Merry Christmas!

Hopefully everyone had a Great Christmas!  I hope the jolly fat man (Santa, not me) brought you all the fishing rods and tackle you have been dreaming of!
He was very kind to me, despite my status of "naughty" and left a nice shiny ultra-light rod and reel, as well as some very nice lures!
Fish4Bass wishes for all visitors and followers to have an awesome New Year also!  My resolution is simple...FISH MORE!!!

This is a great time for lipless crankbaits.  They can be cast near any underwater structure and catch bass hanging out waiting for a meal.  Watch for extended warmer stretches of weather, even a couple degrees can bring bass into shallower water to feed.  Cast these baits around cover, let it float down then retrieve it slowly.  This is very effective on bass that are sluggish this time of year.
There are many different quality lures that fit the bill perfectly, Rat-L-Trap, Strike King Red Eye Shad are a couple I really like.

Winter Shakey Fishin'

During the cold winter months, a great bass catching method is the shakey head jig.  These can be rigged with any soft plastic style of bait.

Tubes and creature baits such as the Yamamoto "Flappin' Hog" are awesome rigged this way.  However, when the water is very cold, bass sometimes prefer a smaller worm style bait.  I would strongly suggest this combination if you decide to take a winter fishing trip.

These are worked very slowly, usually with some lightweight spinning gear with 6 or 8 pound test fishing line.

If you can locate some good deep underwater structure or a steep transition from shallow to deep water, these are great places to use a shakey head.  Just cast to these areas, let the jig sink to the bottom and sit for up to 30 seconds.  You can then lightly twitch the rig and retrieve it slowly along the bottom.  This method takes patience, but can really payoff in your livewell!