Are you still out there looking for bass? Is the bite getting tough? Time to change tactics! Brandyn @Wisconsin Wildman is here to drop some awesome knowledge on you about winter bass fishing. Namely, his top 5 lures for bass fishing in the winter! Try these lures and techniques out, and go land a MONSTER!

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Video Transcript:

Brandon Stoker:
Welcome back, everybody, to another episode on the MONSTERBASS channel, my name is Brandon Stoker. And in today's episode, guys, we are going to be talking about my top five lures for wintertime bass fishing. So before we jump into the episode, guys, if you guys love tips and tricks videos, things like that, guys, we are always covering them here on the MONSTERBASS channel. So if there's a question you have about a lure that you got in your box on how to fish it, where to fish it, or just top lures that are coming out, anything related to bass fishing, we are always pumping out content for you guys that's related to tips, tricks, anything you might need to help you guys out on the water. So if you guys have not already, I would highly encourage you guys to like and subscribe to the MONSTERBASS channel. Also really quick, I run a channel called Wisconsin Wildman. Guys, it'll be linked down below in the description.

Brandon Stoker:
I do a ton of bass fishing on there, guys, with the MONSTERBASS boxes and just a ton of different stuff as well. So if you'd like to check that out, that will be linked down in the description. Today, we're talking about wintertime bass fishing. Now, before we jump into these lures, let's kind of gauge where we're going here with this. Now, wintertime bass fishing, what are the fish doing? Well, generally, it's a lot colder out. The water temp is really cold, especially here in the Midwest region where I'm at in Wisconsin. Water temps are getting really cold, but you can still get out there and catch fish. And it's a great time of the year because you have the water pretty much to yourselves.

Brandon Stoker:
There's not a lot of people that are out there still bass fishing this time of the year. So if you're looking to get out there, not be bothered by anybody, go to any spot you want, it's a great time of the year to do that. But with the water being cold, those fish are starting to be lethargic. So we're going to kind of go through these lures kind of in the progression of the wintertime. So we're going to start at the beginning of the wintertime, when the water's cold, not at its coldest yet, but getting cold. And then we'll kind of move into what I'm using when it's the coldest out. Now, these fish, like I said, they're lethargic in that cold, cold water. Smallmouth on the other hand, they tend to do a little bit better in the cold water. So if you guys are looking to catch some smallies, these lures will work just as well for largemouth and smallmouth. But smallies, if you're targeting them, they're going to be a little more fired up in this colder water, but they're still going to get a little more lethargic.

Brandon Stoker:
But largemouth bass, for sure, are going to be lethargic. So, we're kind of looking at lures that are slower presentation or smaller, things like that, that are going to generate a bite. Just about every lure that I'm going to show you guys here today actually came in this month's MONSTERBASS box for me. Now, the first one that we're going to go over is going to be a crankbait. So, kind of when that water temp is starting to dip off, I love tossing crankbaits. When it's starting to get cold out, we're getting in that wintertime blank, I like deeper diving crankbaits that I'm sticking close to the bottom. I want to be smacking the bottom right where those fish are hugging. When it gets cold out, they're going to drop down and they're going to hug that bottom. And if you could throw something that are going to remain bottom contact. This is a great color. Here's another crankbait I got in one of my boxes as well, that works really, really well in the wintertime.

Brandon Stoker:
I really like these colors, natural colors. Darker water, I like to go with a black and chartreuse, something like that or a red one. But both of these crankbaits right here are really good colors and crankbaits are just a great way to get bites right when that water temp starts to drop off. The next one that I like to go to is going to be a lipless crankbait. So this one I got my MONSTERBASS box, once again. This color will work. I do like this color on sunnier days, but what I really like is a red lipless crankbait. So, those red lipless crankbaits, I don't know why, I just end up getting a lot of bites out of them. But what's nice about a lipless crankbait is they're usually really loud, they rattle, you guys can hear that. They rattle really loud, they attract a lot of fish, and the nice thing about it is you can cover a lot of water. Now, like I said before, those fish are lethargic, so you don't just have to throw this out there and then retrieve it back.

Brandon Stoker:
Another technique that I like to do is actually throw this out there and let it sink, and then I like to yo-yo it almost. So I like to let this lipless crankbait sink down to the bottom, and then I'll just reel up my slack and then I'll just rip the rod straight up and just yo-yo it. And then let it sink back down. And it just seems like that slow sinking presentation just gets them. And then you yo-yo it again. That's a great way in the wintertime to work lipless crankbaits. So you don't have to just retrieve it. I would highly recommend you guys try yo-yoing this thing back to you. You'll be surprised on how many bites you can generate off of a lipless crankbait doing that. Now, one of the best and all-time favorite lures to throw in the wintertime, guys, is going to be a jerkbait. So I got a Bama Baits jerkbait in my box this month. Jerkbaits are a tried, true, and trusted method in the wintertime to catch fish.

