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As a rule it is known that bass fishing in the winter months isn’t as productive as the warmer months. But for me, I like to break rules. With a good understanding of the basses feeding habits and seasonal patterns, wintertime can be great fishing.

I have to say that some of my best bass fishing days have come on cold dreary days of the winter (November-February). Wintertime patterns start at different times throughout the country. I started my bass fishing career in Ohio, where winter patterns started in October. Now I live in East Texas where our winter patterns usually don’t take hold until December. But where ever you do your bass fishing, the bass have to eat year around.

Its important to understand about a fishes metabolism. This is what determines how much the fish has to eat, and how often. Since these creatures are cold blooded, their environment dictates how much they eat. In the colder months the fish don’t have to eat the same amount of food as they would in the summer months, because their body is burning the energy much slower.

Now that we know the feeding patterns in the wintertime are different than the other months, how do we go about catching them? Well, again this will be different for every region of the country, and also depends on the type of fishery (pond, river, lake, ect..). But there is some basic rules and practices that hold true for all of us.

There are always fish shallow. I can think of wintertime tournaments in the past, where the conditions make you think deep and the best bite is shallow. Last year at the Lake of the Ozarks Bass Masters event, the water temperature ranged from high 40’s to low 50’s. I was throwing a buzzbait and spinnerbait against the banks and weighed in almost forty pounds in three days and finished twenty second. Everyone was catching them in less than three feet with two stringers weighing over sixty pounds. After this experience, I never overlook the shallow bite when the winter comes.

Its my feeling that even though bass may be suspended and inactive most of the day, there are periods when they go on the feed and cruse the banks. I had another top finish on Ross Barnet in the 1998 Mississippi Invitational. The water was in the 40s and I found some Lilly pad stems in very shallow water. The sunshine would help warm the water to 50 degrees by noon. I would only have a few hours to catch these fish, but I ended up with a hefty paycheck and two out of three days big bass came from my boat. These fish were caught in less than two feet of water. Fishing shallow I will use an arsenal of baits including spinnerbaits, buzzbaits, worms, jigs, lizards, jerkbaits, crankbaits, ect...

Not all fish in the wintertime will be shallow. At a recent December tournament on Lake Sam Rayburn, the majority of the fish were caught in the mid rage depths (5-10 feet). The best way to cover these depths for me is a lipless crankbait like a rattletrap. This is especially effective in lakes that have some type of vegetation like hydrilla or millfoil. Crankbaits fished around this grass will cause vicious strikes. The key to fishing these baits is to make contact with the grass and rip the bait free. This will give the bait an erratic action and trigger a strike. Most of the tournaments on Rayburn and Toledo in the winter will be won on a rattletraps, this also includes many of the Bass Masters events that have been held in February. These baits are very easy to use, its pretty much chunk and whined. The key is to keep your rattletrap in contact with the grass. We usually find a half to three quarter ounce baits most effective.

But there are times throughout the winter when the deeper fish are the best to key in on. This is usually true after a major cold front. The deeper fish usually aren’t as affected by cold fronts as are shallow bass. In the 1998 Bass Masters on Rayburn, I was catching lots of big fish shallow in practice. The shallow bite was so good, I could hardly sleep that night in anticipation of catching a twenty plus pound stringer. Well, like most of us have experienced. We woke up to a nasty north wind and blue bird skies. This killed the great shallow bite and everyone went scrambling for a bite or two. At noon, I abandoned my shallow pattern only catching two keepers all morning and ran to some deeper fish that weren’t biting very good in practice. Tying on a DD22 we doubled on our first cast, and my partner and I culled a limit in the next thirty minutes. The cold front shut off the shallow fish and turned on the deep water fish. I ended up with a second place finish and was glad I made the adjustment. I like to concentrate on water 15-25 feet where I can see schools of shad with my electronics. Usually I choose a deep running crankbait or a Carolina rigged centipede. Working these baits up and down the edges of the structure whether it be a road bed, creek channel, or some type of hump. Some other baits that I use are jigging spoons, and a five inch grub on a quarter ounce jig head. These baits imitate shad, and these deeper fish will almost always be relating to a school of shad.

The last point that I will make is to dress for the occasion. Just because it feels comfortable when you walk out of the house doesn’t mean it will while you are on the lake. Its better to over dress than to under dress, you can always take off layers if it warms up. Another tip for the colder months is to carry a motor cycle helmet for the cold boat rides. It is like putting a heater on your head and the face shield will protect your face from wind burn. Also carry an extra change of clothes. This is coming from one who fell out of a boat on a 35 degree day. It can save a lot of pain and misery for you or your passenger.

I hope you find these tips helpful on your next wintertime bass trip. I run a full time guide service on Rayburn and we offer some of the best wintertime fishing in the country. Our water temperature seldom gets below 55 degrees, and we catch fish year around.

If would like to experience some great wintertime fishing you can call me at (409) 824-3161 or email me at fishrayburn@yahoo.com.

My rates will be discounted for the months of December and January, and I am taking bookings for the spring.

Best of luck, and don’t catch them all.

Jeff Buchanan

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