Largemouth Bass Have Been His Target For Years
Daniel Pecotte of Holbrook has been fishing for bass Roosevelt for many years, and he says that winter is the trickiest time – it’s harder to get them to eat. The fish move out deeper and school up, so when you find them you usually find a bunch, but since their metabolism is so slow in the winter, they don’t attack a lure the way they might in the summer.
Pay Attention
To find them pay attention to areas where they don’t have to go far to feed, says Pecotte, and that includes places like bluffs that cover a range of depths, flats with good drop-offs, and channels that lead to shallow feeding areas. Daniel says you can idle out of a cove and all of a sudden your graph will just light up with fish. You may not know what kind of fish they are, but that will still tell you how deep you need to fish.
Finesse Is The Way To Go
For baits in winter, finesse is usually the way to go, he says. He uses drop shot rigs (with a Bass Pro Shops Tri-Color worm) for bass near the bottom, Bass Pro Shops Jiggy Twitch It spoons for schooled bass, and Moccasin Lures football head jigs with a Berkley Chigger Craw trailer, especially on points. Another favorite winter bait of his is a blade bait like a Cabelas Mean Eye, and a Bass Pro Shops XPS Lazer Eye Spinnerbait.
Natural Colors
For colors, he sticks to natural colors in clear water and darker or chartreuse for dirty water. The water in coves can get muddy from an inflow of water from rain or snow melt, and that dirty water warms up quicker, says Pecotte. He likes to check the backs of coves now and then and see if anything is going on, even in winter. You might catch them up feeding.
In Winter, Be Patient
The key in winter is to be patient, he says. You have to fish slowly and you have to catch them when they’re eating. They usually have some kind of feeding time, and you just have to be there, so when you’re on a school and you catch a fish, stay there – odds are you’ll catch more off that same school.
Check Banks At Rosie
On Roosevelt, he says, it seems like you’re always on the wrong end or the right end. The Salt end and the Tonto end are almost like two different lakes, and if he’s not catching any fish in one end, he’ll just go to the other side. The Salt end does seem to produce heavier bags in tournaments, though, he says. The key is to look for them off the banks – that’s where most of them will be in the winter.
Spinnerbait Great Search Bait
A spinnerbait is a great search bait, and Daniel says to use a heavy one in winter, like ½-ounce, and take off the second blade so there is just one on the back, preferably a smaller willow leaf blade, as that will help you get it deep a lot faster. So drop it down, let it sink to the bottom, and just slowly turn the reel handle so the bait is going across the bottom just fast enough to make the blade spin. It will roll right over rocks and through bushes. If you want to use a spinnerbait to fish slow but shallow, use a light weight and a big blade – that will keep it up high in the water but allow you to reel slowly. This is perfect for fishing flats or even for fishing over submerged trees in deeper water.
Check Out His YouTube Channel
Daniel has recently started a You Tube channel called “Bassin Southwest”, and if you want a lot more fishing tips, you should check it out.
