Entry 229-2
Mark Rose on December Bass Fishing
Editor’s Note: Mark Rose of Marion, Arkansas, won $125,000 in the last bass-fishing tournament he fished in 2007. A Strike King pro for a number of years, Rose also fishes for fun, when he’s not tournament fishing. This week Rose will tell us how to catch bass during December.
Part 2: Play Football in December
Question: Mark, where else are you finding bass during the month of December?
Rose: This month bass will be relating to rocks. The bass often will be holding on rocky bluffs and chunk-rock banks that drop off into deep water. The bass are somewhat more lethargic and tend to prefer a slow presentation. So, this month is when the Football Head Jig can be deadly effective, especially in clear water. In the FLW tournament in the fall of 2007 when I won $125,000 on the Football Head Jig, I was working the bait really aggressively, keeping it moving quickly and making hops and jumps with it.
However, in December, instead of hopping and moving the jig quickly, I’ll drag it and slow-crawl it along those rocky bluffs and chunk-rock banks. If you’ve ever noticed a crawfish in cold water, that crawfish isn’t dancing a jig. At the very best, that crawfish is doing a slow waltz. Really and truly, it’s just crawling along the bottom. 
So, if you fish that Football Head Jig fast with a lot of jumps and move it quickly on the bottom in December, the bass will know that’s not a crawfish. But, if you drag it slowly like you will a plastic worm rigged Texas style, you’ll give a more-natural presentation, and you drastically increase your odds for catching bass.
Question: Mark, under what type of water condition do you fish the Football Head Jig during December?
Rose: Most of the time I’ll be fishing extremely-clear water. At this time of the year in clear water, the bass will be holding deep. Those conditions are the ones this Football Head Jig has been designed to meet.
Question: What color of Football Head Jig do you like?
Rose: You can’t really beat green-pumpkin or the peanut-butter-and-jelly colors in December. Because I’m fishing deep, I’ll also use Spike-It chartreuse dye on my trailers to add some extra flash to the lure down in that deep water.
Question: With what pound of test line do you fish the Football Head Jig in December?
Rose: I’ll fish 12-pound-test line because that size of line knifes through the water faster than larger line does, it’s more sensitive, and it seems to be a better deep-water line. In the spring and the summer, I’ll be fishing the Football Head Jig on 15-pound-test line, but in clear water and cold weather, I’ll downsize my line.
Question: What reel-and-rod combination will you use in the winter with the Football Head Jig?
Rose: I prefer a Shimano Chronarch baitcasting reel with a G. Loomis 844 IMX graphite rod, which is my favorite rod-and-reel combination to fish worms and jigs.
Next: Warm Days Get Red Eyes
Contents:
- Part 1: Dying Shad = King Shad
- Part 2: Play Football in December
- Part 3: Warm Days Get Red Eyes
- Part 4: I’ll Bet on the Shaky-Head Worm Tactic
- Part 5: Fishing the Rage Tail Craw in December
