Entry 234-5

How to Catch Bass in January with Greg Hackney

Day 5: Hit Them in the Head

Question: Greg, have you got a secret tactic for catching bass this month?

Hackney: I sure do, but most bass fishermen won’t use it.

Question: Okay, what is it?

Hackney: Look for and fish for bass that are holding in deeper water than you’ve ever fished before in January. This is the time of year to look for pods of baitfish holding really deep in deep-water reservoirs. If you can find those pods of bait at 30- to 60-feet deep, the bass will be there. Drop a jigging spoon, or fish a drop a shot rig on them. You want to be actually looking at the fish on your electronics to which you’ll drop the bait. If you’ve got the sensitivity on your depth finder turned-up, you should be able to see your bait and the fish in the cone angle of your depth finder.

Question: How are you rigging your drop shot rig to fish this deep?

Hackney: I want my Strike King Finesse worm and the lead on the end of my drop shot close together. Then I can see them on my depth finder and watch my bait in relationship to the bass I want to catch. So I’ll only have my worm about 6 to 8 inches from my weight. Normally, the bass will have to be 15- to 20-feet deep, if you’re able to position your boat over them without spooking them. So I’m normally going to be fishing 20- to 60-feet deep when I’m using this tactic. Most people think that 60-feet is really deep. However, when you’re fishing straight down, 60-feet isn’t that deep.

Now I’ve mentioned earlier that I’m keying in on the pods of baitfish, but many times, I’ll find one or two bass or a school of bass, just sitting in open water and hanging out. A lot of people are missing good bass fishing by not looking at bass in that 50- to 60-feet water in January. . Right now, the whole nation, especially the South – well East of Texas – is in a much-drier weather pattern than it has been in for years. For that reason, our lakes are much clearer. Too, many lakes are getting older and don’t have rotten timber in them to stain them up. So the water is getting more clear, and the clearer the water becomes, the deeper in the lake the bass will be holding. Once you understand that in deep, clear lakes the bass will go deeper, and once you realize that because of the lack of rainfall we’ve had and lakes are getting older, then understanding why the bass have naturally got to move deeper is easy.

Take Kentucky Lake as an example. In years past, the ledges in the 10- to 12-foot water were where you’d catch the bass. Now fishermen are catching bass in 25 to 30 feet of water. The sunlight is getting deeper in the water, and the lakes are clearing up. So the baits and the bass are both having to move deeper. Now fishermen are having to learn to find and catch bass deeper than they ever have before in years past.

Question: Okay, you’ve told me why the bass are in this deep water. Now tell me what you’ll catch them.

Hackney: I like a 4-inch Strike King Finesse worm in either smoke or a color with some silver flake in it, watermelon or green pumpkin. If the wind’s not bad, I’ll fish a 3/16-ounce weight. If I’m fishing in the hotter months, I like a 1/2-ounce weight. Since I’m fishing vertical, that 3/16-ounce weight will usually get my finesse worm down to the bass fairly quickly. Of course I’m using 6-pound-test line. When I drop my drop-shot rig down to the fish, I’m dropping my bait and, as it falls, I’m watching the fish. Most of the time, the bass will want me to stop the finesse worm just a little bit above it and hold the bait still. Then I’ll see the bass ease up to the bait and take it. Sometimes I’ll lower the bait right in front of the bass and hold it as still as I can possibly hold it. I’m fishing the finesse worm much like you’ll fish a live-bait rig. Suddenly the fish will decide to eat it. You’ll either feel just a little bit of weight, or your line will go slack when the fish sucks in the bait. Many times you can see the bass take the bait on your depth finder before you feel pressure or feel slack on your rod tip.

One of the reasons I don’t mind giving this secret away is first of all, most people won’t try to fish that deep, and the ones who do will only attempt to do it one time. If it doesn’t work for them, they will give up. But that’s okay. I’ll keep fishing deep in January and keep catching bass.

Contents:

• Part 1: Bet on the Wild Shiner
• Part 2: Bass on the Rocks
• Part 3: Rolling Timber
• Part 4: Jig Up Big Spots
• Part 5: Hit Them in the Head