Favorite cold water techniques

[A-Jay]

48 minutes ago, smalljaw67 said:

Jerkbait, hair jig, blade bait are the staples for cold water. The last few seasons we have done well with an underspin and fluke jr. trailer in water down to the upper 40s. Another thing is a 3.5" to 4" finesse style swimbait fished like a tube along the bottom on a ball head or football head jig but the big 3 are still the jerkbait, hair jig and blade bait.

This exactly for me ~

A-Jay

[Choporoz]

Getting to be time to break out the Silver Buddies!

[Dens228]

Based on this fall I'd say my favorite technique is crank baits. Once the water temp hit the 50's I've been loading up with 3 crank baits.....a 0-5 foot, a 4-7 foot, and a 8-12 foot, once I find the right depth I've been having a lot of success with cranks.  Probably 95% of my bass in October were on crank baits. 

[scaleface]

I caught 31 more today and 30 of them were  on a spinnerbait . I didnt wear enough clothes , no sun and a  light north wind had me freezing but the bass were   hitting .

[bassguytom]

I like fishing a blade bait and jerkbaits in the cold water. When I know fish are present I like to slow drag a paddle tail swimbait on the bottom. 

[Dens228]

49 minutes ago, Bassguytom said:

I like fishing a blade bait and jerkbaits in the cold water. When I know fish are present I like to slow drag a paddle tail swimbait on the bottom. 

I was all set to try a jerkbait today, I've never had much luck with them but also haven't really gave them a chance.  But today the water visibility was not good so I stuck with cranks.  I even tried a flat sided crank with no rattle, no luck. Regular crank with a rattle, boom. 

[JWall14]

Yeah I feel like it’s kind of boom or bust. Some days they are just real picky. How would you guys go about eliminating baits and finding the key bait that will catch em’?

[Mr. Aquarium]

pond was half frozen, snow on the ground, open water.  this was caught on a black blue finesse jig in 3 feet of water near a tree. fish smoked it. 

im looking forward to winter open water fishin, i go deep near structure with blade baits, hair jigs, slow. i catch a lot of smallies with some decent largemouth.  smallies are easier to get tho.  I find smaller ponds with water 10 feet or deeper. even if there isnt a deep hole, or hump on the depth map, find the steep drops. cuts or deep points. lot of times i cant mark fish on bottom. its crazy especially smallies willl literally be right on bottom.  one day last february or early march, water temps in the low 40s. i was on a pile of decent smallies. i had to be 20-22 feet deep in front of this one house. if i was in 19 feet i didnt get them, i didnt mark any fish either. i saw something directly on bottom that looked weird,  turned out it was a 3lbs smallies. it was so small on the finder that it could of been missed.  

lot of guys do well around MA with jerkbaits in shallow ponds but i only pesky pickerel, so i find deeper ponds with blade baits.  i fish out of the kayak and get steady number of fish all winter

[Dens228]

14 hours ago, JWall14 said:

Yeah I feel like it’s kind of boom or bust. Some days they are just real picky. How would you guys go about eliminating baits and finding the key bait that will catch em’?

I use a quicker moving bait like cranks or spinnerbaits, and a slower bait like a jig or t-rig,  I tend to start with cranks and spinnerbaits though. 

[maherme]

For me, t-rig, small jigs and drop-shot are the best options in cold waters.

[everythingthatswims]

Surprised there isn't more talk of cold water cranking. Only certain baits will work, but if you have water that is cold and anywhere between 1' vis and 5' vis you have a shot at some really big bass with a crankbait.

 

My favorites are a shad rap and wiggle wart when it is really cold. Those baits will work in warmer temps too, but they are some of the few baits that will work once water dips below 45, a spro little john is good too if the fish are being a little more aggressive. HAVE to find rock to tick them off of. Rip rap corners are excellent.

[J.Vincent]

Cotton Cordel Big O Smokey Joe; customized to be neutrally buoyant and slow cranked parallel with the deepest shoreline ledges in a pond. I'm amazed how often a largemouth will rise up from a few feet deep to slurp this lure in 40-45 degree water. I do not deflect off bottom with this unconventional approach, but instead I run these a few feet above the deepest sloping shoreline ledges. It just works and the sunnier days on northern shorelines seem to produce best. 

[LonnieP]

12 hours ago, everythingthatswims said:

Surprised there isn't more talk of cold water cranking. Only certain baits will work, but if you have water that is anywhere between 1' vis and 5' vis you have a shot at some really big bass with a crankbait.

 

 

 

My favorites are a shad rap and wiggle wart when it is really cold. Those baits will work in warmer temps too, but they are some of the few baits that will work once water dips below 45, a spro little john is good too if the fish are being a little more aggressive. HAVE to find rock to tick them off of. Rip rap corners are excellent.

The SPRO Little John is my favorite Crankbait for cool water. Caught 12 bass,a pickerel,and a crappie yesterday on one. Water was 57 degrees 

[Dens228]

Like I said above....I've been hugely successful with crankbaits for the past month. 

[iceintheveins]

Jerkbaits are my go to in that water temperature. But don't overlook lipless cranks, under spins, ned rigs, shad raps, and wiggle wart style cranks either. Spinnerbaits and jigs almost always get a few bites too.