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https://www.bassresource.com/fishing/5-baits-winter.html

Timely article that is in step with Bassmaster Jan/Fed and B.A.S.S. Times articles making the same or very similar lure suggestions, good article and it's free.

The common theme being medium diving crankbaits and jerk baits fished more aggressively and stating myths that cold water bass preferring slow presentations.

I couldn't disagree more, not with the lure suggestions but cold water slows the cold blooded predator down. The bass don't need to eat as often and usually unwilling to chase down fast moving steady paced lures like crankbaits. Bass are predators and will react to lures close to them, better off with a stop, pause and go retrieve IMO. 

What all these articles over looked was swimbaits, not the A-rig swimmers, but the slow swimming Huddleston's. My guess is the swimbaits don't fit the more aggressive scenario being presented.

My old school lure selections; jig n pig (real pig), shaking big 9" straight tail worms Brass n glass T-rigged, 68 & 8" Hudds, ice jigs/structure spoon and drop shot finesse worms. When the water gets into the mid 50's I put away the ice jigs/ spoons and add the A-rig and deep diving crankbaits, for pre spawn. 

The lure I am missing are jerk baits, need to consider them more often.

Tom

 

I use the first four, but I like a lipless crankbait instead of an A-rig.

In really cold water my best baits are blade bait, jerkbait, marabou/feather jig. If those don't work it's live bait, if that doesn't work it's hot chocolate and a movie. Once h2o temp gets into the 40s a lipless, crank, plastic or spinnerbait might get the nod at times.

23 hours ago, WRB said:

The bass don't need to eat as often and usually unwilling to chase down fast moving steady paced lures like crankbaits

 

Explain to me why Rat-L-Traps are so deadly in cold water?

 

The only lure I would add to that list would be Lipless Crankbaits.

5 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

Explain to me why Rat-L-Traps are so deadly in cold water?

 

The only lure I would add to that list would be Lipless Crankbaits.

Lipless were not on a cold water lure list? That's just silliness.

 

I'll go one better. The blade bait. Folks tell me they are just for smallies. I disagree. Any bass, on structure, in cold water will hit blades.

6 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

Explain to me why Rat-L-Traps are so deadly in cold water?

 

The only lure I would add to that list would be Lipless Crankbaits.

It's easy: it looks like shad they key in on during winter

25 minutes ago, Catt said:

 

Explain to me why Rat-L-Traps are so deadly in cold water?

 

The only lure I would add to that list would be Lipless Crankbaits.

 It's my #1 cold water lure.

Kinda makes ya think they hiding something ?

 

Lipless May come under medium running crankbaits? I use them mostly in cold water for verticals presentations, casting and letting it fall to the bottom and jig them like a structure spoon in lieu of cranking them.

Tom

ned rig and drop shot

What about a tailspinner? Little George or similar?

2 hours ago, Mobasser said:

What about a tailspinner? Little George or similar?

Those are good! My buddy always catches smallies with them when I am catching with a blade bait

14 hours ago, Mobasser said:

What about a tailspinner? Little George or similar?

The problem I have with tail spinners are that they tend to hang up a lot. I believe this is due to the large trebles in relation to the body size. But I could be wrong. In any case any blade bait will work just as well. Especially if you replace both trebles with one single inline hook on the rear hanger. And it will hang up less and make CPR easier. JMO.

On 1/21/2019 at 8:55 AM, Catt said:

 

Explain to me why Rat-L-Traps are so deadly in cold water?

 

The only lure I would add to that list would be Lipless Crankbaits.

 

On 1/21/2019 at 9:02 AM, reason said:

Lipless were not on a cold water lure list? That's just silliness.

 

When you guys talk about lipless working well in cold water, does that go for really cold water, like the pond is partially frozen cold? 

 

I have been been trying to figure out how to catch them at a small pond that freezes and thaws throughout the winter while other ponds stay frozen the whole time. Been thinking about trying a lipless. 

 

How would you retrieve them?

3 minutes ago, FCPhil said:

 

When you guys talk about lipless working well in cold water, does that go for really cold water, like the pond is partially frozen cold? 

 

I have been been trying to figure out how to catch them at a small pond that freezes and thaws throughout the winter while other ponds stay frozen the whole time. Been thinking about trying a lipless. 

 

How would you retrieve them?

On bottom. Im guessing in water that cold sweedish pimple and waxworm might work better 

3 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

On bottom. Im guessing in water that cold sweedish pimple and waxworm might work better 

Hopping a lipless along the bottom like a jig?

5 minutes ago, FCPhil said:

Hopping a lipless along the bottom like a jig?

Yes. They eat it when it's sinking. Got the one in my avatar that way this December. Water was 50 tho

2 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Yes. They eat it when it's sinking. Got the one in my avatar that way this December. Water was 50 tho

Thanks, I’ll have to give it a try. I have a slow-sinking (supposed to suspend but it doesn’t) lipless should let me fish it extra slow if needed. 

28 minutes ago, FCPhil said:

 

When you guys talk about lipless working well in cold water, does that go for really cold water, like the pond is partially frozen cold? 

 

I have been been trying to figure out how to catch them at a small pond that freezes and thaws throughout the winter while other ponds stay frozen the whole time. Been thinking about trying a lipless. 

 

How would you retrieve them?

 

Couldn't tell ya it doesn't get that cold down here!

 

Low to mid 40s, occasionally upper 30s.

