Tips to Locate Winter Bass
Story by Russ Bassdozer
Winter bassing may mean different things in different parts of the country. Along the northern US border and in Canada, bitter mister winter can sometimes last four or five months during which bass are best caught by pulling them out of a slick hole chopped in thick ice. That's a fun way to fish, but not what this story's about.
At the other end of the country such as south Texas, Florida or in Mexico, the climate stays so warm there that bass go from fall feeding to pre-spawn, and the whole slow metabolism/semi-hibernation phase of winter gets skipped by the fish. It'd be grand to grab a favorite rod, jump on a jet and go vacation somewhere there, but that's not what this story's about.
So if it's not about ice fishing and not about flying south for balmy 'snowbird' fishing trips, then what is the gist of this article? It will provide tips on where to locate winter bass in regions of the country where or while the water stays open and ice-free. We'll give you general recommendations on where you might find those elusive winter hot spots, and we'll discuss timing and tactics for winter bass. So bundle up in layers of your warmest duds and read on!
Look for Any Sign of Life
First of all, any sign of life is a good sign in winter. Investigate what any water birds are doing, and not just fish-eaters like herons, cormorants or grebes. Ducks, loons and birds that eat vegetation are equally important signs. Vegetation is not only a food source for birds but vegetation becomes a mini ecosystem of its own that can serve as food and shelter for all sorts of bottom life and plenty of baitfish too. Just the fact that aquatic vegetation can grow somewhere in the dead of winter means there is warmth, sunlight, nutrients - things that all life (bass included) gravitate towards in winter.
Keep an Eye to the Northwest
Second, don't be surprised to find a lot of these little lively spots nestled on northwest banks. Try this simple test the next time you drive down most any highway. Watch where there's an overpass trestle crossing the highway. You'll see more and greener blades of grass tucked against the northwest side of the overpass embankment. If there is snow on the ground, it will melt fastest in that corner too. Those northwest corners and pockets are the warmest in winter. So look for them out on the water too.
Forego the Shallows
Bass will come up and may use the shallows at some time during the day, but do not seem to linger there for as long as other times of the year. In winter, you can dismiss large areas that are mainly flat, shallow water. Bypass areas that have gently sloping bottoms. Don't spend too much time in any area where you (or the fish) can't reach a vertical drop-off to deeper water within a cast's distance. As a rule, if deep water and vertical structure aren't nearby, you can probably forget it until springtime.
Target Deep Water with Vertical Structure
Catch the right time in winter and you can score shallow, but most of the time you should look for ledges or other vertical structure with deep and variable water depth. Say thirty feet at the bottom of a ledge that stairsteps up and tops off at twelve feet on top of the ledge, then slopes up gradually onto the shoreline. That's an example of what can be a reliable winter location.
Catchable fish in winter are often associated with such underwater ledges, deep banks, channel bends, protruding points or any other kind of sudden drop-offs. Depths in these areas can range from 10 feet on top and drop quickly to 30-35 feet of water nearby. It's a plus if there is water even deeper than 35 feet nearby.
Harbors and Marinas
Boat harbors and marinas are typically built in deep, stable, sheltered sections. These are the kinds of areas that winter bass naturally gravitate toward, and the presence of breakwaters, bulkheads and docks make these areas even more desirable winter locations for fish.
New Jersey anglers Jim Mayberry and Lance Cahoon probe 34-degree water in deep creek...
...and find success with smallies on Yamamoto grubs on lightweight jig heads.
Target the Original Features beneath Man-Made Impoundments
Some of the easiest types of waters to 'read' as to where to find winter bass locations are man-made impoundments. Actually, we tend to overlook the fact that many 'lakes' we fish are not natural lakes at all. They're impoundments. Many were originally river drainage systems that have been dammed by man.
In winter, you can fish impoundments as if they still are the original rivers. This means targeting the locations that were active flowing parts of the original river systems. Nowadays, these are simply going to be the sunken, deeper, more vertical parts of the impoundment that bass gravitate toward in winter. It includes the original river beds, side feeder creeks, washes, confluences of rivers and streams and anywhere else that water sat or flowed before flooding the area. Usually, a number of smaller ponds, lakes, livestock watering holes, irrigation pools and so on are flooded over. These small, sunken bodies of water that are now submerged under the impoundment can be Meccas for winter bass.
Impoundments can range from several hundred acres to several hundred miles long. Many original river features may be far offshore underwater now, and spottable only on a map
Maps can be extremely important and often are the only way to get a full picture of the rivers and creeks and other watershed features that existed prior to impoundment.
On some of the smaller impoundments, map availability may be limited. On the larger impoundments, a number of different maps can be ferreted out - and each map has a tendency to show different creeks, different inflows, and different original water features than other maps. So try to get as many different maps as you can of your favorite impoundment. Study them to learn what the original watershed features of the area were, and target them in winter.
River Systems
Major river systems typically have a number of deeper side creeks entering into them. Starting some time in late fall to early winter, some fish will migrate out of the main river and begin to filter into the bigger, deeper side creeks. They'll winter-over in the side creeks that have slow-moving, deep water sanctuaries.
On some rivers, or sections of them between two dams, there may not be many suitable side creeks for fish to use in winter. Many fish will then stay in the main river, and the key to catching them can be spells of relatively milder weather combined with periods of slow flow. Low flow seems to school the fish up and you can get a bunch. The key is low flow on such rivers. That balls them up.
