Fishing Brush Piles for Cold Water Bass

When the winter bass bite gets tough, one productive type of cover to target dormant largemouth and spotted bass is in brush piles. Using jigs is an effective technique to entice cold, winter bass that are usually holding tight to cover in deeper water or at least close to it.

The Ideal Brush Pile

Focus your efforts on brush piles located off main lake points, at the mouths of creeks, or along channel swings in major coves or suts. Submerged brush piles located in about 10-25 feet of water are considered prime winter habitat. The best piles have a mix of branches and occasional stumps or logs that bass can tuck into waiting to ambush unsuspecting forage.

Gearing Up Properly

A 7’ heavy power, fast action rod with a high speed reel spooled up with 15 to 25 lb test fluorocarbon line makes it easier to muscle bass out of thick woody cover. Tie on a 1⁄2 oz. or heavier bass jig in black blue, brown, or green pumpkins colors tipped with a chunk-style trailer. The combination of heavier jig and line makes it easier to saty in contact with the jig and also reduces snags in the brush.

Finessing Your Presentation

Position your boat upwind and make long casts past the edges of the brush pile. Let your jig sink to the depth of the cover and work with a slow, dragging retrieve mixing in occasional hops. Watch your line for any ticks indicating a strike. When you make contact with a branch, slowly pull and pop your jig free, letting it fall back to the strike zone. Concentrate on thoroughly working all parts of the brush pile.

Set the Hook!

The light tap of a bite can quickly change to the weight of a solid bass rapidly inhaling the jig. Be ready to set the hook quickly but not too aggressively to ensure a solid hook set and not pull the jigs away from lethargic bass. Use a heavy power, fact action rod to expertly guide the bass away from the snag filled pile.

North Carolina bass pro Brandon Card relies on his jig fishing system for enticing and extracting winter bass from offshore brush piles. Take a few moments and watch as Brandon explains his process to locating and catching sluggish winter bass from his favorite deep water tangles...