These 3 Lures Can Entice Even The Laziest Bass To Strike In The Winter
- By: Joseph Simonds
- on February 26, 2019
- Found In: Bass Fishing, Fishing Secrets, Fishing Tips, Freshwater Fishing
It’s bass time!
A lot of us grew up bass fishing (Luke and I included) and love going back to our roots.
Winter can be tough for bass fishing, but it’s possible to go out and get some lunkers.
I talked with Ethan, one of our readers, and he put together this article on how to do just that.
Plus he included his three favorite lures to get these lethargic wintertime fish to strike.
Enjoy!
The 3 Best Wintertime Bass Lures
By Ethan Hamrick
Hello fellow anglers!
During the winter season, bass fishing can be tough.
It’s often difficult to get the fish to bite on those cold, windy winter days.
However, despite the fact that bass can be finicky in the winter, it is possible to catch them.
You simply must employ the right lures and present them to the fish in a way that is enticing enough for them to go after it.
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The Approach
As the water cools off, bass get lethargic and slow moving.
They won’t swim very far for a meal.
The colder the water, the slower they are to chase down a bait.
A few tactics to get sluggish fish to bite include slowing down your retrieve, using smaller lures, and making multiple casts into the same area to get bass to strike.
When it comes to the best wintertime bass lures, there are a handful that shine.
My top three lures to throw in the winter include:
- Some type of jig
- Suspending jerkbait
- Shaky head worm.
Each of these baits can be fished slow and kept in the strike zone for long periods of time, giving slothful bass time to react.
Jigs
Beginning with jigs, there are a variety of these lures to choose from, but I prefer using either a football jig or a swim jig in cold months.
These baits work best when dragged slowly along the bottom around some type of cover, such as boat docks or vegetation.
In stained or murky water, black and blue is a great color to use.
In clearer water, green pumpkin is my go-to color.
Suspending Jerkbaits
Suspending jerkbaits are another great option for lazy winter bass.
These lures tend to excel in clear bodies of water rather than stained ones.
Giving your rod a twitch, twitch, pause action gives a jerkbait tremendous erratic movement in the water.
This allows the lure to appear to bass as an injured baitfish.
The colder the water you’re fishing, the longer you pause the bait and let it suspend in the water column.
This gives curious bass time to approach the lure and see if it’s worth attacking.
Jerkbaits can be extremely productive, especially when fishing around schooling bass.
Shaky Head Worm
Finally, if both a jig and a jerkbait fail to produce any wintertime bass, I start throwing a shaky head worm.
A shaky head rig is typically a floating, straight-tail worm, rigged up on a jig head.
The worm is meant to move gently in the water as the jig head rests on the bottom.
Anglers need not move the bait very far or fast, as the lure is most effective when barely moved along the bottom.
Slow moving bass see this as an easy meal that they don’t have to chase down.
Shaky head rigged worms work best when flipped under docks or fished out around a deep-water structure.
With these three great lures in your tackle box, you’re bound to be successful on the lake this winter.
Happy fishing!
Conclusion
Thanks for the tips, Ethan!
To wrap it up, make sure to fish your lure extra slow on the bottom for these lethargic fish, and come prepared with these three lures:
- Football or Swim Jig
- Jerkbait
- Shaky Head Worm
Have any questions for Ethan about wintertime bass?
Let us know in the comments below!
P.S. if you have a friend who wants to catch more wintertime bass, TAG or SHARE this with them!
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Great post Ethan. I live in central Florida so my main focus is bass. I agree with your top three picks for baits during winter time fishing. My favorite bait is a Jackall Reranger 110 which creates a lot of clicking when jerked. Many of us are reluctant to try new baits because we lack experience with them and have had success with are old ones.
I have had little time fishing a shakey head rig, but plan to try it this week as winter had arrived.
Thanks for the freshwater post. Good luck fishing.