Winter Jig Fishing

As fall fades in the rear view mirror and the freezing Winter mornings arrive, many bass fishermen put their boats away for the season. If you're one of the few committed anglers who continues fishing regardless of weather, temperature, or season, this week's post is for you. While Winter brings cold weather and uncomfortable conditions but it also brings your best shot of the year at a GIANT bass on a jig. 

Let's begin by breaking Winter jig fisheries into two categories:

1) Reservoirs or lakes with sparse cover and/or clear water

2)Shallow water fisheries, often containing heavy cover, including river/tidal systems

Category 1)  I focus on small, compact football jigs. My jigs of choice are the Dirty Jigs Finesse Football and HP Football. The finesse football is my most consistent jig. It comes equipped with a light wire hook, allowing me to downsize my equipment and draw bites, even under tough conditions. Coupled with a double tail grub or smallie beaver, this jig is deadly throughout the cold water months. 

View fullsize

Clockwise From Left: HP Football jig with 4" Double Tail Grub, Pitchin' Jig with Paca Chunk, No-Jack Flippin' Jig with Sweet Beaver, Finesse Football Jig with 5" Double Tail Grub

If I know that I'll be encountering larger fish, or if I feel that I may need to step up to a heavier weight line to combat heavier cover, I'll transition over to the HP football. This jig has a slightly heavier wire "EWG" style hook and is great for powering fish away from snags. With both versions of the football I'll start out with a light weight and go with the lightest line possible, only stepping up to match the conditions or size of bass. 

Day in and day out these jigs get critical bites when I need them most. For colors, I keep it as simple as possible. My two most consistent colors lately have been "Go To" and "Super Matt Brown". In the past "Molting Craw" has been a consistent producer as well. Trailer color is a matter of preference. Some days I'll stick to complimentary colors, other days I'll use a clashing color to change the overall profile of the bait. You'll need to experiment to see what your fish prefer. 

View fullsize

Left to Right: Finesse Football Jig, HP Football Jig

Category 2) When fishing shallower water, especially around cover I will use either a Dirty Jigs Pitchin' Jig or the No-Jack Flippin' Jig.  The pitchin' jig is a go everywhere, do everything jig with a medium-heavy wire hook. I'm confident that I can show up to any body of water and use this head shape to catch bass. 

If I'm specifically dealing with heavy cover, grass, or giant fish I'll step up to the No-Jack Flippin' Jig. The No-Jack hook is the stoutest hook on the market. While this isn't necessary for fighting the fish during their cold water dormant season it can be vital to getting them through thick vegetation. With these jigs I prefer either a beaver-style trailer or a pork chunk. I will generally start with the plastic trailer but if I can't get bit will switch to pork. 

Color selection in shallow water fisheries depends upon water color. If the water is fairly clear I will stick with "Go To" or "Molting Craw" but if the water becomes dingy or muddy I'll transition into "Black and Blue" , "Black Emerald" or "Black Red". 

Another quick tip is to add a section of chartreuse plastic to the shank of the hook before adding your primary trailer. This works for murky water largemouth but is also deadly on clear water smallmouth. 

We hope these tips will help you refine your cold water jig fishing this Winter. This is prime time to catch a monster bass so bundle up, grab a pair of gloves, and head for the water. Good luck out there!

Winter Maintenance for Rods and Reels

With the holidays upon us its a great time to take a break and maintain your equipment. This week Tim breaks down the steps he takes to keep his gear in tip top shape. Take a few minutes over the holidays to winterize your gear, it will pay off when the new year starts. 

Step 1) Clean The Cork

After a long season of flipping, pitching, frogging, etc... the cork can get pretty dark. A quick scrub with denatured alcohol will have it looking like new. When you're done with the cork rub down the rod and reel as well. 

Step 2) Clean and Inspect the Guides

View fullsize

Cork Before Cleaning

One of the most common causes of lost fish and nicked lines is damaged guides. Inspecting the guides by sweeping a cotton ball through them will show you if there is any damage. Any chips or cracks of any kind will require a guide replacement. Better now than when there is a 10 lber at the other end of the rod!

Step 3) Adjust and Dry your Reels

We're not going to go into a full breakdown of reel maintenance as its is a whole video series by itself. We do however recommend backing off your drags and drying your reels thoroughly. This is especially important if you use braided line. Braid holds moisture long after you're done fishing and if you have a perforated spool that moisture is going straight into the reel's interior. 

4) Clean the Braid

Clean the braid? Really? That seems like overkill until you do a little research. Cleaning your braid with a product like Braid Aid (recently recommended to us and man does it work) will extend the life of the braid and drastically increase your casting distance. Its a time consuming process to strip all the line and clean it properly but its worth doing. Besides, its the holiday season... its this or fruitcake so get to work. 

5) Rod Gloves

View fullsize

Cork after Cleaning

Last but not least, use rod gloves. They're your friend. Matt spent years making fun of Tim and his rod wraps but fast forward to Matt's equipment falling apart and Tim's looking brand new... get some rod gloves. Not only do they keep your rods protected (no more broken tips in the rod locker) they also keep lines from tangling and can help with organization by color coordinating rods (wrap all your sissy spinning rods in pink rod wraps so everyone knows you're actually using those things).

We know this isn't a typical fishing tactics video but with the year coming to an end its important to take a few minutes and maintain your equipment. You'll be glad you did when you hook a giant on your first trip back to the lake!

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.

Epic Battle On Light Line

You know that moment when you set the hook and instantly know you're not in control of the situation? This was one of those times! As soon as the hook was set it was very clear, Matt was in this fight for the long haul.

Its no secret, Matt will pick up a swimbait rod spooled with heavy line over just about anything else in his arsenal. Day in and day out the giant baits on heavy gear produce big bass. Even so, there is a time and a place for everything and on this particular day the bite was tough. A nasty cold front had blown in, bringing with it freezing rain and the threat of snow.

Matt spent the first half of the day probing likely areas with Huddleston and Trash Fish swimbaits to no avail.  After giving up on the big baits (It happens to everyone) he was doing his best to draw a reaction bite before packing it in and heading home.

View fullsize

Just hoping for any bite and not really expecting a big bite, Matt had abandoned the heavy gear and was throwing a small crank on a light Crankbait rod, spooled with 20 lb braid and 10 lb leader. When the big fish hit she immediately surged away from the boat, the drag screaming as 20+ feet of line flew off the reel on the first run. Matt struggled to loosen the drag in time. Once the drag was backed off, cooler heads prevailed and it was a matter of waiting out the big fish as she burrowed under the boat in the open water.

While this big largemouth bass was unexpected, having the right gear and the patience to play the fish out made all the difference. With light line and little size 4 EWG hooks the fight could easily have ended in disaster. The whole experience just goes to show, its important to be a well rounded angler, willing to adapt to changing conditions. There are so many ways to catch a big bass. Its okay to fish your favorite techniques but when its not working, face the reality, change your presentation, and you might just catch a giant bass on a new technique!

Has this happened to you? Tell us about your most unexpected big bass catch. We'd love to hear about it!