What do you fish when faced with cool, low visibility water, especially in the pre-spawn?
Lipless crank?
Chatterbait?
Maybe but more often that not a spinnerbait with a colored kicker blade is the bait of choice!
Take a moment and watch the video to see why bass pro Ott Defoe thinks the spinnerbait is the best bait for cool, dirty water conditions...
Doesn't it feel great when you get a new bait, take it from the package and admire that nice, bright natural finish produced by the manufacturer.
Did you ever wonder if that nice bright finish actually works or times when it works against us catching bass?
Possibly, especially when the bass and bait they're following are in cold water, move shallow from deeper water or exist in muddy water conditions. Fish exposed to those conditions tend to have color and marking patterns washed out and muted.
I've known old timers that used to leave duplicates of baits on the dashboard of their vehicles for several days and let the Sun "fade out" the original bright manufactured finish to mimic that effect.
On the other hand, bass pro Gerald "G-man" Swindle has a quicker method has he describes in the video below!
Winter bass fishing can be tough but often rewarding.
When fishing non-frozen lakes, winter bass can be found at water depths ranging from a few feet to several tens of feet; holding tight to cover or suspended over it.
Bait selection, therefore is key to your winter bass fishing success and often include lures like crankbaits, jerkbaits, swimbaits, jigs, lipless crankbaits, jig n worms, A-rigs just to name a few.
Take a moment and hear what bass pro Brandon Cobb picks when fishing for winter bass:
It didn't take long for bass anglers to adapt the Tokyo rig to a variety of presentations including flipping/punching, Texas rigging, swing jigging and more.
One of the more interesting adaptations; rigging paddletail swimbaits for probing shallow to deep cover/structure elements.
Take a moment and listen to the folks at Rapala/VMC explain swimbait fishing using Tokyo rigs...
What do speed worming, punching & prop rippin' have to do with spring fishing?
Some feel these are some of the best baits to use on southern waters as bass move up on the spawning flats.
Take a moment and see what they mean...
Have to wonder if some of those baits/presentations will work in the north country?
Hmmmm :)