Small Ponds
Deep is a relative word and fish will use whatever relatively deeper water is available as a means to survive until spring.
On many small ponds, say 10, 25 or 50 acres, these can often be quite shallow. Some of the shallowest of these places can have an average depth of 3 to 5 feet for example. Still, as long as there is at least one deep hole, for instance 8 or 10 feet deep, many bass will gather at that single, deep hole to winter-over.
Follow the Thermometer
Finding relatively warmer water can be another key to finding catchable fish in winter. I've seen many winter days when the variance of only a degree or two made all the difference. So be attentive to even the smallest changes in surface water temperature, and tend to follow whatever's the warmest water.
Follow the Sun
Sunrise and sunset can be productive times to fish, even on the wintriest days. Mid- to late afternoon however, tends to be the warmest part of the day in winter, say between two to four o'clock. The best fishing many winter days may take place in that afternoon time slot.
Bait Brings Out the Best in Winter Bass
Times and places where winter bass are caught often coincide with the presence of large schools of baitfish. It does not matter what kind of baitfish, as long as it is plentiful. Lethargic winter bass may possibly be present in an area, but not get active or not bite until bait schools filter into the area. The bait may not always stay in the same area, but may come and go, and bass will get active and feed when the bait comes by.
Bass will not always be caught every time that large quantities of bait become present. There's never any guarantee in this game. You can find a lot of bait some times when you do not get any bites.
Still, the presence of bait can be a major key in winter fishing. When bait presence gets scarce in an area, you may find no fish are caught. Come back through the same area a little later when bait is there, and chances can be good you'll get a couple of bass to bite. So there certainly is a high correlation between bait presence and fish-catching activity.
Summing Up Locations
If there's a theme or preferred depth or recommended type of area that we reiterate throughout this article, it's to find areas that provide sheltered, stable environments that are not exposed to the worst of winter's elements, with depths that range from 10 feet and drop quickly, even vertically to 30-35 feet of water nearby. Look for any kind of underwater vertical structure so bass have something to be up against, not just out in an open, featureless expanse. In smaller or shallower waters, adjust to what you and the bass have to work with, recognizing it's going to be the same kinds of areas, the deepest available.
Winter Baits and Tactics to Try
Deep-diving crankbaits and jerkbaits make good lure choices for winter bass. The limitation with them is it's rare to find a jerkbait that gets deeper than 10 feet, and few crankbaits can make it past the 15 foot mark. So the effectiveness of most all hard plastic baits are limited to what's considered shallow water (often too shallow) for winter bass.
Because of the need to fish beyond 10 to 15 feet, to reach 35 feet or even deeper, there are only a couple of lures or tactics that work well in such deep and near-vertical situations.
Jigs of course. Any jig that you can drag across bottom slowly with a soft, slow and lethargic jig movement can be the ticket. Work jigs painstakingly slow, often making long pauses before moving them forward, dragging them slowly in a stop-and-go manner. Whatever you use as the jig dressing (meaning a soft plastic trailer lure with/or without a rubber skirt), keep in mind that small, compact offerings are ideal fare for winter bass. It's often better to save your big, bulky jigs for spring through fall. In winter, think small. Indeed, diminutive, dark-colored, crappie feather jigs tied 'wooly bugger' style can be deadly choices for winter bass.
A dropshot rig is ideal in these depth ranges too. Again, try even smaller soft plastic dropshot lures in winter than other seasons. In terms of jig or dropshot lure colors for winter, black or dark green pumpkin are often reliable.
Move jigs or dropshot rigs slowly, and stick with soft plastic lures that are compact and don't wiggle their tails or wave their arms too much. Avoid soft baits that have lots of moving parts or appendages. During winter, soft baits that exhibit the least amount of body action can be the best choices.
Jigging spoons and blade baits such as the venerable Silver Buddy are also "must haves" in the winter angler's tacklebox. Spoons and blade baits are compact yet heavy weighted metal lures. They are the ideal baits for deep, vertical presentations this time of year. These too make small, compact offerings, but in contrast to jigs and dropshot rigs, spoons and blade baits have more action, movement and vibration. One can say that spoons and blade baits are the opposite of jigs and dropshot rigs. Blade baits and spoons are very active, vibrate strongly, and seem most effective with a sudden lift-and-drop technique that triggers strikes.
The most important thing is to keep a spoon or blade bait banging the bottom, to have it hit the bottom on every drop before you lift it again.
So you can see, blade baits and spoons versus jigs and dropshot rigs are two very different approaches - and both can be very effective for cold water bass.
Winter is also the time of year when live shiner fishing can be one of the best tactics of all. Key is to use a bullet sinker or split shot on the line a foot or two ahead of the shiner. Ideally, just enough weight to keep the shiner on the bottom. It's almost too easy.
More than other times of the season, winter fishing can mean the fish are usually shut down or inactive, and when they do turn on to feed, it tends to be in brief flurries during which several fish could be caught within minutes of each other. Such feeding flurries tend to be followed by longer lulls in the action. If you try some of the areas, depths, times and tactics we've given you, hopefully you'll arrive in the right place at the right time to get in on a few of these sporadic yet rewarding winter feeding flurries that are happening right now.