Plastic worm fishing in cold water

[Mobasser]

A friend who owned a hardware store years ago in our town had a big bass mounted. He caught this bass on a Creme Scoundrel 6" plastic worm, air temp was 35 degrees, and spitting snow. It used to be common in my area for guys to stop fishing plastic worms in later fall, and switch to jigs , or stop bass fishing for the year. Since a plastic worm is my favorite bass lure, I fish them through the cold season too. Jigs can be excellent too, as many know. I opt for a Zoom finesse worm, Texas rigged. It seems like darker colors have worked better in cold water, and of course a very slow retrieve, sometimes letting the bait sit for several seconds before dragging or slowly lifting from the bottom. Weeds are not usually much of a problem in cold water, but I still go with a Texas rig the most. Sometimes a lighter split shot rig can work well too. Fishing slowly is the key. For me, I'm sure it's 90% a confidence thing, as I've caught more bass through the years on plastic worms, of various sizes and brands than any other baits. They will definitely produce in colder water. Any others fish them in cold water, or do you go with something else? If so what's your favorite worm/rig?

[TnRiver46]

Straight tail worm on an 1/8 round ball jig head. I fish this all year but definitely down deep in coldest part of winter 

[scaleface]

I use to  opt for a jig because that is what they use to preach . But heck anymore I might throw a texas rig , jig and grub , spinnerbait , crankbait ...   whatever I choose it is fished s l o w .  When I think back of all  the November and February bass that I have caught , more than half were on a crankbait .Bomber Model A and Arbogast   Mud Bug .

[the reel ess]

TRICK WORM gets them year round! But I'm leaning toward a jig all the time now.

[Bluebasser86]

A zoom magnum finesse worm on a 1/16 or 1/8oz shakyhead is one of my main fish catchers during the winter months.

[TOXIC]

I will throw a shakeyhead, dropshot, Ned and weightless Senko in the cold water months.  Just remember to slow way down.  

[NittyGrittyBoy]

Yep, shakyhead or dropshot black trick worm is my go to winter worms. 

[scaleface]

This is just an experiment  , an attempt   to resize a photo to fit this forum without  using a third party . Bomber Model A and a cold  water  bass caught a long time ago .  Super Bowl XXIII hat . LOL and that is a Shacket underneath that Hoodie . Man I was skinny .

[NittyGrittyBoy]

It worked! How long ago was that? Nice bass!

[scaleface]

1 minute ago, NittyGrittyBoy said:

It worked! How long ago was that? Nice bass!

Im guessing 29 years ago .

[Dorado]

Cool topic.  Winter months, albeit not much of a winter in Arizona, the drop shot is by far my most successful technique with soft plastics. I did make a vow this season to fish the split shot rig more often with curly tails and finesse worms. @Mobasser did you discover a pattern where the split shot rig was more effective than Texas rigging? 

[Russ E]

Shakyhead is number one.

Second is a Dropshot with some type of finesse worm or a super fluke jr.. Lately a Zman Trick Shotz has produced.

Winter is about the only time I use a Dropshot.

[greentrout]

I'll use a zoom trick worm in various colors mostly around the dam and rip rap...crawl it along very slow slow slowly t-rigged with a hot thermos of coffee with me...

 

good fishing...

 

 

[Mobasser]

2 hours ago, Dorado said:

Cool topic.  Winter months, albeit not much of a winter in Arizona, the drop shot is by far my most successful technique with soft plastics. I did make a vow this season to fish the split shot rig more often with curly tails and finesse worms. @Mobasser did you discover a pattern where the split shot rig was more effective than Texas rigging? 

Dorado, the split shot about 15" above a Zoom or roboworm has done we'll on some days. A very slow crawl works best. As others have said, slow is the secret to this

3 hours ago, scaleface said:

This is just an experiment  , an attempt   to resize a photo to fit this forum without  using a third party . Bomber Model A and a cold  water  bass caught a long time ago .  Super Bowl XXIII hat . LOL and that is a Shacket underneath that Hoodie . Man I was skinny .

Looking good!

[WRB]

Most injection molded soft plastics have poor action in water colder then 45 degrees.

If you use soft plastic worms consider hand pours or worms with thin ribbon tails. 

I use pork rind year around and pork doesn't loose it's suttle action in cold water, so look in your storage areas for the old reliable jig n pig.

Tom 

[Catt]

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, Catt said:

I have a mountain of hand poured craws like that. Half grape and half black 

[Mobasser]

7 hours ago, Catt said:

Catt, I havnt tried many craw baits in colder water. I've mostly stayed with straight tail worms, with lighter weight.It always seemed like the less action I had going, the better. I'll have to try some craws on a shakey head, or lighter Texas rig. One thing for sure, cold water fishing really takes some patience. If you lose your concentration, it's too easy to start moving the bait too fast. If I figure I'm in a good spot, almost deadsticking the bait seems to work the best, keeping as close to bottom as possible. If the weather has been up and down, I try to wait for 3-4 days of warming steady weather, then I'll go. Scaleface brought up some good points too. With a consistent warming, a deep crankbait may work well also, fished slowly. Either way it can be tough, as you know. Very different from spring, summer fishing, but good practice on light striking fish.

[Catt]

A bass's metabolism is finally tuned to its circulatory system temperature which is the same as the surrounding water temperature. In cold water their metabolism slows down, their brain slows down, so the bass slows down.

 

This does not mean the bass don't actively feed during cold water periods. 

 

Slower metabolism simply means it takes the bass longer to digest their food which means they don't have to feed as often.

 

Nothing is more deadly down here in cold water than a Rat-L-Trap... could y'all explain why this loud, fast moving obnoxious lures triggers big bass in cold water?

 

Just like any other time of year I'll throw both subtle & loud lures letting the bass tell me what they want.

 

The opposite of those Rage Lobsters is Gene Larew's Salty Hawg Craw.

 

[lo n slo]

i love craw worms

[KDW96]

14 hours ago, WRB said:

Most injection molded soft plastics have poor action in water colder then 45 degrees.

If you use soft plastic worms consider hand pours or worms with thin ribbon tails. 

I use pork rind year around and pork doesn't loose it's suttle action in cold water, so look in your storage areas for the old reliable jig n pig.

Tom 

 

40 minutes ago, Catt said:

A bass's metabolism is finally tuned to its circulatory system temperature which is the same as the surrounding water temperature. In cold water their metabolism slows down, their brain slows down, so the bass slows down.

 

This does not mean the bass don't actively feed during cold water periods. 

 

Slower metabolism simply means it takes the bass longer to digest their food which means they don't have to feed as often.

 

Nothing is more deadly down here in cold water than a Rat-L-Trap... could y'all explain why this loud, fast moving obnoxious lures triggers big bass in cold water?

 

Just like any other time of year I'll both subtle & loud lures letting the bass tell me what they want.

 

The opposite of those Rage Lobsters is Gene Larew's Salty Hawg Craw.

 

 

Very good info to remember. Read them-then read again,again,again