Favorite cold water techniques 2024
JWall14 reply :
I live in northern Illinois and was wondering what you guys like to throw and how you approach a pond or lake when the weather gets down in the 40s and 50s?
BigSkyBasser reply :
Jerkbaits, and then more jerkbaits.
I'll try and figure out where the biggest depth changes/contours are if possible, and start with gentle single rips and long pauses.
I tend to still catch a fish on drop shot as well in those temps if I know where the fish are.
Allaroundfishing reply :
although a little unorthodox I will put a 2 or 3 inch white or black Mister twister curl tail on a mushroom jig head and just hop it on the bottom and slowly drag. If the bottom of said water has grass or other debris i would reel it s l o w l y just let that grubs tail do the action. I've caught them like this even when the water was in between 37-40 degrees.
EGbassing reply :
My top 3 would be jerkbaits, jerkbaits, and jerkbaits, but if those don't work, T-rig.
Team9nine reply :
Hair jigs, jerkbaits and blade baits...
Troy85 reply :
What about cold dirty water? Down here when the water temps get that low, most of the grass dies and the water gets pretty dirty. Less than 1' visibility, or even 6" or less in places. If i can find clear water I can usually get jerkbaits to work, but there are some days when the N wind is whipping and it muddies up just about all the water.
All about da bass reply :
I have found that the best way is to...... go home, sit down on the couch, grab a coffee, and watch football works fairly well on those hard bite days. I know, as a tournament angler you have to figure something out but when I'm not fishing one I prefer to stay home. IMO
TnRiver46 reply :
Gulp minnow on jig head
Ksam1234 reply :
On 11/1/2018 at 12:17 AM, JWall14 said:I live in northern Illinois and was wondering what you guys like to throw and how you approach a pond or lake when the weather gets down in the 40s and 50s?
As everyone else said, jerkbaits !! And if that doesn’t work then a jerkbait haha .. but seriously either a jerkbait, jig, T rig soft plastic
BassWhole! reply :
If the water is 45ish or so with a rising temp trend, I'll throw a finnesse spinnerbait, crankbait, and chatter first to gauge their activity level and how they are relating to cover or structure before going to more traditional cold water baits which will include finnesse jigs, lipless, jerkbaits and blade baits depending on the temperature and conditions.
Log Catcher reply :
On 11/1/2018 at 1:21 AM, All about da bass said:I have found that the best way is to...... go home, sit down on the couch, grab a coffee, and watch football works fairly well on those hard bite days. I know, as a tournament angler you have to figure something out but when I'm not fishing one I prefer to stay home. IMO
Forget the couch. I become best friends with my recliner when the weather gets that cold. If I did go brain dead and try to fish in cold weather I would probably try a drop shot.
BigSkyBasser reply :
On 11/1/2018 at 2:33 AM, Log Catcher said:Forget the couch. I become best friends with my recliner when the weather gets that cold. If I did go brain dead and try to fish in cold weather I would probably try a drop shot.
More for me then!
fishwizzard reply :
I fish right up until the water freezes, but my winter catching has been awful the last few years.
So this year, as soon as it gets cold enough that I want gloves, I am gonna throw a Hudd 68 Special and nothing else. If I am only going to only catch a handful of bass all winter I might as well go for some big ones!
Bankbeater reply :
Jig and a t-rigged plastic worm. When the bass hits the jig the first time I just let it sit and the bass usually comes back and picks it up. Then I set the hook.
Ratherbfishing reply :
A suspending jerkbait just about every time. Prefer the ones which truly suspend (when I can get them to-given the variable water temps). Ones that float or sink too quickly don't work as well.
scaleface reply :
Late fall , early winter with temps that low I fish slow . I have done well with crankbaits fished as slow as I can stand it , spinnerbaits the same way . Jigs , worms and one time and this was a rare event I got on a buzzbait bite during a snow . The bass had shad corralled in the back of a cove and I tried a buzzer and surprisingly the bass were all over it .
Bluebasser86 reply :
Jerkbait, if the water is dirty then I'd drag a jig or fish a single Colorado bladed spinnerbait, but I'd usually stay home over fishing cold, muddy water.
Mobasser reply :
I like jerkbaits too. Slider worm and small jig/ trailer. All fished slowly
ohboyitsrobby reply :
An Alabama rig.
IgotWood reply :
Lipless cranks. Rip it off the bottom and let it fall again, rip it off the bottom, repeat. Jerkbaits too.
Also senkos work well too, but it’s slow fishing. You’re not gonna cover water very fast.
Oregon Native reply :
Depending on the body of water of coarse but a jerk is my favorite. Followed by a little three inch senko,dinger or a TRD on a light head or drop shotted. When I moved here it was awesome....and it still is. Depending on lake....3 ft to 40 ft.
Sam reply :
My favorite cold water technique is put on my sweats and a warm sweat shirt along with my cotton and fuzzy sox, turn on the family room TV to a football game, put my snacks and drinks on an end table, sit back in the recliner covered with a soft quilt, and enjoy the warm temperatures of home.
I do this when the outside temperature drops below 70 and is really cold.
the reel ess reply :
Lipless crank, reeled extremely slowly in deepest areas of the pond. I haven't tried it in cold weather yet, but I'm sure I'll try jigs more this winter.
MickD reply :
Surprising only one mention of blades. Walleyes love them too.
smalljaw67 reply :
Jerkbait, hair jig, blade bait are the staples for cold water. The last few seasons we have done well with an underspin and fluke jr. trailer in water down to the upper 40s. Another thing is a 3.5" to 4" finesse style swimbait fished like a tube along the bottom on a ball head or football head jig but the big 3 are still the jerkbait, hair jig and blade bait.
