Entry 231-4

Wintertime Bass Fishing with George Cochran

Part 4: Dead Stick the Jig When the Bass Batten-Down the Hatches

Question: George, December is a crazy month. Sometimes the bass batten-down the hatches when a cold front comes through and ignore most fishermen’s baits. What do you do when you get an arctic blast in your area, and you want to stay home by the fire, but you already have a fishing trip planned?

Cochran: The bass are much like me. They put on the covers and won’t go out for anything when the weather’s very cold. They won’t chase baits, and they won’t move far from cover to eat anything. So, when cold fronts come through, you’ve got to fish the Strike King Denny Brauer’s Premier Pro-Model Jig. But we have a new little wrinkle this year that will turn those Jack Frost bass into ravenous fish.

Regardless of the freezing weather or what you’re doing, if someone drags a warm, steaming, delicious-smelling steak in front of your nose, you have to take a bite. This year, Strike King has introduced the perfect crawfish trailer for Denny Brauer’s jig – the Bitsy Bug Crawfish jig Trailer. If you haven’t tried this bait yet, you’re missing a great fish-catching duo. The Bitsy Bug Crawfish jig trailer has more action than anything you can image. Even when it’s sitting dead still in the water, those claws will move just like a crawfish in a defensive position. In really-cold weather, bass will feed heavily on crawfish. But remember, bass don’t like to move far from their cover when a cold front hits. Therefore, if you’re pitching or flipping a jig with the Bitsy Bug Crawfish jig trailer on it, when that bait falls in front of the bass’s face, the bass get excited.

Another new lure that will be productive for freezing-weather conditions this month is the new Strike King Football Jig, which has been designed to be fished over rocky terrain and not get hung-up, while still keeping the craw trailer standing straight up like an alert crawfish in a defensive pose. Last year, I caught numbers of bass on the Football Head Jig using a craw trailer during the coldest time of year, when bass are reluctant to bite. My good friend and well-known angler, Larry Nixon, taught me how to fish this jig. Larry said, “Throw the Football Head Jig out, then let it go all the way to the bottom, and sit there. Pick it up once, and allow it to just sit there. Then pick it up one more time, if you need to before you reel it in to your boat.” Larry believes that dead sticking the Football Head Jig with a craw trailer is the most-effective way to fish this lure.

Most of the time when a crawfish is in a defensive pose it will do one of two things. The crawfish will sit on bottom with its pincers up, hoping to scare off what will bite it. Or, the crawfish will jump backwards to try to get away from the bass that will eat it. By dead sticking that lure and only jumping it once or twice before you reel it in and make another cast, you’re causing the Football Head Jig to have the natural action of the crawfish the bass eat. After Larry taught me that trick, I’ve caught a lot of cold-weather bass, even in water as shallow as 5 feet or less, using this jig tactic. When a cold front hits, the bass hit this Football Head Jig better than any other lure.

Question: What color of jig do you like to fish in December?

Cochran: On a dark day, I’ll use black or blue. On a clear day, I tend to use more-violet colors.

Next: Use This When All Else Fails

Contents:

• Part 1: Cranking Up Wintertime Bass
• Part 2: Spin Them Up
• Part 3: It’s Not Too Cold for Top-Water Fishing
• Part 4: Dead Stick the Jig When the Bass Batten-Down the Hatches
• Part 5: Use This When All Else Fails