Soft Plastics

[lunkerlur]

What is the best soft plastics to use in times like these when it is cold.
I need to fish something i can fish slow.

[screwballl]

That can vary widely depending on the conditions, water and location...

No matter how it is done, in the cold water (under 45-50ºF), slow is the key.
For clear lakes with plenty of open sandy or rock bottoms, or around stumps/laydowns, light colored flashy jigs tend to work well. In murky water or cloud cover, go darker and stick with the natural darker greens, browns and blacks. Sometimes it take a stationary drop shot to get them to bite. It just sits there, they don;t have to work too hard for it so they come along and gulp it up slowly and quietly, many times where you don't even feel it.

There are other options but these are the main I found that work for the deep south.

[Wild Bill]

For really cold water conditions, I generally will use four different techniques:

1] A football jighead or stand-up jighead with a Yamamoto four-inch Hula Grub in a dark color, dragged very slowly along the bottom, and especially off of drop-offs.

2] A three to four inch straight-tailed worm , nose-hooked on a dropshot rig, with the hook attached about 8 inches above the weight.

3] A four inch single-tailed Yamamoto grub in a baitfish-color pattern, rigged on a 3/16 ounce ballhead jighead, just swimming it down drop offs or along edges of drop-offs. Also work these on main-lake points and cuts with proximity to main lake points, especially ones that lead to feeder creeks.

4] The "dreaded" {lol} dead-sticked T-rigged worm, using a big worm, like a ten-inch ribbontail or so, or a 7 inch Senko.

No matter what soft-plastic I am throwing when the water is very cold, I always apply MegaStrike to it , so the fish will hold the bait a bit longer , to give me ample time to set the hook on many of the subtle bites during this time of the year.
...............................
Other choices do exist, like suspending jerkbaits such as the Pointers, X-Raps, Husky Jerks, or Suspending Rogues, just to name a few, with loooong pauses between the jerking action you give it. When doing that, vary your pause and jerk cadence until you find something that the fish respond to that day. Often fish will hit it when it's during it's idle pause.

Right after ice-out here in the northeast, I throw tiny 1/8 ounce football head jigs that have been tied with black kraft hair. No trailer is used for this bait. The kraft hair is very 'alive' in the water, and can move with water easily, so don't overwork this. Black is clearly my best all around producer for this, but I also have had good days when utilizing a black jig with a tinge of either orange, chartreuse, or even brown on the bottom of them. I fish this on a spinning rig with either 4 or 6 pound flouro to feel the slightest pickups. Again, look for sun-warmed banks with boulders and rock present, as these jigs will simulate the newly emerging baby crawfish

In the early parts of Spring I almost always will fish the sun-baked side of any water first, especially if the temps there seem to be a tiny bit warmer.
Also, creek arms and coves will often warm faster than the main lake.
Before I start slinging baits, I try to find any warmer water, and a few degrees can make a world of difference in your success level of catching them, based on my experiences.

[Lpbassman]

My two favorite soft plastics for cold water fishing would be a Texas rigged lizard and a Hula grub, both dragged along the bottom.

[lunkerlur]

Thanks for the info guys me and a friend of mine are going to fish a honey hole of his and he says he has bought some new soft plastics that are suppost to stand up off the bottom more than anthing else he has fished with.He has been fishing for many years i am anxious to see if they REALLY WORK.I have a pond and i have tried several plastics in the shallow clear water where i can see them and they all lay flat on the bottom.I will let yall know how we do and how his new soft plastics work .Again i appreciate all of your hard work and information and thanks for the show mike D. Have fun fishing

[BassNut]

My favorite cold water soft baits are a 2" to 3" paddle tail rigged
on a 1/8oz ball jig.
Its a killer bait when the conditions are bad, it will put bass in the boat.
Smailles will slam them!!

[lunkerlur]

In alabama where i fish we catch Largemouth Bass,Spotted Bass and Tiger Bass. I have not had the pleasure of catching a smalley yet.How much harder do they fight as opposed to a spotted bass.

[BassNut]

Since I've never caught a spotted bass I'm not sure.
But pound for pound, nothing Fights like A Small Mouth Bass.
They never give up, they'll fight you all the way in the boat!!

Check out you tube, there are some good smallie fighting videos.
Not sure if I can upload a video of me fishing from shore for smallies
down behind my house where Stony Brook meets the Mighty Ct River.
great Small Mouth fishing, plus the moving water even makes a 2lber
feel like a giant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TQXjEfrWKo

[Wild Bill]

I have never caught a Coosa-Spotted Bass, but I have caught Kentucky-Spotted Bass, LMs, and Smallmouths, and clearly, the Smallmouth fights the best of all of those, with tremendous acrobatic jumps and erratic, darting fighting.

[lunkerlur]

Originally Posted by BassNut

Since I've never caught a spotted bass I'm not sure.
But pound for pound, nothing Fights like A Small Mouth Bass.
They never give up, they'll fight you all the way in the boat!!

Check out you tube, there are some good smallie fighting videos.
Not sure if I can upload a video of me fishing from shore for smallies
down behind my house where Stony Brook meets the Mighty Ct River.
great Small Mouth fishing, plus the moving water even makes a 2lber
feel like a giant.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2TQXjEfrWKo

That was nice to get that on video.
liked the top water explosion.