Best lures for cold water?

[sto]

I see some professionals throwing spinnerbaits in cold water. I know that other conditions other than water temp determine which lures to use. I'm just interested in know what you'll have as a "go to" lure in cold water. 

[WRB]

What do you consider cold water?

Tom

[sto]

I'm dealing with water that's in the low 40s. 

[WRB]

Low 40's this time of year, 1st day of spring, you must be located in a region where lakes freeze. The reason I ask is trying to determine how to answer your question and to do that effectively is also knowing the prey types LMB or smallmouth may be targeting.

Low 40's would be surface temps and this tends to eliminate Shad species as a choice of baitfish that need warmer water to survive. Deep water structure spoons would be of little help for example. 

Slowing moving lures that can stay at a specific depth range would be good to start with.

Bottom bumping lures are another class to consider.

The 1st thing to determine is what prey are the bass feeding on?? If you have a boat and a sonar unit you can do a lot of surveying looking for bait and bass to determine how deep to fish. In 40-44 degree water bass are not using up, a lot of energy to catch prey and are moving horizontally within the water column.

Slow rolled spinner baits can work at the right depth. Slow rolled Underspins are usually a better choice. Ice jigs cab be very effective.

Jigs of several types from dart heads, shaky heads or traditional bass jigs fished at the right depth are good.

Soft plastics drop shot or split shot stay at the right depth and are good choices.

Deep diving crankbait fish slower and Jerk baits are good.

Swimbaits and glide baits also work.

Tom

[sto]

I'm in the Pacific Northwest. The water here doesn't really freeze, but it stays really cold for a long time because the temp rarely gets high until late April into May. The water temp of the lake near my house is in the 30s today. At least that's what the lake report said for today. I have a Lowrance that I'm putting on my kayak this year.  So I should be able to tell the actual temp of a lake as I'm on it. 

I have all of the lures that you mentioned, so I'll be giving them a try. We have A LOT of grass and weeds up here. The bottom of all the lakes I fish are covered in vegetation. When I hook up the Lowrance I'll be able to determine the depth and use the appropriate crankbait for the depth I'm fishing.

Thanks for your suggestions. I truly appreciate the help!

[Turtle135]

The water I winter fish for largemouth ranges from 38 - 43 degrees. During that period I basically only use suspending jerkbaits (like a Lucky Craft Pointer 100 or 78) and a football jig & craw. Some anglers I fish with will use a Blade Bait (like a Silver Buddy).

If my water goes below 38 degrees I am likely getting skunked and just hoping for a bite. If my water hits 45 degrees or warmer then a lot of other presentations come into play.

[WRB]

Keep in mind the water surface and to about 3' doesn't accurately indicate what the core water temps are where the bass live. For example spring water usually is around 55 to 60 degrees year around providing warm water during the winter and cool water during the summer. 

Sonar units can determine the difference between cold water and warmer water by density of the signal; cold water has higher density and you can adjust the signal strength to show a darker haze for cold water, then the warmer water looks like clear background without haze. This is also how to see a thermocline layer using a similar signal strength adjustment.

You can do the same adjustments to indicate soft lake bottom with lower density than hard lake bottom like gravel or rocks that return a stronger signal.

I have always had success in your area using black jigs with black #11 UJ pork trailer, same compact and can be fished slowly...look for rocks or gravel bottom.

Good fishing,

Tom

[sto]

@Turtle135I just bought a few suspended jerkbaits. Haven't used them yet, but I'm excited to start using it.  I need to practice using jerkbaits since the waters here stay cold so long.  Do you fish it super slow?

Thanks for the advice! 

@WRB thanks brother. I definitely have a lot to learn. I became serious about fishing last year and I'm getting much better. This year I have to take it to the next level and learn more about fishing conditions and work on my presentation in conjunction with the conditions and the habitat. 

[fisherrw]

Jerkbait and jig my go to for cold water

[Caliyak]

7 hours ago, STAGOUTDOORS said:

I'm in the Pacific Northwest. 

Which area in the PNW? 

[sto]

@Caliyak I'm in Tacoma

[IndianaFinesse]

The colder the water, the longer the pauses.  Sometimes I will even use pauses up to 30-45 seconds.

[je1946]

Me,  Blades, spoons, hair jigs, jerk baits with long pauses.  If I'm strictly going for largemouth I look for wood in the water, the fish will be hanging there.

[NinjaAbassin]

I live in Washington also, I completely understand the cold water you're talking about can't wait for April/May to come! I usually drop shot in the cold water, as well as lipless crankbait and jerkbaits. I actually caught my personal best 7lb LMB last week water temps were about 45-47 and it was right after that nasty high wind/rain storm we had. I used a simple weighted wacky rig setup. No matter what I throw in the cold water I always have long pauses in between reeling. They mainly reaction strike I've noticed. I just started fishing July 2015 as well! Guess we both got bit by the fishing bug!