The reason a largemouth bass has a large mouth is because it likes to eat a large amount of food. His big mouth doesn’t freeze shut in winter. Three keys to finding a cold water bucketmouth are to fish any remaining structure, use larger lures and cover a lot of water. I combine finesse fishing and reaction lures to completely cover an area. Whatever lure you use for winter largemouths, only work a spot for for 15 minutes before moving on.
4 Lures to Fool Big Winter Largemouths
Blade Bait
Even the coldest largemouth bass can’t resist a blade bait shimmering and twitching over a grass bed or rock pile. I keep one medium-light spinning combo spooled with eight-pound monofilament and rigged with a Binsky blade bait. It is critical to drop the blade bait directly below the kayak and jig vertically and then let it sink slowly.
On a trip last winter, I dropped my blade bait and immediately hooked up with a small bass. A couple more small bass and I switched to a chatterbait to look for bigger fish.
Chatterbait
While winter bass might be lethargic, you can still make them angry. To really piss off a cold bass, throw a chatterbait at him.
A chatterbait jig or soft-plastic tail with a metal blade on the jighead. I can use a steady retrieve like a crankbait, buzz it it on the surface like a spinnerbait or bounce the chatterbait off the bottom like a jig. This is great for quickly and efficiently covering the water column.
I like to cast the lure out and sink to the bottom then jig it back to the kayak. This alerts bass on the bottom that a meal is in the area and suspended bass can still see it.
Finesse Worm
Everything is cold in winter. Bass and bait both take on slower, more subtle moves. Nothing imitates a frost-bitten bait better than a soft plastic on a small jig head. I look for a jig tail that floats so it sticks up when the jighead is resting on the bottom. I make very slight bounces with the rod tip to twitch the tail like a baitfish calling in a bass for a bite.
When the fish strikes, it is important to set the hook immediately. Cold weather makes bass fishermen slow, too.
Suspending Jerkbait
Every winter angler should have a selection of jerkbaits in his arsenal. This hard-plastic baitfish imitation is designed to hover in the water column and give a spastic twitch when the angler yanks the rod tip. The key is to work the lure slowly. I put five to 15 seconds between each twitch. Alternate the length of the pause to find where the fish are responding.
This article was first published in the Winter 2015 issue of Kayak Angler Magazine. Subscribe to Kayak Angler Magazine’s print and digital editions, or browse the archives.
Work structure with a slow retrieve, but don’t bother staying in one place too long. | Feature photo: Mike Ernst
For many years, I subscribed to the Texas Honey Hole (THH) and Bassmaster magazines. THH had many contributing writers across Texas that were also guides. The Crippled Herring (Luhr Jensen/Rapala) was the most talked about metal jig with those guides. One winter day, I received a call from the editor of the THH. He invited me to fish with him with the promise of catching (100) big largemouth in a single day. His technique was to vertical jig a 1 oz Crippled Herring over submerged reservoir river beds in 45-55 feet of water. I still kick myself for not being able to make that trip. Then there was Hall of Famer, Kevin Van Dam, who called the Crippled Herring his “#1 search bait”. As with the THH publication, the Bassmaster also highly touted the Crippled Herring as a premier bass bait. The Crippled Herring presently holds an IGFA line record for a 17 lb largemouth. The Kandlefish is another metal jig that is also a premier bass lure.