Brandon Stoker:
This color works well. On sunny days, I really like to use something like this, that olive or kind of that gold-ish color. This is more of a olive, but gold or chrome jerkbaits in the wintertime are killer. It's one of those lures that wintertime cold water, it's just historically known to catch fish. My favorite way to fish a lipless crankbait, especially in the wintertime when it's really cold, is just give it a couple of pops, just pop, pop, and then let it sit. Just let that thing sit. Sometimes 30 seconds to almost a minute sometimes. I'll let that thing sit and then pop, pop again. So, you're going to want to work this slow. Having rattles in it, this one actually has rattles in it. It's not crazy loud, but having the rattles does help, I will say that. But I like to go with gold or chrome or kind of that fire tire kind of color with my jerkbaits. But, like I said, the presentation is huge. So really, giving a couple of pops and really letting that bait sit is going to be huge for success.

Brandon Stoker:
So if you guys haven't tried a jerkbait or want to get into it, this is a true tried method that will catch you fish in the wintertime. Now we're going to kind of slow it down. Now we're going to go to one of my favorite methods to use in the wintertime for catching bass, and that's going to be a football jig. So right here, I have a ... Actually, this is a football finesse jig. As you guys can see, it is a little bit smaller presentation. So you can put a little grub on there or a little crawfish style trailer, and it's going to look really nice, just being really small profile. So a football jig like this one, I really like black and blue or green pumpkin, but black and blue and green pumpkin are my main colors. Now, you can use a normal football jig as well, but these are right that time of the year when the water temps are really down there and you just want kind of a small little grub presentation that's an easy meal for that fish to eat, but you also can just drag the bottom.

Brandon Stoker:
You can drag the bottom and that's majority where those fish are going to be anyways, hugging the bottom. They're lethargic, they're staying down there in their winter holes. Throwing out something like this, you can just drag the bottom nice and slow. And then along with that little grub on there, or little crawfish style trailer, it looks like a nice easy meal for them. So this is something that I throw a ton in the wintertime. It's one of my favorite things to throw just because it just generates bites. You just get bit. It's not like when you're out there winter fishing, you're going to be hammering them like crazy. The bites are going to slow down, but this is a great way to slow down and get those bites. So now, my ultimate favorite way to catch fish in the wintertime, especially in those colder water temperatures, guys, is going to be a Ned rig. Now, in my box, I got the Strike King Ned Ocho. This is black and blue, love black and blue and green pumpkin for Ned rigs, guys. Ned rigs are great in the wintertime. They're great, pretty much all year round.

Brandon Stoker:
But in the colder water, I really find that a Ned rig works. Like I said before, those fish are lethargic, they're looking for a nice kind of easy meal and the Net Ochos, guys, are perfect for that. And I'll kind of bring one out for you guys here, but look at this thing right here. So, this is what came in this month's box, the Ned Ocho. Look at that thing. It's just a little grub. There's not much to it, but that is what the fish is looking for, something easy to eat. So, I'll throw that on one of these Ned heads here. This is an eighth ounce Ned head. I like to go eighth ounce or 16th ounce. This is a hula stick, one of my favorite ones to throw as well. But I have been really liking those Ned Ochos. These things work really, really well. It's a little bit smaller than the hula stick, but I'll tell you what, guys, these Ned Ochos are really nice. I like the material that they use in them.

Brandon Stoker:
I almost like it a little bit better than the Z-Man stuff, but the Ned rig is great, guys. Like I said, they want that grub style stuff. You can just drag the bottom nice and slow with this. It's the perfect presentation, especially for smallmouth. I have caught so many smallmouth off of the Ned rig, it's insane. I absolutely love fishing the Ned rig for smallies, but largemouth as well, guys. This will catch fish. I love getting on a good school of fish and tossing a Ned rig. You're going to catch them big and small off of a Ned rig. You're going to get bit off of a rig. It catches fish plain and simple. I don't even know how else to say it. The Ned rig is just one of those rigs that I always have tied on and I love fishing it. So if you haven't tried a Ned rig by now, I highly, highly recommend it.

Brandon Stoker:
So there you guys have it, my top five lures for fishing in the wintertime. They're not the only lures you guys can use, but those are my top five. That's generally what I have tied on, what I'm going to throw in the wintertime. Like I said, those fish are lethargic. They're hugging the bottom. They're slowing down. So you got to kind of slow down your presentations as well. I hope you guys enjoyed today's episode. Remember to like and subscribe and we will see you guys on the next one.