Photo Credit: lambertwm on lightstalking.com  

by WNJ Correspondent Matt McCann

Largemouth bass fishing can be pretty tough in the winter. Bass are typically a warm water fish and become much less active when the water temperature drops below 50 degrees. However, you can still catch them during the winter with a little patience and strategy, as long as the lake you want to fish is not completely covered with ice.

What the bass are doing:

In the winter, bass become lethargic and don’t move around too much. They stay in the deepest possible part of a lake where the water is the warmest. They still have to eat, but they do it less frequently. They stay in this deep water winter mode until early spring when the ice completely melts and the water temperature increases.

Lures and techniques:

To catch bass in their deep wintering holes, you basically have two options. The first is to fish a slow moving lure on the bottom, like a jig with a trailer or a soft plastic worm. By doing this, you’re trying to entice the fish that want to eat. These fish don’t feed frequently, but when they’re hungry they don’t want to expend a lot of energy chasing down a meal.

This is why they will strike the slow moving lure; it’s an easy meal. These fish usually don’t strike hard. Many times they will take the lure in their mouth so lightly that you won’t even feel it. Because of this, it’s very important to watch your line for movement. You will see the line move when the fish bites even if you can’t feel it.

The second strategy is to fish very fast, which is the complete opposite end of the spectrum. The best lures for this strategy are lipless crankbaits and metal blade baits like the Silver Buddy. These lures produce sound and vibration in the water when fished fast, and can trigger bass into a reaction strike even if they are not hungry.

This is a good technique because you don’t have to rely on the fish to be actively feeding since you can force them to bite. Both strategies work great, and it helps to have one rod rigged with a jig to fish slow and another rod rigged with a lipless crankbait to fish fast. You can alternate using the two strategies and increase your chances of catching those finicky winter bass.

A typical bass jig.
Photo Credit: intruderjigs.com

 Matt McCann is a New Jersey native and specializes in freshwater and saltwater fishing in the Garden State.

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