Topwater baits help you enhance your winter fishing experience by catching bass and other types of fish. However, it is a technique that requires comprehensive knowledge to narrow down your speculative fishing bringing assured results. Top fishing tips include understanding how and when to use topwater lures during winter.
So, can you use topwater lures in the winter? Read more to understand how to maximize topwater lures in cold seasons.
Why Should You Use Topwater Lures in Cold Seasons?
Winter fishing has perks and challenges, but it’s pretty lucrative if you know how to manipulate your topwater lure. Fish tend to group themselves into schools during the cold seasons, causing them to be easy targets using the correct technique. So, how can you use topwater lures in the winter?
Using topwater baits lures the sea bass into going for alternative and easy prey at the surface, mainly in the warm temp. You can use different types of fish baits from lubes, wood, and hard- or soft-water plugs mimicking the worms and fish preys in the water. Dropping these lures in a school of winter seabass gives you good chances to catch one.
Types of Top Water Bait To Use in Cold Weather
Choosing an appropriate surface baitfish for your fishing significantly affects your success. Check out these three types of top water baits.
Buzzbait
The most common buzzbaits are spinning and the love buzz junior. The bass can’t resist the bubbles and movement that the buzzbait produces, even at low temperatures below 50 degrees. They have a buzzing sound when you lower them into the waters, catching the bass’s attention quickly.
Before slowly retrieving, learn the correct depth to lower your bait in the cold water. A fast retrieve could cost you your fish. Before settling for the right area, survey your location to drop your wired bait frame.
Stickbaits
Examples of walk the dog stickbaits include jerk baits, jigs, and blade baits. The versatility of these baits gives you numerous fishing options.
Bass relies on the crawfish and shad as the primary source of food. Therefore, getting baits resembling the shad spawn’s movement and flicking catches the bass’ attention.
People prefer using this method on warm waters in the summer and spring. The jerkbaits are best-used on the surface, with the jerk fish dwindling in a way that dead fish would flick in water temperatures of around 40 degrees. Suspend or slowly sink the jerkbaits to catch the attention of the bass.
Slowly remove the jerkbaits with periodic pauses before reeling them on your spinning reel. Take time to learn about the best bait angle and speed to retrieve the bait and fish for the best results.
Blade baits like the steel shad work best in deep waters. Lower your blade bait before raising the baitfish in stages. Repeat this process until it catches the fish.
It’s perfect for large and small-mouthed fish where you use a steady retrieve to get the fish.
Wake Bait
The slow but steady process of using worms in winter fishing can take a long period to catch your seabass. Instead, put your plastic worms floating on water in a covered area near a plantation where the fish would be waiting for a meal. Try different combinations and positioning to perfect your art of using baitworms to catch fish once they bite into the worm hook.
When Should You Use Topwater Lures in Cold Weather
To successfully carry out topwater fishing, anglers need to master their timings. It’s not like summer or spring, where you’ll have warm or clear waters for your fishing trips. So, how can you use topwater lures in the winter? Check out these fishing tips for your hardwater trout or bass fishing.
Analyze the Weather
Understand the prime conditions that favor top water fishing. The answer to can you use topwater lures in the winter is partially that the water temp needs to be warm enough to allow the fish to swim around for feeding. The preferred times are in the early mornings, late afternoons, or at night.
Bass move around to look for food in the shallow cover early morning and dusk. It gives you the best opportunities to use your top surface lures to catch the fish. You can use this technique at night with great success in warmer months.
Monitor the warming trends when the sun is out for around two to three days before setting out on your surface fishing. Let the temperatures stabilize for the best fishing results. The best conditions for topwater fishing are on cloudy days because of the low light and warm waters.
Mind Your Presentation
Presenting your topwater bait and fishing gear determines how many fish will get caught. Take time to learn how and where you should implement steady or fast retrieves while fishing. The type of bait and waters impact your decision significantly.
If you are confident in your dropping and retrieving technique, go for surface lures. Use the right size, usually smaller than winter lures, and should be flashy and mobile to attract the bass.
Know Your Target Areas
It’d be unwise to go into deeper water when using surface fishing in cold weather. However, bass fishing is successful in shallow water because of the fish’s feeding routine. They usually come up in shallow areas or areas near plantations and vegetation to look for food.
Check if There Are Any Fishing Activities in the Area
If there have been fishing activities in your target area before you start fishing, you should reconsider your location or reschedule your fishing.
Monitor such fishing activities, especially where there is a gizzard shad spawning, where one can get a good harvest as you go into the deep water from the bank.
Consider Your Lure’s Design
Winter fishing conditions require specific fishing lures that bait the fish from their dormant phases. During cold months, fish rarely feed because they aren’t quite as active. Thus, you’ll not catch bass with the wrong choice of lures.
Final Thoughts: Can You Use Topwater Lures in the Winter?
We hope this article has helped to answer the question, “Can you use topwater lures in the winter?” Topwater bait is the go-to option for fishing in colder months. Don’t pause your fishing after the summer or spring. Use these baits and techniques to help you improve your bass fishing in the colder months.
