Keys to Cold Water Bass'n
If there is one question I get more this time of year than any else, it is how to locate and catch bass once the water temperatures fall below the 40F degree mark.
Like any specialized tactic, it takes time to develop areas and skill that will produce bass every time out. Most of my winter holes are found find in the summer low water levels. So the first hint is to fish areas that you are most familiar with. Finding winter holes in a stretch of river you’ve only fished once or twice can be challenging. So knowing your area seasonally… helps. Once the water is at summer lows, anglers can see the holding structure and better understand why they are there in high and low water. 
Some pointers-
Bottom Type:
I find a mix of hard and soft bottom are best for cold water success. It doesn’t mean that a 100% hard bottom or a 100% soft bottom area will not produce, just that I have best results with a good mix of both. If constantly hooking a good mix of dead leaves with every cast… you’ve likely found an eddy, but not the fish. Bass do not want to deal with this mess any more than we do. Mud or sand bottoms with an occasional brush piles, submerged structure or rock, make up my best winter areas. A deep flat bottom with little to no structure full of dead leaves and other bottom debris is likely not the area you’ll find bass in.
Depth & Structure:
This is a tough one since I fish so many rivers in the winter. The 90% rule is that I am rarely in less than 6’ or more than 13’ of water. It doesn’t mean that the shoreline isn’t shallower but it usually deepens out. I am looking for areas that will not fall to swift current if the river rises 6,7 even 10’ over normal winter levels. But not all of these will hold fish. They also have to hold baitfish and crayfish. So mud or sand mixed with rock or brush nearby (holding bait) are often a must. I found areas that look great, but don’t fish well in the winter. You have to fish them a few times. Islands, unless that are large or have very steep coves do not hold bass in the winter. Islands that are only islands during high water (peninsulas) are a different story. (Exception - Susquehanna Main Stem is wider and different island wise than the other rivers I fish) Shorelines account for 9 out of 10 wintering holes.
How Much Current?:
Often these holes are close to current, but protected from it. Back eddy current (water flowing up river) is not usually a plus for bass. There usually needs to be some current, but to new cold water anglers, these areas might look like a still water eddy – but watch your line, it will often trend down river slowly. Rarely are eddies completely slack. Slow soft current is the key. Generally if you have a defined hole, the active bass will be at the top of the hole or behind ambush areas within the same hole. Don’t be surprised that bass will move far off the banks as water levels drop, and draw closer as it rises. Ambush points will be around larger rocks and brush piles within the hole. Active bass are never far from some level of current. Resting or neutral bass are going to be in slack areas. Both will strike, I just prefer to fish ambush points first and then the rest of the hole.
Good vs. Great Wintering Holes:
In a 3-5 mile stretch of river, there may be a dozen holes that hold fish. What I am looking for is ones that are capable of holding hundred or more bass. That sounds crazy, 100 bass in one hole? Yes, bass winter in groups. It is important to realize that come winter, bass will not eat every day. Some fisheries biologist believe that bass only eat once every 3-4 days in the winter. So if you find a good wintering area, and only 5-10% of the bass are feeding at that given time… do you want to fish areas with 10 or 100 bass? To hold 100 bass, these areas need to be rather large. An 8 mile stretch might have a dozen or more areas where fish hold in the winter, the key is to find the best 2-3 holes, that is where I am fishing. If they are busy (ie. People fishing them) then I’ll hit the other 6-8 holes – catch a fish or two and move on to the next vs. camping on one or two spots all day long. Keep mental notes and remain in those areas accordingly.
Trends and Weather Patterns:
We are entering into very cold nights, and they will just get colder. Keep in mind that it is darker longer than light so cold rules. Daytime highs are important, but not as important as nighttime highs. There is a science to it. Warming trends (nights and days) and sunny days can be key. I often find the 10AM to 2PM hours the best, but don’t ignore the later hours. Water temps hold well into the late afternoon. If you find a warming trend for 3 days, fish that third day.
Unlike summer bassing, bright sunny days with little to no wind are my favorite winter days. I would much rather fish a 38F degree sunny day with no wind than a 42F cloudy degree day in 15 mph winds.
