Winter Spinnerbait (and Lipless Crank) Bass - 19.51lb Bag / UPDATE - Another 14lbs 2025
Goose52 reply :
I previously posted about getting 5 bass (14.81lbs total) on a spinnerbait in 42 degree water ( http://www.bassresource.com/bass-fishing-forums/topic/71057-winter-spinnerbait-bass/page__hl__42+degree+water+spinnerbait__fromsearch__1 ).
I've been skunked a few days since then, but today I had a repeat of the same pattern as when I got the 5 bass. Two warmer days, an increase water temps from the high-30s to the mid-40s (enough to get the fish up and active), then a cold front coming in. Today, it was sunny this morning, turning to clouds in the afternoon, with off-and-on rain. I fished the same two coves as before. Surface water temp at the bank was 40 degrees when I started fishing, 39 degrees when I quit. Water depth was 5ft or less.
I got the first three bass on a spinnerbait: 22"/4.87lb, 18"/2.75lb, and 15"/1.54lb. The bite went cold and I switched to a Yo-Zuri lipless crank and got four more bass: 22"/5.31lb, 21"/3.54lb, 19"/3.04lb, and 18"/2.36lb.
Total weight: 23.41lbs Best Five: 19.51lbs Just an INCREDIBLE bag for winter in my little lakes!
More cold weather expected with chance of snow for the next 3 days with overnight lows in the low 20s. I expect those shallow fish will be gone by tomorrow and for the next few days. BUT - wanna bet where I'll be if that weather pattern repeats... ;D
Life is good, and just a little cold, high on the Cumberland plateau in Tennessee... 8-)
Photos below are, in order, the heaviest 5 fish: 5.31, 4.87, 3.54, 3.04, and 2.75lbs
Ima Bass Ninja reply :
Great job ..A great bag for sure..That last fish looks like it has something wrong with its tail or maybe its just the way its laying.. Still awesome catches
OHIO reply :
Great job Goose! I wish I could get on some bass like that this winter.
FIAB reply :
Great looking fish.......looks like we have another cold week coming this week in the western part of the state......what about ya'll
paul. reply :
you're on 'em bud! that would be a great bag any day of the year, but especially when conditions are tough. way to smoke 'em.
roadwarrior reply :
Looks good to me!
Things in this part of the state have been slow.
soccplayer07 reply :
great job man!
Goose52 reply :
Thanks guys! I am just so blown away by these recent catches. I'd like to say that I'm a master angler and that success was guaranteed.............but I'd be fibbing. I did cue on the weather pattern and on the second warm day last week I abandoned the deep water and explored the coves to see if I could find some active fish. But other than that, I just stumbled across these bass. The cove that these fish have been in are at the shallow end of the lake (opposite end from the dam) and is really just a mud-ditch - it is narrow enough that I can cast across it. There is no appreciable underwater cover in it. Deep water (>10-12ft) is about 100 yards away and there is a wide flat between deep water and the cove. I don't know what the fish are doing back in this area...but I'm not complaining!
Ima Bass Ninja: Nope - nothing wrong with that last bass above. He just arched his tail as the photo was being taken.
RW and Paul: Just shows how different our state is between West Tennessee and East Tennessee, then add in where I am up on the plateau. I'm only at 2000ft, but sometimes we get different weather than the folks down the hill.
Well, we have a light snow falling right now and air temp is 25. I'll drive over to that cove again today and check water temp - I expect it will be about 37 or so. Still, I'll toss something across that cove and see if there are any stragglers left that haven't gone back deep... 
SausageFingers23 reply :
Great fish! Im jealous. We're covered in ice and snow with more on the way. I'll just have to live vicariously until the water softens.
Dwight Hottle reply :
Your on them, Goose sweet bag.!
senile1 reply :
Great job, Goose! Those are some nice fish.
Aluma-Bass reply :
nice!! 8-)
pitchin fool reply :
I can't wait for our lakes to thaw!!! AAARRRRGGGGGHHH!!!
lynyrdsky1 reply :
Great job man. West TN has been blowing hard, and I'm not just talking about the snow.
Goose52 reply :
Thanks again guys.
For those of you with hard water - patience. One thing for sure - as soon as you have ice-out, watch for the warming trends and don't ignore the shallows!
I went back to that cove this morning. Air temp was 25 degrees, water temp was 38, and the fish are GONE ! Given the current weather forecast, looks like my next chance will be Sunday and Monday...
Rory_MO reply :
Awesome!
jamarkwe reply :
Get em!
Did you catch them in the ponds in the glades?
Goose52 reply :
QuoteGet em!Did you catch them in the ponds in the glades?
