Catching the winter bass is quite a challenge for anyone at so many levels. On a personal level, it requires a calculated approach, patience, and endurance. At the skill level, it takes a lot more than the basic understanding of fishing alone. To catch bass in the winter, you need to know what cold weather does to water temperatures and the Bass in the elements. You also need to know how to prepare yourself for the challenge, how to time your activity according to the weather, how to survey water bodies, where to look for the winter bass, and how to bait it.

Bass, like all fish, are cold-blooded creatures. This means they have the ability to adjust their body temperatures to that of their environment.

During warmer seasons, they are found in abundance near the surface as they are actively preying and spawning. During the winter season, however, they vanish deep into the water, where they are much harder to find.  In temperatures of around 50 degrees and lower, the bass goes down into the deeper in their habitat and into hibernation which most cold-blooded creatures are known for. Their heartbeat, respiration, and metabolism slow down considerably. They no longer need regular amounts of food and now require days to digest which took them hours in the summer.  With reduced feeding comes diminished movement. 

When it’s cold outside the resulting bodily processes inside, bass become lethargic and lay low, suspended in the water column and pretty much immobile.  This relocation to deeper points, lower need for food, and their immobility during hibernation is what makes the winter bass extremely elusive and hard to catch.  Add to this the unique topography and challenges of every water body, the murkiness and clarity levels, changing water flow and speeds, all make the whole equation the hardest challenge any fishing enthusiast can face.

“In temperatures of around 50 degrees and lower, the bass goes down into the deeper in their habitat and into hibernation which most cold-blooded creatures are known for.”

In the cold season, the bass is found pretty much where they originally reside all year round: in the same water bodies, at different depths and much harder to get.

To find bass during extremely cold temperatures, search for them in the deepest parts of a lake, especially in a featureless one.  If the lake is generally shallow, search for them in the ditches.  However, bass also needs to occasionally come back near the surface for the sun, and the little feeding they need during the colder months. Whenever they do so, they hang around structures within a pond or lake, and nearby river channels where the flow of water is slow.  Watch out for suspended bunches of bass around rock ledges, concrete structures, timber, and boulders. Winter bass also loves rocky bottoms and rocky shores.  Also, bass tends to assemble in the warmer spots within a pond. You have higher chances of getting them in areas exposed to the sun, usually the warmer waters in the northern parts of a lake. A few degrees increase in water temperature at any spot, and you’ve had likely arrived.  Likewise, cloudy and overcast conditions diminish the opportunity, significantly.