 

Retrieves are burning it under the surface, ripping it through grass, ricocheting em off stumps, & weaving em through brush.

 

Pretty much like a spinnerbait ?

On 1/21/2019 at 8:55 AM, Catt said:

 

Explain to me why Rat-L-Traps are so deadly in cold water?

 

The only lure I would add to that list would be Lipless Crankbaits.

How cold? How fast? We run the gamut on this site, from the far N to the far S, from shad to bluegills, to perch. Curious, as always.

On 1/21/2019 at 9:03 AM, TnRiver46 said:

It's easy: it looks like shad they key in on during winter

I'll add to that... weakened, or even dying, shad.

1 hour ago, FCPhil said:

 

When you guys talk about lipless working well in cold water, does that go for really cold water, like the pond is partially frozen cold? 

 

I have been been trying to figure out how to catch them at a small pond that freezes and thaws throughout the winter while other ponds stay frozen the whole time. Been thinking about trying a lipless. 

 

How would you retrieve them?

In a half-frozen pond I've been using slow-sink blades and lipless, yo-yo'd. And let lay on bottom for a spell. Most consistent for me has been in early winter (just prior to first ice), although @Team9nine seems to be pretty consistent with tiny (light-weight) bladebaits in mid-winter. (But possibly not in all water bodies -maybe he'll chime in). He's at the same latitude as we are, but lower in elevation. Water conditions seems to be darn close though. I've been collecting up tiny blades, and small light lipless, to put to work. However, my waters have been iced, and when there've been breaks, I'm steeped in video editing. Looks like I'll have to catch it on the next go-round. If you find something, lemme know!

 

My half-frozen GoTo's are a hair jig, and a grub (Ned). They too seem to entice fish when fished nearly dead, sometimes dead. I can't seem to be able to get them to chase. I've even video'd them and they look like they are swimming through molasses, and pretty much are at 37-38F water.

 

Horizontal lipless picks up here as water warms in spring. It can get silly in early summer, and again in early-mid fall.

3 minutes ago, Paul Roberts said:

How cold? How fast? We run the gamut on this site, from the far N to the far S, from shad to bluegills, to perch. Curious, as always.

I'll add to that... weakened, or even dying, shad.

In a half-frozen pond I've been using slow-sink baits, yo-yo'd. And let lay on bottom for a spell. Most consistent for me has been in early winter (just prior to first ice), although @Team9nine seems to be pretty consistent with tiny (light-weight) bladebaits in mid-winter. He's at the same latitude as we are, but lower in elevation. Water conditions seems to be darn close though. I've been collecting up tiny blades, and small light lipless, to put to work. However, my waters have been iced, and when there've been breaks, I'm steeped in video editing. Looks like I'll have to catch it on the next go-round. If you find something, lemme know!

 

Horizontal lipless picks up here as water warms in spring. It can get silly in early summer, and again in early-mid fall.

Given what you said, you might want to look at the Ima Suspending Lipless Crankbait. I purchased one recently and mine sinks slowly, about as fast as a weightless worm. 

 

It’s just a little smaller than average from what I have seen of lipless crankbaits. 

1 hour ago, FCPhil said:

 

When you guys talk about lipless working well in cold water, does that go for really cold water, like the pond is partially frozen cold? 

 

I have been been trying to figure out how to catch them at a small pond that freezes and thaws throughout the winter while other ponds stay frozen the whole time. Been thinking about trying a lipless. 

 

How would you retrieve them?

I like to have a mostly vertical presentation, but yoyoing it back near the bottom on a cast can work. Don't forget, cold water bass will often be bunched together, and can be seen on the FF so there shouldn't be much if any searching with the bait. Also I have a self imposed 6 shakes with lipless and blade baits, often more is a turn off for them. When the water gets really cold, I'll favor the blade over the lipless.

1 minute ago, FCPhil said:

Ima Suspending Lipless Crankbait

Thanks, Phil. I picked up a couple of those last spring. I got them for fishing around vegetation in the warm months, since they are bigger than what I tend to use in winter. I've been collecting up little lightweight lipless, regardless of quality . If it's little, and weighs 1/8oz or less, I'll try it.

 

I was at Cabela's/BPS yesterday in fact, while my wife perused Ikea. I was asked by sales-folks if I was finding everything OK. I replied, "I'm finding more than I possibly have time to use." To another shopper, both of us looking at some nifty swimbaits, I said, "They sure get the mind going, don't they!" ? "A-Yup!!" 

 

So, Phil. Go fishing, then tell me the story. So's I can sit here and edit and not feel like I'm missing so much.

 

3 minutes ago, reason said:

I like to have a mostly vertical presentation, but yoyoing it back near the bottom on a cast can work. Don't forget, cold water bass will often be bunched together, and can be seen on the FF so there shouldn't be much if any searching with the bait. Also I have a self imposed 6 shakes with lipless and blade baits, often more is a turn off for them. When the water gets really cold, I'll favor the blade over the lipless.

^^^

If you are in a boat, vertical is the way to go. But those on shore, are stuck with going horizontal; Hence the yo-yoing, with dead pauses. My main "Winter Laboratories" have mainly pretty clean bottoms. But I've been adding double and single hooks this year -as Crestliner mentions above- to try out for my more cover strewn waters. I think Brian (Team9nine) is using trebles, but his baits are tiny, so they aren't as likely to stick.