What Lures For 40 - 50 Degree Water

[iceintheveins]

What should I use in lakes with this temperature? They are shallow lakes with some weedgrowth and not much water over 15 feet deep. The primary forage are bluegills, green sunfish, and smaller bass.

[Big Bait Fishing]

Mattlures soft and hard gills !!! with the soft gills since they have a top hook , you can slow roll them on the bottom or a few feet off of it . with the hard gills just fish thru out the water column , fished slow also but with small twitches thrown in to elicit strikes . another bait to use is suspending jerk baits , try matching the forage id possible or go with greens and slight oranges , mimicing sunfish and blue gills 

[Gone_Phishin]

-1/4oz finesse jig with tiny Paca chunk

-LC Staycee

-3/16oz Picasso Shakedown w/ 4" Roboworm straight tail

[ww2farmer]

Suspending jerkbaits, lipless crankbaits, tight wiggling/flat bodied crankbaits, drop shot rigs w/ finesse type plastics like a robo worm, or a gulp minnow, and or a jig. Thats what I usually have tied on in 40 degree water.  I know other guys that like big spinnerbaits for slow rolling, jigging spoons, silver buddy, and they do well with those too.

[carrothead]

Suspending jerkbaits, lipless crankbaits, tight wiggling/flat bodied crankbaits, drop shot rigs w/ finesse type plastics like a robo worm, or a gulp minnow, and or a jig.

x2

[roadwarrior]

Jerkbaits and lipless cranks on the Tennessee

River. GMAN mop jig with a Rage Tail Lobster

on local ponds.

8-)

[MALTESE FALCON]

1-Lipless Crankbaits

2-Tight wiggling crankbaits

3-Spinnerbaits

4-Jerkbaits

Falcon

[Wayne P.]

Well, since no one has suggested one of the best presentations for that water temp:

CHATTERBAIT

[KYntucky Warmouth]

The only thing I have been able to catch em on so far are a suspending jerkbait (Owner Cultiva 65SP) and a Koppers Liver Target Pumkinseed.

[backwater4]

All great suggestions, I'd add a hair jig also.

[River Rat316]

There is much more at play besides just water temps at the time you are fishing, is it cooling or warming? If its cooling to 40-50 degrees (say it was 55 last week) then I would be fishing as slow as possible next to any structure/weeds on the deep edge I could find, hair jigs, smaller plastics, and jerkbaits all fished painfully slow. If it is warming to 50 degrees (say ice out was last week or the water was in the low 40s last week) Then you could speed things up a bit, Jigs, hair jigs, jerkbaits, and even spinnerbaits and lipless cranks if the fish are starting to cruise shallow looking for a meal.

[5bass]

Clear water: suspending jerkbaits

Wayne P. suggested a Chatterbait. If the water is stained, the chatterbait is a solid choice.

[BeenFishin]

My first response was stupid; here is a more educated approach: Simple single dimple-blade spinner bait; fire/tiger or yellow in color, 1 1/4oz size try pulling it past deeper structure. It may be challenging getting a bite in shallower areas in those temps unless you have some form of current such as a drain out with warmer current. Most bass will hold deeper until things warm up. Is it legal to fish bass now in your area?

[iceintheveins]

My first response was stupid; here is a more educated approach: Simple single dimple-blade spinner bait; fire/tiger or yellow in color, 1 1/4oz size try pulling it past deeper structure. It may be challenging getting a bite in shallower areas in those temps unless you have some form of current such as a drain out with warmer current. Most bass will hold deeper until things warm up. Is it legal to fish bass now in your area?

Yeah Colorado doesn't have a season restriction, though I would happily have one in return for some actual fish management. Jigs and suspending jerks were two lures I figured on using.

[BluegrassBoy]

I Fish that temp w/ wiggle warts, shaky heads, and jigs.