Do you mean the Everglades in Florida? If so, I haven't fished the 'Glades since 1967. The fish in this thread were caught in cold water in Tennessee... 
jamarkwe reply :
Nope I meant FairField Glades in crossville.QuoteQuoteGet em!Did you catch them in the ponds in the glades?
Do you mean the Everglades in Florida? If so, I haven't fished the 'Glades since 1967. The fish in this thread were caught in cold water in Tennessee...
Goose52 reply :
QuoteNope I meant FairField Glades.QuoteQuoteGet em!Did you catch them in the ponds in the glades?
Do you mean the Everglades in Florida? If so, I haven't fished the 'Glades since 1967. The fish in this thread were caught in cold water in Tennessee...
Ah - gotcha. Yep - but the folks here that use that term say "the Glade" (not "glades"). I think some of the "Gladers" are a bit uppity and I just say that I live in Crossville...
jamarkwe reply :
Yes I agree... I lived about five miles off peavine and have never fished there. I fished mostly in my uncles pond down there, its about 3 miles from the glade.. big big bass and huge cats in it. He hand feeds them everyday.
Looks like I missed out on the glade fishing .
Goose52 reply :
I live in FFG, but I never say that I live "in The Glade" like it's something different or special from Crossville. As far as I'm concerned, I'm a Crossvillian and I usually don't tell people where I live. I want to get along with the folks here - not make out like I'm something special... :
On fishing in the FFG lakes, technically, they're private and you need a FFG card to fish them. It's one of the things I get for my 1k annual homeowner's association dues! 
brushhoggin reply :
nice goose, you're pic quality has improved greatly. and you're kicking my bass this winter. haven't even caught a bass this year. :'( how far are you from the Tennessee/Mississippi state line?
Goose52 reply :
Quotenice goose, you're pic quality has improved greatly. and you're kicking my bass this winter. haven't even caught a bass this year. :'( how far are you from the Tennessee/Mississippi state line?
Yeah - I abandoned my ancient 1meg plastic camera and got for cheap a 14mp Kodak ($57). I still have to use it at the lowest resolution and resize the pic to fit under the 150k board limit - but this camera has a better lens so that's helped.
Mississippi - where's that? I'm in the north part of the state only about 45 miles as the crow flies from the Kentucky border. Plus, I'm up on the Cumberland plateau at 2,000ft so it's a bit colder here than other parts of the state. There was skim ice this morning on the cove I've been fishing - guess I need some "punching weights" to fish it now... ;D
flipnpitch reply :
Nice fish, goose! Thanks for posting the pics, theyre helping me get thru this freakin winter!! Still got 4" to 8" of ice on everything here in SE Ohio. Keep em coming!!!
Goose52 reply :
QuoteNice fish, goose! Thanks for posting the pics, theyre helping me get thru this freakin winter!! Still got 4" to 8" of ice on everything here in SE Ohio. Keep em coming!!!
I'm tryin' but it's hard right now...literally...the cove that I caught those fish in froze-over last night! ;D
I drove to 7 of my 11 lakes today - ice in 4 of them. 3 had some open water near the dams so I fished them a bit...no one home. I'll be driving to the other 4 lakes tomorrow to see if if I have any open water in them...
Goose52 reply :
Quote....wanna bet where I'll be if that weather pattern repeats... ;D
Well, it took 11 days but I did get a repeat of the weather pattern that gave me the great catches that I reported earlier (14.81lbs and 23.41lbs). In the past week, the cove I've been scoring in iced up, then thawed, then we had 2 days of warm weather. Water temp rose quickly from 38 degrees right after ice out to 48 degrees today. A low-pressure front rolled in today - not much rain while I was fishing in the afternoon but it's pouring outside right now.
I got 5 more bass on a lipless crank: 21"/4.40lb, 19"/3.10lb, 18"/2.91lb, 18"/2.84lb and a 12" (weight who cares!) for about 14 more pounds. Counting individual fish that I've picked up inbetween the big catches, that makes a total of over 65lbs of bass I've pulled from that cove in the last couple weeks. Not bad for cold water... 8-)
Didn't get photos of all the fish today but here's the 4.4lb fish.
Life is still good, and getting warmer, high on the Cumberland plateau in Tennessee!
Big-O reply :
WTG Goose, you're doin it right! Putting the change up on'em
Big O
www.ragetail.com
Goose52 reply :
Thanks Big-O! I actually started with a spinnerbait again today - missed a fish on that, immediately followed up with the lipless crank, and kept fishing that until the bite stopped. Then went back to the spinnerbait but still no more bites...
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