Warm Water:
Warm water influences can come from a number of conditions. Be tuned in.
- Dams will often release water from the bottom of the reservoir. In the summer this 50-46F water chills the river, in the winter it warms it. 46F missed with 38F water is an influence on water temp.
- Power Plant Releases are often governed to release water within 5 degrees. Fishing down river from these plants can provide warming trends miles downriver from the release point.
- Under water Springs that are chilling in the summer, are warm in the winter. Yes they are still pumping 50F degree ground water, but in the winter this is a heat source. (hint) Wet wading in the summer can benefit cold water anglers.
- Streams and Tributaries will produce an inflow of water in various temperatures. Due to less volume, they chill faster and warm quicker than the overall river. So it is worth checking water temps directly below them. If you notice an increase, consider the impact on fish.
SLOW Down:
Most of all SLOW DOWN...
If boating slowly move into the hole. Waking the shoreline makes little sense to me. Stop the boat well before you get into the hole. This is a common mistake. If your not comfortable sitting still with a trolling motor and believe me these slack low current holes can be tough, drop an anchor. You want a sill platform so you feel the lure, not the boat slipping.
When fishing, start slow, and work the jig (worm jig, tube, hair jig, creature, grub…) out from the bank from calm water to the current seam. Leave it sit as long as you can. I often feel rushed so I’ll count. 1 Mississippi, 2 Mississippi, 3 Mississipi… 8 Mississippi, then drag the jig 6-12”. Bass are moving slower, don’t get the lure in the zone and then move it out before they get a chance to strike.
Bigger Isn’t Always Better:
Yes one big meal will last a bass for days - maybe weeks, but smaller profiles seem to work best. Trade in that 4” tube, creature and that 6” worm jig for a smaller profile jig. Large flashy baits have their place, but in the winter I prefer less flash and more drab jig colors.
This doesn’t mean you shouldn’t experiment with color, size and profile – just that often the smaller profile jigs out produce larger jigs the majority of the time.
For more information on cold water angling, catch our cold water seminars this winter at Cabela’s and area Outdoor Shows. We will be providing seminars at the Philadelphia Outdoor Expo, Garden State Outdoor Show and other outdoor venues this winter. Contact Backwoods Angler TV and Guide Service for seminar dates and locations.
Bass Fever - There is No Cure
“You had to be there.” That is how many of my conversations go when trying to explain a great day of fishing to people who just don’t fish. They ivision a small pond, bucket of worms and a cane pole. How about sub freezing cold fall conditions and casting soft pour jigs in deep, moderate current and picking up on the most subtle strike? Then laughing like kids and diving back in for another strike.
That passion and anticipation for the next strike is something you just have to experience firsthand. I am honestly a bass junkie and it could be the 100th bass of the day and I’m awaiting the next strike as if it will be my last – EVER. Nothng warms my hands as quickly on a cold morning as a FAT Smallmouth bass does!
The guys at Vinner Baits get it! That’s why they work late each evening finishing custom orders for anglers like you and I who’s weekend trip just may depend on the lures they are making. While the guys here are a bit more use to the Greenies, Bucket Mouths, AKA Largemouth Bass, you can imagine my excitement to get them on my home turf and put them on some monster Smallmouth Bass. Having fished with Tommy and Vince only once prior and never with the three of us in the same boat, I knew this was going to be an exciting day.
Loaded with a fresh batch of Chris Krinkle Worms that they poured just days prior, we hooked up quickly with twi bass on our a few casts. What fun, a double for the first catch of the day. That is more or less how our day went. Giggles, laughs and bass after bass. 
That is the way the day went. Vince, Tommy and myself getting into some beautiful Susquehanna River Bass. We finished the day with 90+ bass and it still felt like we were cheated - as if the sun could have stayed hung in the sky just a little longer.
I know it is Cold and Flu Season, but the Bass Fever is burning and there is no know cure.
