| Winter fishing in the northern states consists | | | | largemouth bass from one spot. Basically, find the |
| mostly of ice fishing for perch, crappie, bluegill, | | | | bait fish and you will have a good chance of |
| walleye and northern pike. For bass anglers in the | | | | finding bass. |
| southern states, there is still open water for them | | | | If you can find some fish on the fish finder, try |
| to target largemouth bass and smallmouth bass. | | | | using some jigging spoons, plastic worms, jigs and |
| During these cold months, you're going to want to | | | | live bait. Some good live baits are nightcrawlers, |
| target these fish in deeper water than you would | | | | fathead minnows, shiners and creek chubs. For |
| be fishing in the spring and fall. | | | | smallmouth bass, a live perch is a deadly bait |
| On deeper lakes, you might be fishing 18 to 30 | | | | during these cold water periods. Just make sure |
| feet of water for largemouth bass and 20 to 50 | | | | to check your state's regulations because it may |
| feet of water for smallmouth bass. It might be a | | | | not be legal to use perch as bait. |
| little tougher to fish this deep, but once you find | | | | Changes in air temperature can play a big role in |
| the fish, you can have a lot of success. If you | | | | their feeding habits. If you get a warming trend |
| are afraid of deep water fishing, you're missing | | | | for a couple of days, the bite should be better. |
| out. | | | | During some warming trends, you will see |
| With a good fish finder, you can usually spot | | | | largemouth bass move shallower, especially in |
| schools of bait fish to go along with schools of | | | | areas that have some type of weeds as cover. |
| bass. You will usually find bigger schools of | | | | A severe cold front can completely shut the bass |
| smallmouth bass than largemouth bass, but there | | | | down. |
| are times when you can catch 10 or more | | | | |