It is kind of sad to admit but I have NEVER caught a bass over four pounds during the winter season. I think the reason for this is because I target carp and catfish 80% of the time in winter since the bass bite is tough. Well today my luck changed and I was able to catch my first 4+ pound bass during the winter season. I went out at around 12 and the first hour was pretty tough. Only managed three dinks and had a nice 2-3 LB bass come unhooked on a jump which I was a little mad about. About 15 minutes after that nice fish came unhooked a got a huge hit on my baby bass patterned rattle trap when it was about 4 feet from the shore. The fish nearly ripped the rod out of my hands. After a short fight I landed the fish and guessed he was around five pounds. Unfortunately I had my scale with me and was able to weigh him. He turned out to be only 4LBS 4OZ but he is still my winter pb. Here is the pic...

4 LBS 4 OZ....

beautiful fish but living in California, i know you can do better.

beautiful fish but living in California, i know you can do better.

Oh I have caught largemouth bass bigger than this but just not in the winter time. In the past I never realy targeted bass in the winter since the bass bite is tough. In the spring and summer I have caught bass in the 7-8 LB range....

still, great catch FivepoundBluegill i also live in state that doesnt have winter. For some reason the fish really scatter throughout the lake this time of year.

still, great catch FivepoundBluegill i also live in state that doesnt have winter. For some reason the fish really scatter throughout the lake this time of year.

I think my problem with winter bass fishing is I have never realy been committed to it. In the past when winter would come I would hardly ever target the bass and would go for other species most of the time. I just never realy had confidence in myself during the winter. Also I just got back into fishing at the start of this year after about a four year break from it. However before I took my long fishing break I would almost NEVER go for bass in the winter. I think this year I am going to target bass in the winter much moe than I used to... I bet il break my winter pb again this year actually since now I have a good idea of what kind of baits to use and how to use them at this time of year.

You call that WINTER? How does 25 degrees sound to you? huh? huh?  

J/K man.  

I wish North Carolina had So Cal "winters". What's about the average high there for January?

Btw, Nice Fish.  

nice fish  ;D

Healthy looking fish.  Nice one

Nice fish. Try this. If the water is in the low to mid fifties tie on a 3/4 or 1 0z, rattletrap and a 7.1 ratio reel. Put the trolloing motor on high and crank it as fast as you can. You will double the size of your PB shortly.

nice fish man!  congrats.  always nice to reach new milestones in your fishin'.

Nice fish! Winter? You're fishing in a t-shirt. 8-)

This is what I have to wear and winter is not even here yet.

T-Rig, I thought everyone over there wore ski bibs year round. What you are wearing we wear maybe two months out of twelve. My bibs are six years pld and have only been worn  a couple of dozen times.

T-Rig, I thought everyone over there wore ski bibs year round. What you are wearing we wear maybe two months out of twelve. My bibs are six years pld and have only been worn a couple of dozen times.

Switzerland is not at the north pole. ;D

In summer you could fish naked if you wanted to! ;D

nice fish T-rig 8-)

WINTER??? Shoooooot. :

A four pounder is a good fish anywhere at any time of the year.  Way to go 5lb!

Great fish  

Thanks everyone...

I had a great day today as well. Ended up with two fish in the three pound range which were both caught on the same lure I got that four pounder on.

The smaller fish was 3 LBS 4 OZ

The bigger fish was 3 LBS 10 OZ

Here is the pic of the 3LB 10 OZ

You call that WINTER? How does 25 degrees sound to you? huh? huh?

J/K man.

I wish North Carolina had So Cal "winters". What's about the average high there for January?

Btw, Nice Fish.

You guys are all wimps ;D have you ever experienced a high of a negative number???

The bass might be scattered in the mid winter for you guys, but look at it this way...you're dressing like i have to dress in mid october... ;D

one more thing..5lb..is your scale broken? Maybe it's just me, i haven't seen a LARGEMOUTH over 3 lbs in quite a while..But that thing looks nicer than 3-10 to me Nice fish!

one more thing..5lb..is your scale broken? Maybe it's just me, i haven't seen a LARGEMOUTH over 3 lbs in quite a while..But that thing looks nicer than 3-10 to me Nice fish!

I agree.  She looks much bigger than 3 IMO.  

one more thing..5lb..is your scale broken? Maybe it's just me, i haven't seen a LARGEMOUTH over 3 lbs in quite a while..But that thing looks nicer than 3-10 to me Nice fish!

That fish im sure is only 3LB 10 oz. I weighed him on a high quality scale. Anyway many of the bass I catch look bigger because of the way I take my pictures. If you look closely you will see im holding that bass quite far out infront of me toward the camera. I also stand close to the camera when I take my pics. Doing these two things will always make the fish in the picture look a lot bigger than it is....