A-Jay reply :
On 11/1/2018 at 11:50 PM, smalljaw67 said:Jerkbait, hair jig, blade bait are the staples for cold water. The last few seasons we have done well with an underspin and fluke jr. trailer in water down to the upper 40s. Another thing is a 3.5" to 4" finesse style swimbait fished like a tube along the bottom on a ball head or football head jig but the big 3 are still the jerkbait, hair jig and blade bait.
This exactly for me ~
A-Jay
Choporoz reply :
Getting to be time to break out the Silver Buddies!
Dens228 reply :
Based on this fall I'd say my favorite technique is crank baits. Once the water temp hit the 50's I've been loading up with 3 crank baits.....a 0-5 foot, a 4-7 foot, and a 8-12 foot, once I find the right depth I've been having a lot of success with cranks. Probably 95% of my bass in October were on crank baits.
scaleface reply :
I caught 31 more today and 30 of them were on a spinnerbait . I didnt wear enough clothes , no sun and a light north wind had me freezing but the bass were hitting .
Bassguytom reply :
I like fishing a blade bait and jerkbaits in the cold water. When I know fish are present I like to slow drag a paddle tail swimbait on the bottom.
Dens228 reply :
On 11/2/2018 at 8:17 AM, Bassguytom said:I like fishing a blade bait and jerkbaits in the cold water. When I know fish are present I like to slow drag a paddle tail swimbait on the bottom.
I was all set to try a jerkbait today, I've never had much luck with them but also haven't really gave them a chance. But today the water visibility was not good so I stuck with cranks. I even tried a flat sided crank with no rattle, no luck. Regular crank with a rattle, boom.
JWall14 reply :
Yeah I feel like it’s kind of boom or bust. Some days they are just real picky. How would you guys go about eliminating baits and finding the key bait that will catch em’?
Mr. Aquarium reply :
pond was half frozen, snow on the ground, open water. this was caught on a black blue finesse jig in 3 feet of water near a tree. fish smoked it.
im looking forward to winter open water fishin, i go deep near structure with blade baits, hair jigs, slow. i catch a lot of smallies with some decent largemouth. smallies are easier to get tho. I find smaller ponds with water 10 feet or deeper. even if there isnt a deep hole, or hump on the depth map, find the steep drops. cuts or deep points. lot of times i cant mark fish on bottom. its crazy especially smallies willl literally be right on bottom. one day last february or early march, water temps in the low 40s. i was on a pile of decent smallies. i had to be 20-22 feet deep in front of this one house. if i was in 19 feet i didnt get them, i didnt mark any fish either. i saw something directly on bottom that looked weird, turned out it was a 3lbs smallies. it was so small on the finder that it could of been missed.
lot of guys do well around MA with jerkbaits in shallow ponds but i only pesky pickerel, so i find deeper ponds with blade baits. i fish out of the kayak and get steady number of fish all winter
Dens228 reply :
On 11/2/2018 at 10:26 AM, JWall14 said:Yeah I feel like it’s kind of boom or bust. Some days they are just real picky. How would you guys go about eliminating baits and finding the key bait that will catch em’?
I use a quicker moving bait like cranks or spinnerbaits, and a slower bait like a jig or t-rig, I tend to start with cranks and spinnerbaits though.
maherme reply :
For me, t-rig, small jigs and drop-shot are the best options in cold waters.
everythingthatswims reply :
Surprised there isn't more talk of cold water cranking. Only certain baits will work, but if you have water that is cold and anywhere between 1' vis and 5' vis you have a shot at some really big bass with a crankbait.
My favorites are a shad rap and wiggle wart when it is really cold. Those baits will work in warmer temps too, but they are some of the few baits that will work once water dips below 45, a spro little john is good too if the fish are being a little more aggressive. HAVE to find rock to tick them off of. Rip rap corners are excellent.
J.Vincent reply :
Cotton Cordel Big O Smokey Joe; customized to be neutrally buoyant and slow cranked parallel with the deepest shoreline ledges in a pond. I'm amazed how often a largemouth will rise up from a few feet deep to slurp this lure in 40-45 degree water. I do not deflect off bottom with this unconventional approach, but instead I run these a few feet above the deepest sloping shoreline ledges. It just works and the sunnier days on northern shorelines seem to produce best.
LonnieP reply :
On 11/4/2018 at 9:21 AM, everythingthatswims said:Surprised there isn't more talk of cold water cranking. Only certain baits will work, but if you have water that is anywhere between 1' vis and 5' vis you have a shot at some really big bass with a crankbait.
My favorites are a shad rap and wiggle wart when it is really cold. Those baits will work in warmer temps too, but they are some of the few baits that will work once water dips below 45, a spro little john is good too if the fish are being a little more aggressive. HAVE to find rock to tick them off of. Rip rap corners are excellent.
The SPRO Little John is my favorite Crankbait for cool water. Caught 12 bass,a pickerel,and a crappie yesterday on one. Water was 57 degrees
Dens228 reply :
Like I said above....I've been hugely successful with crankbaits for the past month.
iceintheveins reply :
Jerkbaits are my go to in that water temperature. But don't overlook lipless cranks, under spins, ned rigs, shad raps, and wiggle wart style cranks either. Spinnerbaits and jigs almost always get a few bites too.
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