Catching Winter Bass On Almost Every Cast!

Think Winter Bass Fishing is tough? It doesn't have to be! When you understand how the fish are positioned and which baits will trigger them to feed, it can be amazing! Come along as Tim explores a brand new lake and starts getting bites from big bass on his very first stop!

Most anglers think of Winter as the time to stay at home. If you are going out, you're probably finesse fishing, dragging small plastics along the bottom. While slow finesse fishing can be effective, its a whole lot more fun to get fish to react! In today's video Tim is using a handful of key baits to break down a new lake without any mapping. He's combining visual clues along the shoreline with his vast fishing knowledge, to immediately catch fish. Pay close attention to the details he's teaching throughout the video and apply them to your next day on the water. 

Tim used a handful of baits and some very specific equipment to catch these fish and to map the lake for future trips. Below you'll find links to all of the gear he used. The links go directly to Tackle Warehouse where you can see detailed photos and descriptions of each item. 

Swimbait... 

Bait- Keitech 4.3" Fat Swing Impact (Electric Shad): http://bit.ly/2ab7s8v

Head- Tactical Finesse Swimbait Head (1/2 oz): http://bit.ly/2Pqrq3n

Tube... 

Bait- Big Bite Baits Tour Tube (Green Pump Purp Cop): http://bit.ly/32e23VR

Head- Bite Me Big Dude Goby Head (1/2 oz): http://bit.ly/2CV3o7S

A-Rig... 

Rig- G Funk Baits Cali Rig: http://bit.ly/2nD76fw

Heads- Matt Allen Swimbait Heads (1/8 oz): http://bit.ly/29RrTYN

Baits- Keitech 4.8" Fat Swing Impact (Pro Blue Red Pearl): http://bit.ly/2ab7s8v

Neko... 

Bait- Yamamoto 5" Senko (Electric Shad): http://bit.ly/2axAmNS

Hook- Owner Weedless Finesse Sniper Neko (Size 1/0): https://bit.ly/2zXirRH

Harness- G7 Protect Tube: http://bit.ly/2PWEkUs

Weight- Swagger Tungsten Pagoda Nail (1/16 oz): http://bit.ly/2iGNSFW

Tim's Electronics/Autochart Live... 

Unit- Humminbird Solix 15: https://bit.ly/35HuPRY

Mapping- LakeMaster Plus Digital Charts: http://bit.ly/2Dk5Erc

Map Making- Humminbird AutoChart Live: http://bit.ly/2unEs8y

Swimbait Combo... 

Rod- G Loomis GLX 893C JWR: http://bit.ly/2gqziwT

Reel- Shimano Metanium MGL HG: https://bit.ly/34HlAAk

Line- Sunline Sniper 12 lb Fluorocarbon: http://bit.ly/2p7fxju

A-Rig Combo... 

Rod- Dobyns Champion Extreme 784 7'8" Heavy: http://bit.ly/2ab2kRX

Reel- Shimano Curado 200K HG: http://bit.ly/2tHewEh

Line- Power Pro Maxcuatro 65 lb Braid: http://bit.ly/2clBRiQ

Leader- Sunline FC-100 Fluorocarbon 20 lb: http://bit.ly/2O4UElB

Budget Swimbait/Heavy Tube Combo... 

Rod- Shimano Intenza 7'2" Medium Heavy: http://bit.ly/2QADLTq

Reel- Shimano SLX 150 XT HG: http://bit.ly/2BRTYL8

Line- Sunline Assassin 12 lb Fluorocarbon: http://bit.ly/2h4LNjm

NEW Tactical Bassin Apparel... 

TacticalBassin Hat: https://bit.ly/31EYB8W

TacticalBassin Reaper Hoodie: http://bit.ly/2TwBWs7

TacticalBassin Shadow Hoodie: http://bit.ly/2FVD9Rs

TacticalBassin Sun Shirt: http://bit.ly/2TvFMBD

TacticalBassin Hooded Sun Shirt: http://bit.ly/38cVi9G

Breaking Down a New Lake: The Finale

Part 3 of "How to Breakdown a New Lake" picks up right where part 2 left off. The duo move into the Eastern arm of Lake Sonoma in search of shallow water largemouth. They begin by fishing in the marina where they flip a senko into boat slips and skip a keitech swimbait into shade pockets. 

Almost immediately Tim and Matt encounter a wolf pack of schooling largemouth bass along a shade line. If you look closely in the lower corner of the video you'll see a 6-8 lb bass swimming out of a brush pile toward the boat. They are able to lure a topwater explosion from the bass on a hollow body frog but they it doesn't fully commit. After plying other offerings like the senko, keitech swimbait, and even a wakebait they agree to return to the marina later after the fish have settled. 

After leaving the marina the pair briefly fish the bridge pilings. 
When summer bass fishing in a lake with bridge pilings, this is a key place to catch large numbers of fish. Largemouth, smallmouth, and especially spotted bass love to school around vertical structure.  Matt throws a senko on the pilings while Tim is casting an Alabama Rig, both to no avail. They quickly move on to another set of docks where Tim catches back to back bass fishing with a 2.8 Keitech coupled with a Revenge Dart Head. 

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After leaving the docks behind Matt and Tim fish cove after cove and point after point in search of schooling fish on deep ledges or shallow shade pockets. They spend much of the afternoon fishing standing timber in open water but aren't able to get consistent bites. Finally, as the redwoods began leaving large shade lines on the water Matt is able to catch a nice largemouth on a hollow body frog lure. After a few more stops Matt and Tim return to the marina and head for home. 

We hope you were able to take valuable information out of this video. Whether you are bass fishing in California, Texas, Alabama, or New England, we tried to fish different types of cover and with different techniques that could be applied to every location.

Breaking down a new lake and learning how to find bass is not an easy task. However, If you follow the steps we outlined in this fishing video, you should be able to locate bass much more quickly in the future. We hope this helps! 

Baits used in this video to locate and catch fish...

Yamamoto 5" Senko (Green Pumpkin)
Keitech Fat Swing Impact 2.8"
Revenge Darter Head
Yamamoto 5" Senko (Natural Shad)
Alabama Rig- Yum Ultralight
River2Sea Bully Wa in “Dirty White”

Equipment Used:

Tim's Keitech Combo:
Rod- Dobyns 742 Champion Extreme 7'4"
Reel- Daiwa Fuego Spinning Reel
Line-Power Pro Braided 15 lb
Leader- Sunline Leader Material 8 lb

Matt's Frog Combo:
Rod- Dobyns 736 Champion
Reel- Shimano Curado 70
Line- 65 lb Sufix 832
Leader- None Used