Fishin45

here are the basics slowww in the winter and speed it up a bit in warmer water. fish will follow this bait so wherever you are fishing it always try to bring the bait by a target such as a bush, big rock or something to that effect so the bass feel they have a place they can attack and pin the bait essentially making the bass eat the bait right where you want them. as stated before, a couple of tosses are not going to cut it but your experiences will do way more for you than you can ever hear on the forum. huddleston's have a very unique tail design that makes these baits swim extremely life like and excel in colder water. as it warms though you will find that the paddle tail baits(money minnow, basstrix etc.) will become more productive. good luck dude hope some of this helps

caught this beautiful fish 2 weeks ago in 48 feet of water at Lake Berryessa in Northern California. tipped the scales at 10.4. this is why we get up at 3 am to go fishing

anytime the water goes below 50 you should always have a jerk/rip bait tied, drop shot and a big jig once the baitfish have gone super deep and as many have suggested a jigging spoon( not ideal from the bank). obviously slow and small is what everyone has told us works best but i have found that not to be all that true. remember the fish are slow and lethargic and do not want to commit to much exercise this time of year. if they can eat one big bait rather than several small baits they will do it. it takes a lot less energy to eat a big bait than to chase down several small baits. i would suggest a swimbait even up north and in farm ponds as well. they do not need to be 10 inches long and weigh 8 oz's, but the style of the tail does seem to matter. as it gets colder i suggest getting away from the paddle tail baits like the basstrix or money minnow and go with a tail style like you find on the huddlestons or even the rago baits. i hope this helps a bit oh and look for banks where the channel swings in close, this time of year the fish prefer moving vertically to feed from my experiences.

you need to eat some of the crappie and thin them out if you want to see larger fish. also the more crappie there are the more competition for food there will be thus having a negative affect on the bass. i would suggest putting more structure in the lake so there are more suitable areas for the fish to spawn and stay alive from all of the crappie and other predator fish. food is obviously not an issue at all so better housing and less population will increase the size of the remaining fish.