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Some would say that it's not worth you time to go out and fish for bass in winter. The fishing is too slow and they don't eat much when the water drops below 50 deg. I disagree! Infact if you break it down, It can be easier to locate and catch Bass in these conditions. There are a few key things that you need to look for and do to find these bass and it works very well. These techniques work primarily for smallmouth. The first thing I look for is the best area to fish. I look for hard bottom(rocks). With a good Lawrance finder you can find the hard bottom. I usaully will look in depths around 25-60 feet depending on weather and water temp. Once you find the hard bottom in these depths you can then key in on the finer structure like humps and drop offs. The Bass will consentrate in these areas for the winter, so if you find one there are usually others close by. The Bass are still feeding in these conditions. They just aren't feeding on as many food sources. They are looking for the biggest and easiest food source to eat without spending a large amount of energy to catch it. With that said, I have found that a crawfish is a primary food source for Smallmouth in the winter. A Crawfish is a big meal, moves fairly slow and migrates to the rocky areas of deeper water. So once you find an area like this, the first thing I throw is a craw immitation on a heavy football head. Its is a great search bait that stays in contact with the bottom. Try different retrieve speeds. The Bass may be very active and you can get a good reaction bite from a fast retrieve or they could be inactive and will hit it with a slow or Deadstick technique. Another great technique is to Carolina rig a Lizard, Spider grub or even a tube bait. I have had the most success with the crawfish on a football head jig. Go with what you have confidence in. The most important thing is to find the bass then try these different baits to see what they are in the mood for. Remember to try your spots at different times of the day. Bass do move around in these conditions. They just don't move far or fast. So you might not get any bites on a spot in the morning but mid-day it could be very good. So if you find good bottom, chances are there will be fish there at some point in the day. Try these things the next time your out on the lake and it should help you find the Smallies.

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Comment by Marc Marcantonio on March 4, 2009 at 7:04pm
C-RIDE, I couldn't agree more! You nailed things pretty well. A few years ago I had Lake Washington all to myself all winter long. There have been many days when I was the only boat on the water, and I caught a lot of bass down to 65 feet deep. There may be even deeper bass, I just haven't tried deeper yet (I have caught spotted bass down to 85 feet deep at Shasta).

ciao,
Marc

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