In most of the country, Fall bass fishing is in progress and soon wintertime bass fishing will be upon us. If you are in an area where that doesn’t mean frozen water, then you will be in for these tips on how to catch crankbait bass in the winter.
Winter bass fishing can be frustrating, but it doesn’t have to be. Because the bass metabolism slows down as the water temps drop, you can typically pick from two options. These are a big meal that will last for a long time or something that is small and easy to eat.
Sometimes you will need to switch to something like a drop shot dragged painstakingly slow on the bottom, but this isn’t always the case nor is it necessary.
Wintertime Crankbaits for Bass Fishing – Reaction Bite
Reaction baits still come into play and some of the preconceived ideas about wintertime bass fishing are being reconsidered. I will cover a few crankbait tactics that I use to catch wintertime crankbait bass.
Wintertime Crankbaits for Bass Fishing – Favorites
One of my favorite ways to catch bass in the winter is the crankbait. Typically in the winter, the flat-sided crankbaits will perform better than some of the wider wobbling cranks of the summer. A few of my favorites in recent days have become the Rapala OG Slim, the Strike King Chick Magnet, and the Berkley Fritzside. If the bass aren’t too deep these are the deal.
To See The Crankbait Equipment I Use See My Crankbait Rod Post. It’s about squrebills, but it holds true for most crankbait fishing.
Two other mentions in this category of crankbait that I’ve used for a long time are the Rapala DT Series and the Rapala Shad Rap. These can never be overlooked and the Shad Rap has been responsible for countless winter bass being caught around the nation.
Wintertime Crankbaits for Bass Fishing – How To Fish Them
So how do you fish these cranks? The answer is much like the summer, except for slowing down and covering high percentage areas.
Wintertime Crankbaits for Bass Fishing – Line Size
Most of the crankbaits mentioned above aren’t deep divers. The secret is to fish in depths where they are making contact with cover. Many times this means fishing lighter line to get greater depth. The use of lighter line also creates a more natural action in the bait.
Cold Water Crankbait Fishing – Location
One cool thing about winter bass fishing is that when you find bass they are typically wadded up. This means that you can catch more than one bass in an area when you locate them. The tight wobble of the flat-sided crankbaits seems to be what the bass want during the cold water months. This can be from late fall into early spring.
Sometimes locating these wintertime bass means just covering water until you get some bites, and then fishing that area thoroughly. Different casting angles can make big differences.
Cold Water Crankbaits for Bass Fishing – Other Options
Another bait that throws all of this tight wobbling, flat-side logic on its head is the Storm Wiggle Wart. This is an erratic bait with a wide wobble and a fat body, but for some reason, it triggers some amazing reaction bites. There are lakes around the country where this is the winter bait to fish. As with other crankbaits, fishing around cover and making contact for deflection is key to fishing the Wiggle Wart.
The last category of wintertime crankbait bass fishing I will cover is the deep speed crank. I am just keying on to this concept, but the Tactical Bassin guys have it figured out. The idea is that instead of fishing a crankbait slow as I’ve discussed above, you need a specific crank with a tight wobble that won’t blow out when fished fast with erratic pauses.
This “burn and pause” that the Tactical guys have coined can bring some crazy reaction strikes and trigger big bass into biting.
Wintertime Crankbaits – Nothing is Set in Stone
As you can see, there are multiple ways, and sometimes old logic is dispelled when it comes to wintertime crankbait bass fishing. I suggest if you are just getting started go with the basics from the beginning of this article. Flatside crankbaits fished fairly slow can produce amazing results.
If you want to get more technical and specific with gear and baits, then the speed cranking with the River2Sea Tactical Bassin’ DD Crankbait can be the deal. These get a bit deeper and are fished on high-gear ratio reels. I’ll add a video below on speed cranking.
Either way, I suggest you get your hands on some of the crankbaits listed in this article and see how much fun you can have with wintertime crankbait bass fishing.
To your fishing success this winter,
Jonathan Burke