Winter Bass Techniques

By Callum Munro

Winter is the best time to target bass as most of the fish will travel downstream into the widest body of water. But you will need to learn techniques that will produce better than others to gain the best results.  

Let's take a look at three of the best techniques for a winter bass beatdown.

 

Jerkbaiting the Edges

Lure – Daiwa Double Clutch and Daiwa Steez Shad 60SP 

Technique – First step is to wind the lure to get it to the correct depth and you can start off with 3 small jerks of the rod and then a pause. I usually leave it for around 3 seconds, then wind up the slack and continue with 3 whips of the rod. When doing this technique, it is important to not be winding while you whip the rod as this would move the lure too quickly.

Remember, bass love lures that move slowly through winter. So, the less you wind, usually the better the results you will have. Bass love to hit a lure on the pause so make sure ready for that bite to come. This is really an addictive way to target bass.

 

Soft Plastics

Lure – Daiwa Bait Junkie Minnow 

Technique – This has got to be one of my favourite techniques and it’s a super effective way to catch bass. Slow rolling a Daiwa Bait Junkie across the bottom is deadly on bass. It's stirs up the mud and that's something that bass absolutely love. This is a frustratingly painful technique to do as you need to wind really slow to keep the plastic bouncing along the bottom. The jigheads I use are either a 3/4 or 5/8th oz. These weights will keep your Daiwa Bait Junkie down on the bottom.

Feeling the Vibe

Lure – Daiwa Steez Vibe 

Technique – As you hop the lure up off the bottom, the key is to keep your rod tip high as you let the lure fall back to the bottom. When doing this, the lure will stay up in the water column longer, so the fish have better chance of hitting the lure. If you drop your rod too quickly, you will lose line tension, and you won’t feel the bite because the bass will always hit the lure as it free falls back to the bottom. If you do not have line tension you will not feel the bass hit the lure, resulting in many missed opportunities. The lure will also sink more quickly so the fish will not have enough time to react. The best way I found when starting is to use a slow draw of the rod and keep it up as you let the lure fall back to the bottom, repeat this, and focus on keeping line tension.