To view all pictures from our November outing, visit this Slide Show Link
"Oktoberfest" - More Tube Tactics
Let’s face it- when the fall tube bite is on, little matters in what tube or color your tossing. Bass are feeding and will hit varieties of tube colors that are as transparent as smoke melon to as opaque as solid black and all points in between. But when they get more finicky with their choices, anglers should take every opportunity to dial the tube color and size in. Tube color and size can make the difference between a modest day and a great day opn the water. Unfortunately, it is something most anglers have to experience firsthand to believe.
Last Saturday was one of those days where for hours it seemed we could do nothing wrong. We were sitting on a steep rocky bank with active fish and they were eating a variety of tube colors and sizes. The bass were fat and stuffed with crayfish as they were sharing in their own version of Oktoberfest. When the bite slowed and eventually stopped, we had two choices. Go find a fresh group of bass to catch or change things up a little and stay where we were.
Confident that we were still sitting on good fish, I turned to a tactic my friend Jason V taught me a good many years ago. After the bite would die off in a specific hole, he woul throw a different color or profile and see if that starts them feeding again. Jason would also trim the tentacles on the tube that had been working before they shut down. The only change I added to this was the ability to go one step further and match the bait they are feeding on. Here they were on crayfish, and since we had quite a few gorging fish landed, I didn’t have to crawl under a rock to find one. My carpet was covered in claws, shells and even whole crayfish that were tossed in the boat while landing a bass. River anglers know exactly what I am talking about… In locating one, I did my best to match the color and size of the crayfish. Pay attention to the body, but also the legs, claws and tail edges as this is the flash bass see when they scamper away.
In the picture above, either tube fits the bill quite well. The body of the crayfish is green pumpkin, but the lighter green and aqua-blue highlights are present on the legs, claws and tail. The width of the tube is a good match with this single dipped tube, but note the long of the tentacles when laying against the crayfish. Cut or tear them to better match the size, there are times when this little modification makes a huge difference.
My partner for the day was using a near identical tube color, only his was double dipped so it had a thicker body and he had not trimmed the length of his tube tails. After I went on a string of maybe 8 or 9 bass while he watched, it was clear then that there was something to my madness. Using my tube and trimming the tails a little had him catching bass again in a hole we though had been worked through thoroughly.
If you’re on a good tube bite and the bite dies off, don’t be so quick to leave that previously productive hole. Change things up with a different color, length or profile tube and see if those bass were just waiting on the second course. Best advice for bass anglers is not to close your mind to strange color patterns either, you just might be pleasantly surprised in the process.
I get my tubes from the folks at Wacky Worm in Gilbert PA. Wacky Worm has one of the largest selections of soft plastics on the east coast. They have custom tubes in nearly every color imaginable. They also cover a variety of sizes with multiple lengths in single and double dipped tubes.
http://www.wackyworm.com
Tearing Them Up!
When I tell anglers “We’re tear’n them up!” I usually mean we’re catching a mess of bass and we’re into them hot and heavy. After one such day, I looked at the floor of my new boat and saw dozens of spent soft plastic jerk baits tossed everywhere. Mostly in perfect shape, just ripped areas from where the hook was. We were tearing it up ok, tearing up the baits.
Let’s face it, bass want a natural, supple soft plastic and that usually means they tear up after 1 maybe 2 bass. And if you’re lucky, you may get 3, 4 even 5 bass on one. If they are made to handle the punishment, they usually don’t offer good action and the bass just don’t hold onto them. When it comes to guiding, I try to keep my costs in check and pass along a good value to my customers. Fuel prices rise and as a result, everything else does and I am just not comfortable passing along these expenses to clients.
Passing the buck has never been my style. The guys at Vinner Baits have the same approach. They’ve engineered stick, frog and soft jerk baits that are supple, yet hold up to the crushing attacks of bass, after bass, after bass. On a recent kayak trip, a client and I started out with 1 Vinner Bait Twitchin’ Shad and at the end of the day after nearly 30 bass between us, we still had our nose hooked baits intact. Granted, the bodies were plenty beat up but it was eye opening
. 
