Baits and Gear
Big Bite Baits 2.5” Salt tube - https://bit.ly/3wHxHNZ
Sunline SX1 Braided Line Deep Green -- https://bit.ly/3UzZ5IO
Sunline FC Sniper - https://bit.ly/3hn3tHt
St. Croix Tournament Legend Spinning Rods - https://bit.ly/3v9cKu1
Shimano Stradic FM Spinning Reel -- https://bit.ly/4hKSEgm
Gamakatsu Football Jig Heads -- https://bit.ly/3HWe09y
Hey everyone, I'm Pat Schlapper with BassResource.com and today we're going to talk about fishing a tube in the winter months.
So, I'm from Wisconsin and obviously it's not winter right now where I'm at. So in Wisconsin, winter fishing for us is going to be in that late October through November, because in the true, true winter months—January, February—the lakes are frozen over. So for us, when we're talking about fishing for wintering smallmouth, you know, dragging a tube for wintering smallmouth, that's when we're doing it—is in those late fall months when that water gets into the 40s.
And those fish, they have moved out to where they're going to be when the lake is covered with ice. So that's what we call winter fishing, because true winter fishing for us, we're looking through an 8-inch hole, jigging a little bait. So fall, late fall, early winter is what we call winter fishing for bass.
Winter—a lot of times those fish are super lethargic. They're not really aggressive. And most of the time, they're going to be in the areas of the lake where that's where they're going to be for the winter. They're not moving around a lot, searching necessarily. They're kind of in an area of the lake where they're—I wouldn't say going to hibernate—but they're just going to chill out, relax, burn as few calories as they can. They still need to eat, but when that water's colder, they don't need to eat as much.
So once you locate some of those winter areas, a tube is excellent for targeting those fish because the majority of the time—at least with smallmouth—they're going to be tight to the bottom. Like where I'm from, it's all about—the majority of the time it’s either going to be on a sand bottom or sometimes it’ll be like a hard-packed clay or like we get this kind of harder mud up where I'm from. A lot of times that’s where they'll winter, or most times they’ll be rock close to it.
But typically it's gonna be on a slick sand or some sort of hard-pack bottom. So how I'm gonna target those fish with a tube—it’s really simple. I’m just gonna take—typically I’ll throw two different sizes of a tube. I’ll throw a little 2-1/2 inch stubby tube or fat tube, whatever you wanna call it. I’ll typically throw that guy, and usually that time of year, when they’re deeper—where I'm at—they're usually gonna be in that 15 to 25 foot of water.
So I'm gonna go with a 3/8 ounce head and I like the football-shaped head because I'm just going to be dragging it, guys. I don't want a lot of action and I'm not going to be ripping it around down there. All I'm gonna do is find a school of fish or find an area where I think they’re going to be.
Where I'm going to throw this tube is areas that these fish are going to concentrate in the winter. So where I'm at, it's a lot of slick bottom sand, hard-packed clay, and it's going to be adjacent to rock—is usually what it’s going to be. So whether it’s off of a point, close to a hump, saddle between two islands or between two offshore bars are really, really popular. But typically it’s going to be a little deeper. It’s going to be in that 15 to 25 foot range.
So a lot of times, that time of year, you can really use your electronics to find them and they’ll be in big concentrations. It's that time of year for smallmouth, that’s not something where I like to just go out and fish around—I like to try to find them. I want to spend my time on my graphs to find these places. And once you find them, you can catch a lot of fish. And a tube’s a great way to do that.
So, 3/8 ounce football head in my little stubby tube is my favorite way to rig it. And I’ll throw it on a 7 foot 3 inch medium power, extra-fast St. Croix Legend Tournament. 12 lb Sunline braid and usually an 8 or 10 lb FC Sniper leader.
And once I find these fish, I'm just going to make a long cast and drag this thing along the bottom. And most of the time it’s not going to be a super-aggressive bite. When you're truly in the dead of winter, it's not going to be a super, super aggressive bite. They're just going to pick up on—you’ll just feel weight. You know, you just feel weight where you're almost not 100% sure if it's a fish.
Most times when you feel that on those slick bottoms, reel down and set the hook, because it’s a big smallmouth.
So that’s my go-to technique for fishing a tube for smallmouth in the winter months.
