Winter 2023
®
is important to keep your rod tip close to the water, so the wind doesn’t add slack to your line
DETECT THE BITE
When you lift your rod tip and it stays down, feeling like you hooked a wet rag, set the hook!
Deep winter bites rarely feel like a fish is pecking and swimming away with your lure. Their metabolism is too slow for this movement. If you don’t lift to feel your lure or weight, you will not know you were ever bit.
After the initial drop and feel, you can shake the lure for added attraction, but be more subtle as a lot of movement is not natural in the winter. And be sure to repeat the lift and feel to detect if your lure is clamped in Mama Pesce’s mouth.
When your boat drifts with the wind or current, it is best to quickly reel your line in and start a new drop to achieve a straight line again. With anchor lock on my Ghost trolling motor, I have greatly reduced my wasted time of reeling in and dropping down to get my line straight. I also can use lighter weights and lures since the boat remains stationary while they sink.
Another factor to keep in mind is deep water has less light available. Along with a slower metabolism the lower light level further reduces the desire for bass to move.
When fishing vertically this lack of movement by bass requires considerable experience and skill to detect the bite, and a straight line is critical.
SLEEP IN
In the heat of summer dawn and dusk low-light levels improve the bite. In the winter, mid-day light levels improve the bite. Bass can better see your lure when the sun is directly overhead.
WINTER CAN BE A DRAG
A deadly way to overcome the difficulty of vertical fishing is to drag a football head jig with a Yamamoto Hula Grub on it. While delivering your lure this way you are keeping a straight line between your rod tip and the jig with your boat or reel movement.
When your football jig is grabbed by a stationary bass, you will easily detect the bite. This is a great tactic when you need to cover a large area of deep water where bass could be anywhere feeding on dying shad falling to the bottom, or sculpin that dwell on the bottom.
On particularly cold days or extremely bright sunlight when bass want less lure action be sure to try a football jig with bucktail and/or marabou feathers. As a bucktail jig bounces over rocks it closely resembles baitfish like sculpin darting across the bottom. I make my own football jigs with the Gamakatsu 90-degree 4/0 jig hook (model 111 O’Shaugnessy bend). Bass rarely escape when this model hook is used.
Give these deep thoughts a try this winter and see for yourself how much fun catching deep bass in the winter can be. Ciao! •
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