass fishing is great for new anglers as well as pros. Unlike giant largemouth, spots have a varied diet. They may have preferred foods but they're willing to eat just about anything that crawls or swims in front of them. If you have a preferred method that is on this list, stick to it and you'll see success! 

Our top 5 (6) baits that you should be throwing for spotted bass are:

The Tube: We've found a 3 1/2" finesse tube is best. See our Tube Video for all the details.

View fullsize

The Senko: Whether you're fishing shallow or deep there is a way to rig the senko to get in front of the bass and fool them into biting.

Straight Tail Worm: Dropshot, Darthead, Shaky Head... they're going to eat it.

The Football Jig: We use the Dirty Jigs Finesse Football. You get the bulky presentation that big spots can't resist with a hook that let's you use lighter line for a finesse presentation.

The Spook: Spots can't resist a walking bait. Whether you're using a true spook or some other brand, it needs to be in your arsenal. As an extra tip: Think "chartreuse" and you won't go wrong.

The Swimbait: How can you beat a swimbait? The key is size. You have to find the right balance between drawing power and overpowering. Our two most reliable options are the 6" Osprey Tournament Talon and the S-Waver 168.

Give these baits a try the next time you're on the water. Spotted bass fishing is booming right now and you need to get involved! From one side of this nation to the other, there is a lake with monster spots just waiting to be caught!

Senko Trick to catch more fish

The Yamamoto Senko is one of those baits that just flat out catches fish. Whether you're flipping heavy cover, skipping under docks, or fluttering the bait down bluff walls, it has a place in every well-rounded angler's arsenal. Have you ever wondered what it is that makes the Senko so deadly?

There is something unique about how a senko moves, but why does it work so much better than other stick baits? Well, we believe its all about the slight variation in shape that is specific to the Yamamoto Senko. Unlike other stick baits it is not truly round. When you take that difference in shape and rig it correctly, the bait becomes even more deadly than before.

The trick is to turn the bait until you find the flatter side with a slight arc to it. Rig the bait (Texas or Wacky) with the flatter side down. When the bait falls on a slack line you will have significantly more flutter and movement than if you had rigged it any other way. There truly is a right way to rig a senko.

Give it a try and let us know what you experience!

Night Fishing 101: Slow Moving Baits

Its been 6 weeks since we started this series on night fishing. If you’ve been following the series you now have a grasp on moon phase, topwater, and subsurface reaction baits. Now we’re going to jump into fishing slow-moving baits on the bottom. Watching this video crosses you over the threshold and past the half-way point in the series. The last two will be swimbaits, followed by jigs.
Typically the lag time between videos comes when I know a video will take a great deal of thought and I begin to procrastinate. The video on fishing jigs at night is one of those videos. I knew it was going to take a great deal of time and thought but for once I filmed it ahead of schedule instead of lagging behind. Believe it or not, its already filmed, uploaded, and awaiting its turn. Alright, let’s get back on track.

Slow moving baits, while not glamorous, have a place in every night fisherman’s arsenal. Some nights the fish don’t want to chase after a bait, other nights they don’t want to move, even for a slow moving bait. When you encounter these conditions very few baits on the market can top this top 5 list. The 5 baits being discussed in this video are the creature bait, straight tail worm, curly tail worm, stick bait, and ring worm. Of course its a night video so they’re all plus-size baits in dark colors but you get the point.

If you learn to properly apply these 5 baits you will absolutely catch more and bigger fish at night. I can’t count the number of nights a big senko worked slowly, or a 10″ power worm slightered through the rocks has saved an otherwise tough night.
Most of the baits mentioned are available at your local retailer but some may not be. If that is the case, here is a link to the 7″ senko at tacklewarehouse. You can also find the Spear Worm, Brush Hog, Hag’s Tornado, and Pivot Point Football.