I think that given the low energy budget/metabolism of winter bass, baits big or small don't matter as long as they're fished slow. I understand bass can be frisky on a 3-4 day warming trend and bite faster moving baits but if it's been steadily cold, keeping that "meal" in the strike zone for as long as I can stand is what works for me. as far as the bass is concerned, if it's an easy meal, then the bigger the better right?

I also agree with Nick. Most consistent for me in this area when the water is soft :-/ are blade baits, jerk baits, smaller plastics or pork on jigs, shakey heads usually crawled slowly. It has also been my experience that the bass are not always just caught in the deeper water. Have caught  some of my biggest in the winter in shallower. Most of the time for me it is not a numbers time but a larger fish size time. Presentation and confidence means allot.

I mix both in. Yesterday I caught fish on a swim bait(bigger) and tubes, and drop shot 6 in worms. The tube produce the bigger LM. I also like Zippers, the 5in zipper is a bulky looking bait that moves water, but is compact. Full size brush hogs are great for stitching. Carolna rigged lizards in the 8 or 10 in size are also good. Jig with a full size brush hog can be deadly also. However I catch more on the DS.

Typically I throw these three lures. 

LC 78-100

4" tube

3/8 oz finesse jig

Which do you prefer for winter fishing,

a big or small presentation?

8-)

I don't know yet. All of my baits land on top of the water and stay there

;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Mine too, but I can skip 'em a looooong way.

Slim pickin's...

Caught a tournament bass on the third cast throwing

a Lucky Craft Pointer 100. No other strikes between

me and my partner the rest of the day. We threw

just about everything, including the kitchen sink!

:-?

These "tournament fish" you speak of....

are they fish like this

Or this

Maybe closer to this, then

You must have fished in a weird tournament - ours take big fosh to win, LOL. 

Man Kent, I thought winter was YOUR season.

Anyway, I caught the fish in my avatar under most southerner's "winter conditions."  Air temps were below freezing in the AM, and water temps were in the low 40s.  I caught it on a 4" plastic, drop shotted, but we were also catching on jigging spoons too.  That is not a slow or small presentation, ripping them 6' off the bottom and letting them drop.  I'd say there were flurries of activity where I think I could have gotten bit on anything I could get down to the fish.  Those were two of the more efficient rigs to go with.

All 11 of my lakes froze over (for the 3rd time) just after New Years. Today, two little "swimming pools" opened up in one of the lakes. They were at each end of the dam in shallow water - the surface water temp was 38degrees. Invested a dozen casts with a jig into each pool - nobody home (or nobody interested!).

I don't think big or small baits would have mattered today! ;D

Man Kent, I thought winter was YOUR season

Shad kill on the Tennessee River, so we had to resort

to Plan B.

:-X

p.s. "tournament bass" ~15"

:-X

p.s. "tournament bass" ~15"

Dinks eh?

I havent been able to fish all winter.  When it got cold here we started freezing over.

RW-Other than during the dog days of summer I'm going big. Over the last year I've upsized everything I fish and it has been producing for me. Of course, if the situation dictates I go smaller but I start the day big.

The size really isn't the key for me, it's more about a very slow presentation. But I don't do too much Winter fishing, so I don't have a huge opinion on the topic.