cold water bass?

Okay heres the deal…I have found a few lakes around me that will be fish-able within next weekend. Now I have never really fished cold water bass that much, can any of you guys me out a little? I do have some knowledge but not to much. What do you guys like use? What works best for you? Ill get some pictures if I make it out! Any piece of info will help alot

-Aaron

I don’t do much bassin’ this time of year, and i haven’t tried it much anyway…But..This time of year is similar to late fall..except for the fact that bass aren’t anywhere near spawn in late fall whereas right now they are going to be spawning in 2 months give or take a couple weeks….Depends on the weather. The fish will still be in their wintering holes, and since you are in a lake/pond, that means they will be pretty deep. In rivers, the fish don’t have to go as deep because the current keeps them comfertable. What i would be doing if i was on the river right now, is looking for warm areas if possible, and any type of major cover you can find. Use that Lawrance of yours to find them. A big downed tree or something of the likes and clobber it with finnesse stuff. if you got some confidence in a sweedish pimple or rapala jigging rap i would probably try that too. Also try small jigs with pork/plastic trailers like booyah boo jigs and strike king jigs…i get mine at walmart. Im just putting in my 2 cents. I’m still experimenting with this time of year…Just remember to fish deep…And keep getting shallower as the water warms up..once its up to 50..everybass for him self.

Aaron,
getting ready to head out huh? Still got the champ, still wish I had it! This time of the year I’d throw an 1/8 oz hair jig or the 1/8 oz bitsy bug by strike king with a small pork trailer. This is if the wind will allow you to throw that light of a presentation, because they will just pick it up ever so lightly and you don’t want a bunch of bow in your line caused by the wind. Just slowly drag it/slow hop it along the bottom. Look for a drop along side big flats or fast dropping points next to shallower bays. Hope this helps, and I hope you and the ole man are still enjoying the champ.

I fished a small lake/large pond today in eastern iowa, caught about 15 bass in 90 min, most on a jerkbait (pointer 78). Most fish were 12-13″ but it was fun, with a couple around 16″. Find some cover (tree, weeds, pallat,etc) near deep water and cast well past it, then crank it down close to cover and then jerk-jerk-pause (for 10+sec) then jerk-pause (10 sec). They will hit it on the pause, and you got em. I tried a jig and pig with some hits and a couple fish, but there was too much weed/slop on the bottom and cover to get it to come through with any consistency, and they want the bait moving very slow. good luck.

that sounds like a lot of fun bassbaron. How deep were you fishing? how deep does your jerkbait go? Do you have any other recomendations for jerkbaits besides a 20 dollar one?

I would read this article by Riverfan a few times and then when you are done reading it, I would print it out, shred it and sprinkle it on your oatmeal just to make sure you have obtained everything that is in it.

Cade-probably any jerkbait will work, but it has to suspend, so use dots/strips/lead, etc to get it to hang motionless. I have used rogues and husky jerks as well. A pointer 78 probably goes 4-5 feet down I would guess (on 10 lb line), I usually cast way past the object then reel down 10-12 times and then begin the jerk-pause, jerk-jerk-pause. At this time of year (imo and from reading) I pause it for 20 seconds or so- if you are patient you can do it longer. They were really at all depths- i know that sounds odd and I was off shore but would estimate i caught some fish in 3 feet of water, others in 18 and the deepest water in the lake is 20 – the key for me was structure. Laydowns, weeds, pallats, anything to provide cover and maybe warm up earlier??? Also, it works best in clear water, so make sure you are in an area with reasonable visibility. Good luck, read that riverfan article and let me know if you have other questions.

Read that one before. Its a great read. I don’t have much for jerkbaits so i was just wondering what you were using because i would like to apply some jerkbait fishing on the water this year..My next bait run will most likely include a few x-raps, a few deep down husky jerks (these are great) and maybe some rogues. I have a superroge but it only dives a few feet and suspends, but eventually it makes it back up to the surface in way less than 20 seconds..I have been looking in to suspend dots. I haven’t seen them in stores though where i am. Ill look at ace next time im there.
-thanks

Cade

I have thrown suspending shad raps in this situation. Run them down 10 to 15 cranks.(gets them alittle deeper) Then you can twitch or super slow roll them. When I attempt to Slow roll I use a spinning reel. This keeps things slowed down even further. If you want a wider action I have played with deep diving husky jerks as well.