Whats your idea?

[joedog]

Ok, the other day while fishing I came up with a dilemma.
Cold water, like 36 degrees or less (some HARD ice on water).

Logic says, fish are lathargic and and not really active. Fish want to eat but with as little energy displacement as possible.
Theory One:
Large high profile bait worked slow. Ex. 3/8ths or larger, big skirt, big trailer jig set up. Fish wants as big a meal as possible so energy replenishment can be done as infrequently as possible.
Can hop, let sit. Shake it, let sit. Slow swim it almost dragging across bottom. Extreme slow with points of hesitation.
Theory two:
Small profile. Another often forgotten aspect of winter feeding is, how much energy is used to turn bait in mouth in order to swallow (happens more often than most think) and crunch and hold it ect. So theory says go small and slow, fish want to find something easy to swallow as well as not work to get it. Ex. flutter spoon, yo-yoing lipless crank.

So what do YOU think?

[bassinbob]

6 to 8 in swimbaits fished very slow just a little faster then dragging on the bottom.

[Bassboss]

See what the fish want. They might change there mind throughout the course of the day!

Here's what I experienced last year...

Started off throwing a drop shot with a jackal cross tail shad. Didn't really find much of anything wanted to eat it. Tried several other baits on the drop shot, little fluke, small worm, etc. Tried switching over to a shaky head with a small worm... nothing happening much there either. Finally after getting sick of this slow finesse stuff, since it obviously wasn't working, I decided a change in pace was in order. Switched to a rattle trap and the rest is history.

Someone of the best bass fishing of my life! Average fish around 3 pounds, and larger ones around 5 pounds not uncommon.

Can't wait to do it all again this year, however I'll switch things up with a spinnerbait and scrounger head here and there to keep the fish eating.

I also tried suspending jerkbaits throughout the early spring which aren't exactly small. So I'd say it's more a matter of giving them the right presentation at the right time, then the size of the presentation.

[bassboogieman]

Stay home, by the fire, crack a cold one, order a pizza and watch a game.

[keithdog]

I start out larger first, and then will downsize if nothing is happening. I figure by early spring, most of the baitfish from the previous year have matured in size. Plus, I think a bass would prefer one larger meal than several smaller meals.

[bassboogieman]

OK, serious answer. Around here, when the water drops below 40, many are fishing a silver buddy style bait. You can jig it vertical or cast ant retreive in a yo-yo pattern similiar to what is done with a trap. The jigging though works best around here.