In January bass anglers have to keep everything in the right perspective. “It’s not April or May. It’s cold, and you have to understand that fish are lethargic and the bite will be slow. On a typical January day you probably won’t catch many fish, but their average size will be bigger than in the warmer months. It’s not unusual to wind up with about the same five-bass weight as you’d have in Spring. You just don’t cull through as many fish to get there,” so says Ott DeFoe, Bassmaster Elite Series angler from Knoxville, TN.
Location:
“I fish a fairly simple pattern in January,” he says. “I look for where running creeks empty into the backs of major embayments and for water that’s a few degrees warmer than the water in the lake proper. So they’re in predictable spots and they’re biting better. That can make for some good fishing. The best part of the day is usually from noon to 3 PM,” he says. He eases up the creek, casting crankbaits into deeper holes, typically along outside bends of the channel. “The bass are usually holding near the bottom of the deepest areas,” DeFoe says. “In Winter, it’s important to fish the sunny side of any cover instead of the shady side. It’s all about warmth. The fish are more active in warmer water and you have to keep that in mind as the day progresses.”
Lure Selection & Presentation:
DeFoe’s number one go-to coldwater baits are a No.5 & No.7 Rapala Shad Rap, which he fishes on light spinning tackle. He uses the No. 5 for fishing water less then 5 feet and the No.7 for water 7 feet deep. If a channel stretch or hole has some water color and visibility is degraded, DeFoe switches to Rapala DT 4 or DT 6 crankbait, which has a wider, more noticeable wobble than the Shad Rap. If the barometer is high and the bass are inactive, DeFoe tries casting or pitching a jig & pig or a creature bait to any rock or wood cover. “I’ll work both these baits with a slow, steady drag. I do most of the pulling with my rod tip. I want my bait to look like a crawfish slow crawling along the bottom,” he says.
Creek Run-ins For New Year Bass January 2012 Bassmaster (Wade L. Bourne pg. 60-62.)
