Team9nine

Leave them on and upgrade the belly treble a size or two.

Yep - though it has days where it seems tricker than others, usually when trying to tie it to light (4-6 lb.) leaders. I don’t run braid/leader on baitcasters (just 1 exception this year), so almost all spinning outfits. As such, I really only use it maybe a third of the time at best. Have used a lot more ‘J knot’ connections this past year or two, and Alberto’s any other time.

Got out M-Tu-W; not much going on, but caught some every day, along with about a dozen crappie to 1.5 lbs. Water 46-51 depending on lake and day, but warming trends, cloud and heavy wind haven’t seemed to make much difference in the bite for me. We need rain and stained water, I think.

Actually in SC, but it’s getting down close to FL, which we decided was too hot when we were looking for a home…and neat is relative. Just don’t look in the storage compartments - lol I wish…$140 later, I’m all permitted up

Nothing big, but we’re on the board in 2026 with about a dozen bass Friday on jighead minnows. In the process of trying to obtain lake permits for the year 🤑 💰

Great in cold water as already mentioned; ‘Okay’ in warm water, IMO - but don’t sleep on a steady ‘slow roll’ presentation in winter with the bait as an alternative to lift-drop. Here’s a pair of nearly 8 pound bass, both caught in Dec., on slow rolled blades…

Megabass 110 jerkbait got this 8.20 lb. pre-spawner in Feb. Honorable mention: 298 days later, a Damiki Vault scored this 7.73 lb. bass in Dec.

Not an electrician, but I thought a lot of the guys had gone to 18v rechargeable batteries (frequently used with power tools) to run theirs. Would that not account for the higher reading? I’m still running traditional DC battery, so I spend a lot of time in the high 11V range.

Snuck out for a few hours yesterday afternoon to chase bass. This lake is deep and holds its heat better, plus we’ve had a bit of a warm spell, so surface temps had risen to 50 degrees; air temp steady at 55-56 all afternoon. Calm and cloudy conditions had the bass roaming. Picked up one on a jerkbait and the rest on jighead minnow, mostly schoolers. Half a dozen or just over, with nothing over 3 lbs., along with a bonus bullhead.

Everyone above has covered it well ^^ My only additional thought would be, if it’s just a situational thing based on how you fish, you can easily get by with just a handful of spoons for those “just in case” times. You know YOU best, but you don’t need a dedicated box and full arsenal of options to catch bass. Just depends on your approach and commitment to the technique.

You got that right 😆 Everybody goes back home… …and yes, mass has its advantages. Even though they’re small, my 45 ft deep lakes cool slower than my 25 ft deep ones (the reverse is true in spring).

Yes, you’re missing, IMO. When the fish are more grouped but pegged near the bottom, they seem to react to a spoon much better than a minnow. You can really trigger a reaction bite due to the speed of rips and falls that you can't get with a minnow. I like the minnow better when the bass are well up off the bottom (several feet or more), all the way to the surface.

Big fan of the Vaults, too. Really nice baits after some mods. Also a fan of the Johnson Thinfisher in the smallest size, but that is more a specialized thing for shallow water.

I rotate around on 4 lakes, but all are small, between 300-800 acres, and 2 are pretty shallow (<25 ft max). Elevation could play into it, too, as we sit at nearly 1,000 ft in the foothills.

Beautiful day out on the water. Got in 2-1/2 hrs of fishing this afternoon. Water 45-46 deg. Ended up catching about 20 fish, mostly crappie. Best bass went 2-3/4 lb.; best crappie 1-3/4 lb. Supposed to warm up a bunch more for the rest of the week. Hoping for a couple more trips.

Assuming @A-Jay and @Swamp Girl are a 10 on the overall stealth scale, I’m probably a 2… maybe 2-1/2. I watch my shadows, try not to be overly drunk and disorderly in the boat when I move around, and will try and shut down early around known spots, but the engine stays running half the time, the depthfinders never get turned off, and I sometimes find trolling a bait right over their heads is the best option.

There are likely still some other dominos out there that might fall one day…

Quite a bit of overlap, just some nuances. Lipless is the more aggressive bait IMO since nearly all of them use lead or shot of some sort for both sound and casting weight. They typically need to move faster to create their vibration patterns (due to bait width/thickness). Good for ripping through veggies. Blade baits are usually silent, put out more vibration at slow speeds, better at ripping off bottom (faster reaction due to being all metal), and as effective as lipless on flats. Not as good in weeds, but fine around edges or sparser patches. In my experience, Sunfish and golden shiners are usually weed dependent (hence shallower) in winter. Crappie can be anywhere from the deep weedline out, but often located in deeper water or suspended in open water. Gizzards can be anywhere depending on size, weather and water conditions and have the widest range of movement patterns (roam). That can make them the harder one to pin down in relation to predator patterns and relationships.

