Some winter Succes :)

[WhiteMike1018]

Well today me and my friend Eddie went down to a couple private ponds about 7 acres each we are allowed to fish. We got there at 1 and started throwing Jigs bouncing them slowly and rolling them on the bottom, and doing lifts and drops. Nothing for about an hour and a half. So than i switched to a drop shot rig with a ZOOM finesse worm and didn't pick anything up either. We were bank fishing so it was hard to get to spots we wanted, and where the fish would be, which we all know is deeper water.

After a while a tried a worm and even downsized more, nothing. I looked at the water in a state of confusion, as i was running out of techniques to try. Three hours of slow working my worm, jig and drop shot and not a single hit.

Looking down at my tackle box, nothing jumped out at me except this certain lure. A fairly new lure, with good action and lifelike quality. The lure was not soft, it was hard.....

After i tied the lure on i made my first cast and worked it with a jerk and pause retrieve. Halfway retrieved i felt some unordinary tension in the line 1, 2, 3 SWING! FISH ON!

I thought to myself i might be onto something as I worked the hook through the fish's mouth.

I made my second cast, felt a tug again and swung back! Fish number 2 was fighting on my line.

After i figured out what they wanted i continued this throughout the day by switching my colors to match the light conditions etc.

By 5:00pm i had landed 4 nice bass, that i consider a great accomplishment.

Its been fairly warm for a winter up here in New Jersey, but the water temp is still around 36-40. Id like to say im a bit proud of myself for figuring out what the bass wanted instead of getting skunked. My knowledge of reading mags, the forums, has given me useful information to work with, and i am applying it on the water successfully.

Either way it was a beautiful day, and i got to catch some beautiful bass, on a beautiful lure.

An X-RAP XR-10.

From my point of view it seems like bass aren't as opportunistic in winter as they are in the warmer months. I come to this conclusion simply because

#1 I threw a JIG, a WORM and a drop shotted worm for 3-31/2 hours and did not get a single strike. Those baits do not necessarily imitate forage that is too available in winter.

#2 The X-RAP ad LC Pointers IMHO are probably the realest looking hardbait on the market, maybe a few exceptions

#3 Bass are piscovores meaning they have a higher preference to prey on other fish, than say frogs, craws, etc

So if you read my post thank you i appreciate it. If your in New Jersey areas right now don't hesitate throwing a jerk bait for some winter bass

Thanks -Mike

[Floridabassking352]

Congratulations!   Sounds like you did an excellent job at figuring out what the bass wanted. That's some good fishing.

[rocknfish9001]

Im in michigan, and were having another 50 degree january day tomorrow, and im going fishing. I caught a couple on jigs last time, but was about to get to the x-rap just before i had to leave. Ill definatly give it a shot tommorrow. Thanks for the report.

[WhiteMike1018]

No problem just make sure your pauses in between jerks are long enough, most of the time they will hit it dead still. Let me know how you made out

-Mike

[Guest Texas_Bass_Pro]

Great job.  Keep it up.

[BASS fisherman]

How long were the pauses?  I have been going fishing like a mad man since it has gotten cold here in Pa and have had very few fish to show for.  I have even tried live bait.  I tried jerkbaits too.  Just out of curiosity, is the XR-10 the smaller X-rap, or the larger one?  To my knowledge they only have 2 sizes.  

Good job on getting those bass.  Winter fishin' is tough to say the least.

[BASS fisherman]

How long were the pauses? I have been going fishing like a mad man since it has gotten cold here in Pa and have had very few fish to show for. I have even tried live bait. I tried jerkbaits too. Just out of curiosity, is the XR-10 the smaller X-rap, or the larger one? To my knowledge they only have 2 sizes.

Good job on getting those bass. Winter fishin' is tough to say the least.

I looked up the X-rap last night, and they have three sizes, not two anymore.  The XR-10 is the middle size, or the old large size.

I'd still like to know what the length of the pauses were though. And what color X-rap?

[SPEEDBEAD.]

Great story, thanks for sharing.

Wayne

[Valascus]

Nice job. it is indeed a great feeling when you ahve figured 'em out and fall upon a producing pattern.

[WhiteMike1018]

They Actually have 4 sizes

XR-8, XR-10, XR-12, XR-14

I was using the XR-10 with 6-7 seconds pauses. Sometimes i would twitch the bait a little on the pause. Even though it is sitting still suspended, the few twitches make it look like it is still alive and struggling during the pause.

The XR-10's were the perfect size for the wintering bass, being that they arent too small, not too big but just the right size a bass is looking for.

The XR-14's are the saltwater jerkbaits they are really big so no xr-14s will be going in your box unless your going fro striper etc.

XR-12'S are a bit bigger than the xr-10's but definately way too big for wintering bass to extract all that energy to chase it.

The XR-8, would work, i actually caught my first few on this size, but they were fairly small bass. So i went up to the next size bigger the xr-10 and thats what did the magic.

The colors i were using was Olive Green-sort of like a babybass color

And the black silvery one.

Don't worry so much about what colors Im using. Let nature ...water clarity, and the position of the sun tell you what colors to use.

For example i started throwing the jerkbait with the sun blaring. I knew i would go with the black/silver type because it would give off some flah. But when the sun went in, they stopped hitting that one, so i went to the olive green and got more strikes.

Also, today i was fishing trying the same pattern and it wasn't as succesfull. I was throwing the X-RAP'S but they were short striking so i immediately switched to a worm fished a little slower and had some good hookups. Just pay attetention to what the fish tel you and youll get em!  

[BASS fisherman]

Thanks Mike!  Isn't the XR-14 a deep diving model?  I think it is.  

I got me a XR-8 in the Olive color early today.  I never did try it out though.  I got 4 bass today, more than the last 30  trips combined, literaly.  

I got 3 LM, and 1 SM.  Using a shakey head worm I got 2 LM, and using a finesse jig and flipping brush I got 1 more LM and the smallie.  All of them were 15 inches give or take an inch or so.  

[WhiteMike1018]

The XR-14 isnt necessarily a deep model, of courseit goes deeper because of the added weight on the bigger body.

They do have a deep model in different sizes though. I believe its the X-RAP DEEP 10 it has a bigger lip.

When you cast it out you make really hard jerks at first to get it down there to suspending bass etc.