Which Spots Hold The Most Fish?

We've taught you ALMOST everything you need to know for Winter bass fishing. We covered depths, patterns, baits, retrieves, and conditions but there is one more piece to the puzzle. Here is the final tip for consistently catching Winter Bass!

Which spots should you fish? Its a simple question with an equally simple answer. Here are some KEY locations on any lake that will hold bass in Winter. 

1) Transitions: Anywhere there is a change between two different kinds of material. (Rock to mud, mud to grass, gravel to boulders, etc.) 

2) Points: Any point that breaks to deep water is a key Winter location. If you have multiple points, the point that reaches out into the DEEPEST water is the best point. 

3) Visible Cover: This could be anything from standing timber to brush, rocks, grass, garbage, virtually anything in the water that is "different" from the rest. On a sunny day any piece of visible cover that breaks the water's surface will be slightly warmer than the surrounding water and will attract bass that are trying to warm themselves. 

The baits we're throwing this time of year have not changed... here are some of our favorites. 

Small Swimbait...

Matt Allen Swimbait Head: http://bit.ly/29RrTYN
Keitech 4.8 Fat Swing Impact Swimbait: http://bit.ly/2ab7s8v

Favorite Winter Jigs...
Finesse Football Jig: http://bit.ly/2d2apsm
Finesse Jig: http://bit.ly/2eJinXo

Jig Trailers...
Yamamoto Double Tail Grub: http://bit.ly/2db9w1p
Smallie Beaver: http://bit.ly/2dR6CkP

The UnderSpin...
BladeRunner 1/2 oz Underspin: http://bit.ly/29UVegz
Keitech 4.3 Fat Swing Impact Swimbait: http://bit.ly/2ab7s8v

Jig Setup...
Rod- G Loomis GLX 853C JWR: http://bit.ly/2gqziwT
Reel- Shimano Aldebaran 50: http://bit.ly/2fdX1Uy
Line- 20 lb Sufix 832: http://bit.ly/2ae93Ji
Leader- 12 lb Sunline Assassin: http://bit.ly/2h4LNjm

Swimbait Setup...
Rod- Zodias 7'2" Heavy: http://bit.ly/2cgmMAe
Reel- Curado 70 8:1 Ratio: http://bit.ly/2apmDJt
Line- 50 lb MaxCuatro Braid: http://bit.ly/2clBRiQ
Leader- 15 lb Maxima Ultragreen: http://bit.ly/2ae97J9

Budget Friendly Combo for jig and Swimbait...
Rod- Exage 7'2" Medium Heavy: http://bit.ly/2mGp1Vc
Reel- Shimano Casitas 7:1 Ratio: http://bit.ly/2geKxsp
Line- 50 lb Power Pro: http://bit.ly/2aFg46b
Leader- 15 lb Maxima Ultragreen: http://bit.ly/2ae97J9

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Breaking Down a New Lake: The Finale

Part 3 of "How to Breakdown a New Lake" picks up right where part 2 left off. The duo move into the Eastern arm of Lake Sonoma in search of shallow water largemouth. They begin by fishing in the marina where they flip a senko into boat slips and skip a keitech swimbait into shade pockets. 

Almost immediately Tim and Matt encounter a wolf pack of schooling largemouth bass along a shade line. If you look closely in the lower corner of the video you'll see a 6-8 lb bass swimming out of a brush pile toward the boat. They are able to lure a topwater explosion from the bass on a hollow body frog but they it doesn't fully commit. After plying other offerings like the senko, keitech swimbait, and even a wakebait they agree to return to the marina later after the fish have settled. 

After leaving the marina the pair briefly fish the bridge pilings. 
When summer bass fishing in a lake with bridge pilings, this is a key place to catch large numbers of fish. Largemouth, smallmouth, and especially spotted bass love to school around vertical structure.  Matt throws a senko on the pilings while Tim is casting an Alabama Rig, both to no avail. They quickly move on to another set of docks where Tim catches back to back bass fishing with a 2.8 Keitech coupled with a Revenge Dart Head. 

After leaving the docks behind Matt and Tim fish cove after cove and point after point in search of schooling fish on deep ledges or shallow shade pockets. They spend much of the afternoon fishing standing timber in open water but aren't able to get consistent bites. Finally, as the redwoods began leaving large shade lines on the water Matt is able to catch a nice largemouth on a hollow body frog lure. After a few more stops Matt and Tim return to the marina and head for home. 

We hope you were able to take valuable information out of this video. Whether you are bass fishing in California, Texas, Alabama, or New England, we tried to fish different types of cover and with different techniques that could be applied to every location.

Breaking down a new lake and learning how to find bass is not an easy task. However, If you follow the steps we outlined in this fishing video, you should be able to locate bass much more quickly in the future. We hope this helps! 

Baits used in this video to locate and catch fish...

Yamamoto 5" Senko (Green Pumpkin)
Keitech Fat Swing Impact 2.8"
Revenge Darter Head
Yamamoto 5" Senko (Natural Shad)
Alabama Rig- Yum Ultralight
River2Sea Bully Wa in “Dirty White”

Equipment Used:

Tim's Keitech Combo:
Rod- Dobyns 742 Champion Extreme 7'4"
Reel- Daiwa Fuego Spinning Reel
Line-Power Pro Braided 15 lb
Leader- Sunline Leader Material 8 lb

Matt's Frog Combo:
Rod- Dobyns 736 Champion
Reel- Shimano Curado 70
Line- 65 lb Sufix 832
Leader- None Used

Breaking Down a New Lake with Matt and Tim: Part 1

A new body of water can be daunting for any fisherman. How do you decide where to start, which points or structure are likely to produce? Should you go deep or stay shallow? Tactical Bassin breaks down new water again and teaches you the fastest ways to turn a new lake into your very own honey hole factory.