How would these baits hold up to larger, meaner bass? My wife and I decided to give that a go. After nearly 20 lbs of bass, her 5” Twitchin Shad was toast, but still hanging on the hook. The lone bait started out with an offset hook, then to give it more action hooked with a finesse nose hook and simply took a beating but held better than any soft jerk bait I’ve used.
Vinner Baits make a Wakki Stikk with this technology built into the center (egg-sack) of the bait for wacky rigging and a Hawg Frog with it built into the nose to hold an offset hook. If I can fish an entire day without going through pack after pack, it not only saves everyone money, but it reduces the time spent and frustration of fixing and switching baits after every bass or two.
What a winning concept!
For more info on Vinner Baits, visit www.vinnerbaits.comPurple Power
I've always done very well early spring and fall with purple tubes and grubs. The best ones are simple, a smoke body with a little purple fleck. Does it resemble the purple hue of a beat up minnow with missing scales? I can only guess that is why it works so well. Water clarity does not seem to matter, and that makes even less sense. But you can't argue with success. In the month of November alone, The Backwooods Angler has logged over 800 bass on this silly tube. The pictures below were from a trip just last week that produced over 10 bass an hour.
We've even taken purple to a whole new level, creating custom Worm and Erie Darter jigs in smoke purple or with purple fleck and a silicon skirt. Last winter most of our largest bass came on the custom plastics we pour. This year, we'll be offering the BWA Darter Jig (two jigs on left) and the cold water, Chris Krinkle Worm Jig (next two jigs) on our BWAtv store page. The smoke purple tube can be purchased at Wacky Worm and other quality winter jigs such as the Undulator (far right) can be purchased from Winco's Custom Lures.
It goes beyond confidence, purple seems to have an appeal to cold water smallmouth. Don't leave home without a little purple power on your next cold water adventure.
It's All About the Temperature
Most anglers focus on this forage and their seasonal patterns, selecting like colored lures and matching them as best as possible. Dan's theory takes it one step further. On fisheries that have healthy population of both minnow and crayfish forage, he turns his focus to minnow or crayfish patterns based on water temperatures.
When water temps are below 55 degrees, he is focused on minnow type lures and colors to match the prevalent bait fish in the system. He also believed that jerk baits, spinner baits, tubes and grubs represented both minnow and crayfish depending on color selection and how they were fished. It makes a lot of sense. Crayfish are more active in warmer water temps and minnows are more active in lower water temps. This does not mean that crayfish are not eaten in cold water or that minnows are not eaten in warmer water. It is just a way to further dial into forage.
Places like the Delaware that rely so much on shad fry will more or less challenge this. However anglers that dial into the shad pods know to match baits that are of similar size and color. Smoke tubes, finesse worms and grubs with red, purple or green fleck are fantastic choices early fall when the water dips into the upper 50's at night.
Consider it as the hatch, a step further. Yes match the color - then place the bait in the water column bass are feeding. Perch, darters, dace, sculpin or other bottom dwelling minnows need lures that will be on or close to the bottom. Tubes, grubs and deep lipped suspending crank baits that can skitter slide and scurry along the bottom. Shiners, cisco shad, alewife and other schooling minnows are usually found suspending somewhere in the middle of the water column. Dropping tubes, grubs, spoons or minnow plugs through the water column.
Likewise, crayfish patternered lures are not just for tube and creature baits. Suspending deep lipped jerk baits lefft sitting near the bottom. Slow rolling dark spinner baits long the bottom, even pausing them resemble crayfish.
The key to thisgoes even further. Imagine the face on my clients when I bring out a smoke purple tube or a smoke tube with silver and emerald colored fleck; "These do not look like crayfish colors?" No they are colors that resemble bottom dwelling minnows. The best part is when doubt is met with confidence after catching dozens of smallmouth.
Monsters in the MIST
After nearly 3 months and thousands of bass, the first morning the temperature drops into the 40's sends a message to both angler and bass alike; Feeding time is on it's way! For the weeks to come, the river is locked in a bank of thick morning fog.
The sound of a 4 to 5 pound bass blowing up on a surface plug or crushing a buzz bait can throw the chill of excitement into an angler like nothing else. It's then you remember that river smallmouth are tenacious creatures that would rip your arm out of the socket if they could.
