Winter Fishing

[hookyou]

Winter is approaching and some anglers are putting away their gear away until Spring. Unfortunately, I'm addict to fishing now and I don't think I can wait until Spring. Any tips on where and how to fish for bass and what tackle to use? I will be mainly fishing from shore in the central and southern California region.

[ABW]

Here in Indiana its pretty much winter already. Hot baits for me have been jigs and texas rigs fished very slow. 

[everythingthatswims]

If you are in SoCal the bass should feed well all winter...I'm jealous

[hoosierbass07]

Here in Indiana its pretty much winter already. Hot baits for me have been jigs and texas rigs fished very slow. 

 

 

 Yep, I don't think we had much of a fall this year.   I just bought my first ice fishing rod yesterday.  Never iced fished before so I'm looking forward to do some winter fishing.  Who knows, it might be fun.  

[Bluebasser86]

Drag a jig or slowly twitch a suspending jerkbait. If there's bass to be caught you'll catch some on one of those two baits. 

[BaitMonkey1984]

I too am very hesitant to put the rods away for the year. Hunting season makes it a bit easier to swallow. I had both boats put away for the winter a few weeks ago, ending the season with a Personal Best Largemouth weighing 6.0 lbs even. I have had lots of 5-5.5 lbs however this was the first fish to break the 6lb mark, which is a very nice fish anywhere, but especially up herein Northern Massachusetts. Yet, even with ending the season on such a good note, I could not resist wetting a line today, with the day off from work in observance for Veteran's day. I was slow dragging/hopping a texas rigged Rage Craw from shore. I didn't get any bites but had several yellow perch following it. I would suggest you downsize to finesse tactics, light lines, small weights and like AsianBoyWonder mentioned- keep your retrieve painfully slow. Best of luck. 

[einscodek]

Even in southern Cal I would bet that the fishes would be deeper than shoreline in the winter.. I would say you prob need a boat unless you fish the temperatures spikes..

[Justin Mott]

Shoot, I bet the weather stays warm just about the whole year. Maybe they don't even get on a true winter run but more of a late fall type deal. Being California, I'd beat that all your bass are florida string fish. With that, I wouldn't was much time fishing after a front. But with every consistent weather week, I'd be hitting the lake fishing everything that I can cast at.

 

If the weather says warm, I'm all about flipping jigs and casting spinnerbaits...but that water is probably clear so let's go with the jerkbait or rattletrap. Honestly, I don't know why but a rattletrap will catch fish during some tough cold weather times. Its always a good bet for my winter fishing.

 

Justin Mott

[Angry John]

You might want to fish swim baits like a 6" hud.  They will go deep and you can fish them very deep.  thats a small bait for your area as most fish the 8"

[MO_LMB]

People put up their rods in the winter in California? If there wasn't any ice I don;t think i would stop fishing. Heck even when there is ice I don't stop. 

[PersicoTrotaVA]

Winter in Socal?  That's a great joke hehe.

 

Seriously though, drop shots and swimbaits.  As cliche as that sounds, they work.

[gobig]

It would help if you named some of the lakes that you would be fishing.

[Crestliner2008]

This past Sunday I had to finally put the boat away. Seven day forecast looked grim at that time with temps well below freezing. Last night we broke a record set back in 1946! 18 degrees! UGH.   Now we just have to be impatient for next March.

 

If you do have temps at just slightly above freezing right now, it's a great time to use your jerkbaits. Just not sure how much open water will be left around here?

[jakethesnake2001]

I also live in South Carolina and fish on lake Hartwell and some of the lake goes in Georgia. Striped bass or striper are ok during the winter but it is better with live bait. You can try a buck tail but it would be better to have a boat. Also it is November and is already getting in the twenty so be sure to grab some really warm cloths.  

[Ozark_Basser]

Your baits don't really have to change in the winter from my experience, unless the water gets cold enough for shad kills then I would be throwing a jerkbait a lot more or maybe a spoon.  I like jerkbaits regardless of whether it's cold or not, but if you can get away with bank fishing and throwing a jerkbait I'd be throwing one with the duration of pauses depending on water temp.  Long pauses with colder water and shorter pauses with warmer water. If you have water temps in the low 50's you can get away with not pausing between jerks TOO long.  Maybe something like two or three seconds between jerks. 

 

Fish seem to bunch up in the winter a lot so try and find a bassy looking area that has access to deep water (points that drop off into channels, steep banks or bluffs etc) and be patient.  If you find one, you might have found a whole school.