Bigger bass in the winter

[TnRiver46]

23 hours ago, king fisher said:

My advice is to buy a plane ticket to Mexico, then use what ever lure your guide recommends.

Of course I do believe the MA state record was over 15 pounds and caught through the ice, so what do I know?  In Mexico a big plus is getting a margarita with ice instead of one while sitting on the ice.

Something about fishing with a guide just takes the whole sense of accomplishment out of it for me. And I work some as a guide haha

[roadwarrior]

30 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Something about fishing with a guide just takes the whole sense of accomplishment out of it for me

They say only 10% of the water holds fish. On a new lake it's hard getting through the 90% of

nothingness. Bass are easy to catch, it's finding them is the hard part. I like fishing with a guide.

 

 

[TnRiver46]

8 minutes ago, roadwarrior said:

They say only 10% of the water holds fish. On a new lake it's hard getting through the 90% of

nothingness. Bass are easy to catch, it's finding them is the hard part. I like fishing with a guide.

 

 

Nothing wrong with that, and like I said I’ve profited from it. I just prefer to do the finding and catching on my own 

[Mr. Aquarium]

I managed to catch my first winter 5. January 13th 5lbs 10 ounce for the first fish of the year. Had a great bite window.  5-10 and heavy 4, mid 3 and a dink with a few missed fish in the mix. We had big warm front, rains winds and warm weather. I went shallow flipping jigs into shore line brush and tress. Wind was blowing 30, about 60 degrees out. It was hard to fish in the kayak. Found them in a small calm pocket! 
 

[Munkin]

On 11/29/2022 at 12:18 AM, WRB said:

If I was fishing where you are during the cold water period for big bass my lure selection would be simple old school Hair jigs with #11 pork frog. 

NorthStar hairy brown and hairy black hair-living rubber jigs in 1/2 and 3/4 oz with Uncle Josh # 11 brown and black pork trail. 

Keep it simple and use 12# FC line and work major points and rock slides from 2’ to 40’. Cast and let sink until the line jumps slack, turn the reel handle 1 turn and repeat. Shake the jig out of any snags and Shake about every 5’ depth change.

Focus focus focus the strike are very light so watch your line closely!

Tom

 

Around here bear hair jigs with the pork trailer (If you can find them) are what work in cold >40 degree water. For the river you need to find their wintering holes where they stack up. I don't catch many fish but the ones I do are usually the biggest SM I catch all year. For example the last year I fished a winter tournament I had 17-4 and my best summer weight was 9-2 five fish limit.

 

Allen

[Mr. Aquarium]

I want to get into the winter smallie game. I’ve caught a few in the winter but never hammered them like I see other people do up here in the north.  Now that I got a PDL Kayak and electronics probably be a little bit easier