How to Do Twitching Weightless Swimbaits for Winter Bass Fishing?

Planning to do some Bass fishing this winter? Well, we’ve got the perfect guide for you! Wintertime is the perfect time for anglers, both experienced and novices, to begin catching big Bass in large numbers. So if you’re looking to become one of them, stick around and learn how you can do this method of increasing your chances of a good catch. A mistake most beginners usually make when using swimbaits is that swimbaits are some difficult-to-use magical tool which isn’t true. Using swimbaits require a large amount of patience for the angler as well as the dedication and perseverance to really see it through. But if you’re all of the above, rest assured - they’ll bite. All good bites come to those who wait. 

This method is the act of twitching weightless swimbaits to attract Bass and make them an easy catch for you. This requires the angler to carefully mimic the movements of fish to attract Bass gathering in groups for the winter in deeper waters. As it is wintertime, Bass won’t be as active as they are in warmer seasons, but don’t be fooled, they still need to eat after all. And because food isn’t as common in the winter, anything moving in the water that looked like a fish is fish right? This is used by the angler to their advantage by carefully positioning themselves at where the Bass gathers and luring unsuspecting bass with their bait.

But find out which kinds of Bass are available for Ice Fishing.

What are Swimbaits?

Before we go into our main topic, we need to talk about what are swimbaits first? In essence, swimbaits are basically better versions of those wind-up toy fishes that are sold as toys to children. Although they don’t have motors, swimbaits are an almost lifelike artificial copy of a fish that’s used to bait the target fish into biting them. They accomplish this by mimicking the movements of actual fish so that the target fish is fooled into believing it’s food. There are several types of swimbaits to choose from, but for this article, I will be focusing mainly on the ones used to attract Bass.

Swimbaits usually work on Bass, especially the opportunistic big ones. Those who fish for Bass prefer to use 6 to 12 inches long lures in order to lure large Bass. Small baits still work just fine as smaller Bass would still bite them, but if you really want to catch the big ones, then you will have to use the bigger baits.

Swimbaits can be divided into 3 main categories: hard-bodied, soft-bodied, and paddle tail. Each of these categories is further divided into many subcategories and there are even combinations of one or the other.

Hard-Bodied Swimbait

These types of swimbaits are pretty large and offer almost lifelike movement and appearance. As such, these hard-bodied baits greatly attract big Bass and command a high price in the market. Hard-bodied baits are equipped with treble hooks and are far from weedless. They work fine in light grass but not in deep weed cover. Chances are, you'll lose it, and it's expensive to replace.

Soft-Bodied Swimbaits

Soft-bodied baits are made of big, heavy-duty, solid rubber. These lures offer a more realistic sensation of being eaten for Bass, which provides the angler more time to set their hooks. Don’t worry though, the rubber on these baits are made to endure the biting of Bass so it won’t be easily destroyed by them.

Paddle Tail Swimbaits

Paddle Tail swimbaits are usually packed in packages of multiple baits similar to soft plastic worms. Paddle Tails are also soft-bodied but are usually smaller than Soft Bodied Swimbaits, and don’t come with hooks so you’ll have to hook them yourself. They are used mainly on heavily weeded areas as they can be configured to become weedless.

Fishing using Twitching Weightless Swimbaits for Bass during the Winter

Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get to the main topic of the article itself. For anglers, winter is the perfect time to catch very big bass because as previously mentioned, they are converging in large groups in deeper waters. One of the methods anglers use to catch Bass, particularly in grassy or weeded areas, is the act of twitching weightless swimbaits.

One of the most important aspects of this technique is  to properly simulate a dying, cold, or stunned fish. Ensure that your bait mimics that of a fish that’s already easy prey for the Bass so that they will bite it. The recommended swimbait to be used for this technique is the Strike King Swim’N Caffeine Shad as it allows you to simulate a dying shad. This bait allows anglers to do jerk baiting or a slow swimbait to easily capture more fish. 

A common mistake that anglers do when doing twitching weightless swimbaits is popping the bait instead of popping the slack of the line. All you need to do is cast it and just gently jerk it left and right so that it attracts the attention of the Bass. It’s a left-right twitch and not throwing it on a straight retrieve. The key here is to not alert the Bass that it’s just a fake and to make them think that what they’re biting is the real deal. 

The bait recommended for twitching weightless swimbaits is the Strike King KVD Perfect Plastic Swim’N Caffeine Shad. It is a paddle tail design that features some of the softest, saltiest plastics produced and is filled with Strike King’s exclusive coffee scent. The scent masks human odors, making it more attractive to Bass so that you can hook them better. 

Patience is the Key

Now that you know how to do the twitching weightless swimbait technique, you may think that it’s now so easy to catch a big Bass. But it only gives you an advantage, not assurance. Bass are not as active as they are during warmer months so, exercise some patience and perseverance. It won’t be as easy as simply doing the technique, you need to do this for several minutes or even hours to be able to catch one so the angler who’s the most patient and persevering will go home with the biggest Bass.