5 Jig Techniques to Catch Winter Bass

Fishing during the winter is tough – the bass are more sluggish and won't aggressively strike at just any prey or presentation in the cold waters. The greatest advantage you have as an angler is knowing the fish's behavior during this season, and it's up to you to devise a way to work around it. 

While using jigs may not exactly be the angler's first thought when it comes to winter fishing, it can be equally effective as other more popular lures. Jigs are designed to sink slowly, bounce around obstacles, and are best dragged slowly along the bottom to cause vibrations that will pique the bass’ attention. 

Now that we know that jigs can be effective for cold waters, let's take a look at different jigs.

5 Jig Techniques to Catch Winter Bass

1.Go Heavy to Get the Trophy

Fish are more sluggish during the winter’s colder water temperatures as they attempt to preserve their energy. Remembering that fish will only attack surefire meals should be a guiding force for any angler when selecting their jig.

While the general practice for other lures would be to downsize as to present an easier target for lazy bass, this is not always the case with jigs. 

However, if your aim is to catch trophy gamefish, then you’ll want to upsize the size of your lure. If done correctly, jigs will present themselves as an easy, irresistible meal for winter bass. A 5/8-ounce jig is a great place to start, providing you with enough versatility to present the lure effectively at different depths.

You'll also want to choose jigs with thicker skirts and trails to present a larger profile to would-be predators. You'll also want to follow the general color rule: brown for clear water and black and blue for murky water. Partner this up with a 7-foot rod rigged with 16 to 20-pound test of fluorocarbon spooled in a high-speed reel, and you’ll have yourself a powerful hook set. 

2. If You’re Keeping it Light, Keep it Tight 

Now, if your goal is to catch plenty of fish or to maximize your limit for the day, then using smaller-sized jigs is the answer. Using a lighter jig can help you purposefully retrieve slower to match the winter fish’s own pace as well. 

When downsizing your jig, you don’t have to go out to the tackle shop if you don’t have a light jig on hand. You can just trim up some of your old jigs to adapt to what you need. 

Trimming the jig’s skirt is a great start. While holding the skirt tightly, you’ll want to make two angled cuts beneath the hook’s bend to help make it more look natural. It helps the jig’s profile in the water remain smaller and more appealing as an easy snack for winter bass.

To make it even smaller, scrunch up the skirt under the collar and turn the jig over so that you can trim it to make it appear like a finesse jig. This makes the jig’s skirt appear less showy and more subtle. 

If you would prefer to purchase a new jig, on the other hand, a 1/4 to 3/8-ounce finesse jig is a good range to fall back on. Your skirt color should still be black, blue, brown, or natural colored for clear water. Pair this up with a 7-foot medium-heavy power rod with a 10 to 14-pound test spooled with fluorocarbon, and you're good to go.

3. Go for the Shallows First

While it may seem contrary to what a jig is usually used for, going to the shallows is the best way to start jigging for bass. Shallow and backwater areas on days when the temperature is slightly warmer are most likely to have some bass lurking around because of the area's warmer temperatures. 

The ends of creeks or coves with steeper banks that taper out to shallow flats are worth checking, keeping an eye out for depths of around 5 feet where there are portions of small, dark rocks. These areas warm up quicker than deep waters and will likely be very attractive to winter bass. Isolated stumps, brush, and laydowns also retain heat fairly well which can be like magnets for bass on winter days with slightly warmer temperatures. 

4. Cast Slow and Let it Fall

When you’re fishing a jig during winter, it’s vital to use your intuition on likely places that bass may be. Once you found a spot, make multiple casts to your chosen target area. If you don’t get any bites, simply pause for around 15 minutes and make multiple casts again, typically around 4-5 casts should do. Make sure you thoroughly exhaust a particular target area before moving on to the next one.

When casting, make sure that you slowly drag your jigs on the bottom, letting it make small hops as you retrieve. Each retrieve must make contact with the bottom or with cover, and you need to minimize the time it floats or suspends in the water column. 

Repeating the same pattern of small hops in one place helps you establish a rhythm and familiarity with what the jig feels like. This is important because when you feel any slight change, you need to set the hook. Remember, winter bass are so lazy that sometimes they just keep the jig in their mouth without striking or pulling.

The fall rate is likewise crucial when winter bass fishing. You can try a 3/8-ounce jig tipped with a craw trailer to make the lure is more buoyant and sink slower. If you use the right combination of trailers and lines, you can make a 5/8-ounce jig fall at the same rate as a 1/4-ounce jig. 

A slow rate of fall is best in the winter because of the slower reaction times of fish. You can likewise cast toward steeper ledges with large rocks near banks, letting your jig hop close to the edge. This way, you can control its rate of fall in a stair-step fashion that helps keep it near the ledges for lurking bass to strike at. 

5. Dead-Sticking

While dead-sticking is a technique often used with plastic worms, it can be just as effective with jigs as well. It basically involves casting out your lure and leaving it on the bottom for two minutes without moving it, in the hopes that a bass cruising by will lazily pick it up in their mouths. You can make it crawl along the bottom with long pauses in between as well, occasionally "waking" up the jig with a quick shake. 

BONUS: Jig and Pig

In simplest terms, a jig and pig is any jig that’s combined with any piece of pork as bait. The jig part of this lure is typically a lead head jig with a large hook with a rubber or hair skirt. As for the pork trailer, it's usually made from pork skin or rind and is shaped to resemble frogs, crawfish, and worms.

This is a heavy lure designed to sink slow – attaching a rattle is highly recommended, which makes it ideal for equally slow winter bass. It’s good to try out the jig and pig when it’s particularly cold (below 60ºF) when the bass are hiding deep in cover. Although it's usually used as a last resort to excite the sluggish bass, but you can pull this neat technique out early as well.

If you're flipping or pitching this bait around thick cover, remember to shake it to activate the rattle once it hits the bottom. Let the jig hop around four to five times at five-second intervals, retrieve and repeat the process. Partner this up with a six-foot baitcasting rod and a baitcasting reel with medium to heavy power with fast action, and you've got yourself a rig that can hold up against even the strongest of winter bass.

Patience is a Virtue

Fishing for winter bass is not for the faint-hearted – it’s for the patient. Before you decide that it’s not for you, always remember that you can use the cold water to your advantage. These tips and tricks for using jigs should help you out to bag yourself some winter bass.