This is NOT the time to down size your lure arsenal. Full size spinner baits, buzz baits and top water plugs such as the Heddon Spook is perfect for these spooky mornings. As the fog lifts, it usually takes a while before the sunlight will chase the monsters away, so keep at it. This bite often continues through 9AM often longer depending on how long it takes to burn the fog and mist off the water.
July Fishing Reports
I am averaging about 3 days a week on the Delaware, Lehigh and Susquehanna North Branch combined. Due to the mid day heat, majority of my trips have been mornings to noon and 4PM to dusk. The bass have been actively feeding afternoons and that is where I target the majority of my outings.
We had several bass in the 15 - 18" range including a 32" pike. Bass are chasing minnows and fishing, I mean catching bass is made easy with the use of minnow baits such as CASE Salty Shad and Salty Minnow and some custom hand poured Swim baits I am making on my own.
NORTH BRANCH Pictures
DELAWARE RIVER Pictures
LEHIGH RIVER Pictures
Summer Bass'n means making the most of the warm water conditions and patterns. With longer days, we can target bass in the late afternoon and evenings when bass are more active.
Tight lines my friends - Chris
Spinnerbaits for Smallmouth Bass
On a recent trip to Western PA, my partner and I were confronted with an sudden rise in water. The rise was not high enough to push the fish into bank eddies, but high enough to move them out of summer current. One thing in our favor was that the stain offered a little visibility. Being late June, the grass beds were in full maturity and if I were on my home rivers, grass beds would be a main focus area. As it turned out, this is exactly the area that consistently produced bass. Most of the grass beds were flooded over, but were easily identified as the grass just under the waterline tickled the surface. Pockets behind them and soft current along the sides were there, but not as prevalent. It was spinner bait time.
Armed with a number of lures, my go-to bait in this situation is a small framed profile spinner bait. Since the water had a little stain, adding a 3" chartreuse grub to the while skirt seemed to draw more attention. As I landed my third bass it hit me. The spinner bait is more versatile than most think. I've benefitted from fishing with many excellent anglers. I've always been a fan cast spinner bait angler hitting every ambush point and slow rolling them so the blades make contacts to wood, rock and vegetation. A friend Greg, likes to fish spinner baits just subsurface enough to wake the blades. It's not burning the bait, it's just fast enough to get the bait high enough in the water and man does it work in the spring and summer. My friend Mike likes big thumping blades. He tosses them out, and lets the spinner bait fall off sharp rocky banks or stops the bait and lets it fall along logs or ledges. Others never fish them without a twin or single tail trailer.
I find Blade Patterns, shapes and sizes are more of a personal thing. I always have white and white & chartreuse skirts on hand and prefer a gold front blade, but confidence is honestly the key. Speed, blade cadence and location is far more critical than color in most cases. That said, I throw mostly two colors and I've seen days when skirt color does matter.
When the bass are short striking, hitting the blades or chasing and pulling back, one of the tricks I like use is a stinger hook. It doesn’t need to be an extra long hook, just long enough to sit beyond the skirt ends. Vinyl tubing from a home supply or aquarium stores works great. Cut and slipped over the flat eye of the stinger hook, the tubing will hold the hook straight and inline with the main hook at all times. The Video link below shows how to add a stinger hook and how it works.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mj7ldUkRou4&feplayer_embedded
For more fishing tips, be sure to visit Backwoods Angler TV site. Our 1 Minute Fishing tips are updated weekly.
http://www.backwoodsanglertv.com/Blaine's_1min_Tips.htm
Soft Jerk Baits for Smallmouth and Largemouth Bass
When it comes to fishing for smallmouth and largemouth bass in lakes and rivers; A ”must have" bait in your soft plastic arsenal are soft jerk baits. It is perhaps one of the most versatile baits out there and can be presented in a host of different situations.
SJB’s (Soft Jerk Bait’s) can be fished in shallow or deep water, over or through grass, in current or slack water and can be presented on the surface bait, sub surface and off the bottom. It can be fished dead stick, twitched like a dying minnow or even with a walk the dog motion on the top water. They can even be skipped under docks with relative ease. The main difference is how it is rigged and what action to use.
