What to use, now?

[basscaster88]

I just couldn't decide what to use today. Water was cold but calm.(around 40 degrees). First i started with the plastics. casted a few with a green pumpkin color. Then i tried watermelon pearl...still not even a nibble.(texas rigged by the way) Then after a while i went to a terminator chartusue and white spinnerbait and yet again not even a bite.

So whats good for this time of year?

How should i fish that lure?

[tritz18]

Just recently fished water at 40 degrees, my friends and I had alot of success on smaller jigs, red eye shad and shallow diving crankbaits. Caught alot of our fish in the 4-5 foot range.

Fished the jig very slow with slight hops on the bottom. Red Eye shad and crankbait was a pause and retrieve method.

[basscaster88]

Thanks for the input. I've never fished jigs before and haven't fished crankbaits very much either. I've done some research on jigs and for the most part im sold. I'll have to try them next time.

[Team9nine]

Check out this thread if you haven't already seen it over on the Tackle Forum where guys list their 3 favorite cold water baits. Should give you some real good ideas as well as what the "favorites" tend to be.

http://www.bassresource.com/bass_fishing_forums/YaBB.pl?num=1268337352

-T9

[Taylor Fishin 4 life]

also dont be afraid to fish a suspending jerkbait do about 1 or 2 mabye 3 pauses at a time and let it sit 5 to 10 seconds and just switch up your retrieve till u figure them out 

[Fishing Rhino]

I know places are different, but bass have similar patterns.

I remember a post from last year which addressed the topic of staging bass, which is what they are now doing in the colder climes.

If you have shelves which extend out from the shore, you need to explore until you find them.  Once you do, find more bottom of similar composition and depth, and you'll quite likely find more bass.

They are on the outer edges of the shelf in the pond I fish, in four to six feet of water.

I have caught over 25 bass on jigs in five short days of fishing.  Only two were under two pounds, and not by much.

This is the time of the year that should produce the largest average size.  Just fish the jig very slowly.  The bass are still lethargic.

Of those 25 bass, only one came to the surface and rolled around a bit.  The others stayed "deep".  As deep as you can get in five or six feet of water.

[basscaster88]

all great advice. thanks for the link sorry i didn't search hard enough for that

as for the post above me. how should i fish the jig? just drag it slowly across the bottom or give it a few jerks, or both?

[Fishing Rhino]

all great advice. thanks for the link sorry i didn't search hard enough for that

as for the post above me. how should i fish the jig? just drag it slowly across the bottom or give it a few jerks, or both?

The key to jig fishing is to keep the slack out of the line with just enough tension to do that.

It keeps you "in touch" with the bait.  Many times, a bass will hit a jig while it is lying motionless on the bottom.  It may not actually be motionless.  The skirt may be "breathing".  Motionless, in this instance, means you are not imparting any action to the bait.

Vary your retrieve.  You can twitch it, jerk it, or just slide it slowly along the bottom, letting it hop over rocks, if there are any.

Mix it up a bit, but think slow.  If you give it a quick jerk, let it set for a few seconds afterward.

Pay attention to what you are doing, or have been doing when you get a hit.  If you do, you're on your way to developing a feel and a sixth sense for what they want.

Don't hesitate to experiment with your retrieves, as long as you keep thinking "slow".

Heck, I've had them hit as I crank in the last few feet of a retrieve.  Not very often though.

[basscaster88]

I went out today and gave a jig with a trailor a try and had a few small hits. couldn't make out if they were bass or just bluegill hitting the tail on the trailor. after a while i just assumed it was the bluegill...but im going to a better lake hopefully tomarrow and saturday i'm goin on a little road trip with some friends to fish at they're cabin. should be fun! that is if the weather holds..

[Hammer 4]

What type of trailer are you using..?  I would try a craw, such as the ragetail craw chunk..

[DeanFishesNY]

Did you try to set the hook at all after feeling the hits? You might have had one and not even known it, sometimes they hit it hard but I've also had days where they softly hit it and it feels like just a little something extra is there.

[Deleted account]

#10 husky jerk.

[dale]

Most people over look a Silver Buddy but is a great cold water bait.

[wkendfisher]

Most people over look a Silver Buddy but is a great cold water bait.

How do you fish it?

[Beastie Bass]

I live in Southern Indiana and lately I've been tearing em up on small finesse jigs (Eakins and Boo-Yah Bed Bugs) with small craw trailers. I get most bites in 4-8 feet of water on the fall, but I retrieve it with small hops and pauses and get just as many strikes that way. The only other baits I've been successful with this year are LC pointers and a few smaller cranks.