Baitfish aren’t restricted by air bladder conditions like bass are, so they are much more free to roam the water column depending on weather and water conditions. Not unusual to graph them in two totally different depth ranges and locations on back-to-back consecutive days. It makes consistency difficult. Some bass roam with them and chase; others are more solitary on structure or cover and simply wait the passing shad out, it seems. Follow the wind on warmer days, and move up in the water column later in the day on warming trends, especially if you get some cloud cover or natural low light to go with it. It also depends on baitfish type in your waters. Gizzards tend to be more solitary and shallow; threadfin group tight and are often deep; herring are similar to threadfin, but usually not at the same depth. I’ve chased a lot of ghosts on my waters, too. They are often carp or catfish, but I still throw a time or two just in case - lol. Green grass is always better than no grass. Ned Kehde (Ned rig fame) and I have compared notes over many years back when I was in Indiana because our waters were so similar. Good grass lakes always produced better in winter than non-grass lakes with very few exceptions, at least for numbers and bite activity. A small blade bait modified for bigger fish might be worth a shot. It has historically been one of my best producers when fish aren’t feeding on bottom. I’ll try and track down a pic. Update (Johnson Thinfisher - 3/16 oz., about the size of a quarter. Big fish mod is remove the back hook completely - I leave the split ring - then upsize the front treble to #4, nearly as big as the bait. Looks a little funny after, but doesn’t seem to hurt a thing. Lets you run 8-10 lb. test line on a med. rod and swing hard on hooksets. Have caught bass to 8 lbs. on the modified bait, and can swim it in as shallow as 18” of water. Works great down to about 8’-10’.)

I'll throw out a few thoughts: - Yes, you can still catch a good fish or two when the baitfish activity isn't there. You just tend to get more numbers when they are up and chasing, which may or may not happen in your waters. Seems like each lake is different, so trial and error to try and figure that aspect out. - Best winter location generally is any living green weeds, usually either Chara or coontail this time of year. Look in the back pockets (flats) of coves first, usually less than 8-10 ft of water. Perhaps you already known where some is located on your waters (if they have them). Mine here don't. - Two other areas to look for back in the creeks are channel swing banks, or any steep (>45 deg.) bank, especially if comprised of rock/riprap. The other is any deeper slot, depression or creek channel meandering through the back half of the creek arm. - Main lake areas, it's usually steep banks and channel swings, along with main lake points adjacent to deep water (for the area). - Deadsticking: Some areas/spots I would consider trying this with some degree of confidence: > Steep dropping banks - especially shorter stretches (less than a hundred yards). Cast up shallow, pull the lure a couple feet and let drop and sit; after your patience runs out, repeat, all the way out into 12'-15' of water. Eventually you should find certain key stretches that you can then focus on in the future without having to hit everything. > Green weeds - Chara and coontail are both good for this. Fish the edges of the veggie flats, especially those bordering any deep edge. Dead stick at the base weedline. The other surprisingly cool option here is a light weight Ned fished over the top. Let the bait lightly settle and hang on the vegetation, then just shake,jiggle and hold in place. Rinse and repeat. Will freak you out the first time a bass grabs the bait from off the weeds and runs...then you'll be supercharged with confidence and willing to do this all day - lol. > Deep docks - throw to the deep edge or either side, and then just deadstick. Any fish under that dock will see it fall, but in the cold water, it often takes them a bit to react. I think they sit there and watch to see if the bait is going to move off. When it doesn't, they slowly come over and finally investigate. > Fallen trees on steep banks: Pretty much the same as docks, but I just throw right up against the deep end and let sink and sit. > If you can isolate individual pieces of cover, that would be the final option...like a single stump on a steep drop or the edge of a drop/ledge. Just move until you bump the cover and know you're right there, then deadstick. In a flat lake with little structural elements, isolated objects like this can be the best percentage game in a given day vs. trying to locate bass randomly over a football field of nothingness. That's pretty much initial thoughts that come to mind. Fire back with specific questions on any of this.

Got out again this afternoon for almost 3 hours with the rebound in air temps. Ended up with a dozen cookie cutters on jighead minnow. Did have one slightly better fish jump off at the boat, so no pic. Water down to 46, but fish were active late. I could try and slow down for a bigger bite, but so hard to leave numbers of fish to do so, and every so often, a big one is mixed in with the packs. Probably it until next week.

I’d definitely agree with his guest - we’re long past the point of peak popularity, especially on tour. That said, it still works, just not as popular. Guys have moved on to dice, minnows, Ned and Neko.

Same as every year - to NOT set any fishing goals for the year 😉

Meh - Have mostly lost all interest in the pro trails outside of following just a couple guys to see how they finish. Bassmaster is the least favorite/interesting of the 3 major trails to me right now. Still waiting for the “big shake-up” to hit one day…might be waiting awhile, though.