I keep these style baits rigged and on hand from May through November and I often cash in on bass when many other anglers are struggling to find active fish. Lures are often defined as search baits, cover baits, reaction baits and subtle baits. When it comes to soft jerks, this one lure can be all of the above.
Scenario #1: We have bass that are already feeding on minnows as apparent by jumping bait fish, large wakes or surface crashing as bass are actively feeding. In this instance, nose hooking is my favorite tactic. I prefer baits that have a decent sink rate on their own, and I prefer to hook them through there imaginary eyes (right to left). But it is also fine if anglers are more comfortable hooking the bait through the lips (bottom to top). Simply put, both work. The location is often shorelines, shallow flats or at the smooth rise of push water before it goes into the rapids. Usually a cast to the “ring” area; let it sink 1-2 seconds and twitch the bait, let it sit a few seconds and twitch it again.
Scenario #2: We have shallow nervous current during summer months. This is where active fish should be feeding but there is no surface activity. With heavy current the approach will be to cast the SJB across the current and let it swing down river, twitching it every once and a while. Here options are wide open with nose hook rig, offset rig or spring/coil keeper rig all work well. The SJB is now a search bait and you are swing casting and covering lots of water.
Scenario #3: It is late morning or early afternoon and the fish have shut down. The sun is high and the aggressive bite has all but vanished Bass are suspended or perhaps on the bottom seeking cover. Here a worm hook, Texas Rigged (round bend, wide gap or coil/spring bait keeper) will allow the SJB to fall straight down. The body and tail shimmer and wobble slightly causing a reaction strike. Often the bait should be tossed on slack line, letting it fall or sit 10-12 seconds before twitching.
Scenario #4: Spring and Fall micro eddy, where the bite is subtle or the bass are very pressured. Here stealth is critical. Wary bass are tucked in behind a rock ledge, grass bed or log with current or wind pushing water on either side. With the SJB rigged weightless, toss it tight against the top of the eddy. Before closing the bail, lift the rod tip to add extra slack to the line. Watch for the line to move, reel up slack and set the hook. The SJB is in slack water, only a pick up will move the line. Often the lure will need to sit for 5,10 even 15 seconds before a wary bass will suck it in.
Scenario #5: Heavy weeds and pads are covering Largemouth territory. Work a floating style SJB that is Texas Rigged and has the hook point skinned into the soft plastic back of the lure. It can be drug across the pads and passed in any openings. If the weeds are sub surface, sinking style SJB’s can be twitched just above the weed tops and left to fall when they reach openings. When they are paused, watch the line for any twitch or bump. The initial pick up is rarely felt.
SJB’s can be skipped under docks. Ripping it across the top of the water like skitter or walk the dog plugs. They can be worked quickly sub surface like a scurrying minnow or left at a slow fall to mimic dying or stunned minnows. Adding a belly weight or a weighed offset hook will allow the bait to fall quicker or be used like a swim bait when bass are deeper or tight to the bottom. They can be rigged on a ball head to dive head first or worked off a drop shot rig to hold several inches off the bottom or above grass lines. I’ve even put a ring around the center of the SJB and used a ball head jig to enhance the vertical fall and wiggle in deep pools.
Case Plastics who offer them is two sizes, the SSM in 3.75" and the SSS in 5". They also have several colors to chose from.
Winco's Custom Lures that offers River Darters in the Jr 3.75 and Sr in 4.75".
Both of these custom shops pour salt enhanced SJB's that have excellent fall rates and sizes to dial in the the correct forage. Shubert's, YUM, Berkley and Zoom also offer a variety of soft jerk baits.
Simply put, I’ve had hundreds of bass the past several weeks on Soft Jerk Baits. They are my subtle go to soft plastic when the water warms and the bass seem to snub their nose. In low light conditions (early morning/late afternoon) when bass are in chase mode, I will tease them with a jerk – pause and when they are pressured I will dead stick them in deep water or directly behind structure. Do NOT miss out on this bite or be prepared to leave bass for the next angler!
