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What areas hold bass tight to cover in winter?
During the winter, bass typically seek out deep water areas with access to structure. The specific locations can vary depending on the type of water system you are fishing in. In lakes and reservoirs, bass will often be found in deep water holes or along steep, rocky banks. They prefer these areas because they provide a sense of security and allow them to make small moves without expending too much energy. In river systems, bass will seek out areas with slower current, such as ox bows or bends in the river. They will position themselves on the edges of the current, where they can stay out of the main flow and conserve energy.
The water temperature also plays a role in bass behavior during the winter. In colder waters, bass tend to congregate more tightly and focus on survival rather than feeding. Their metabolism is lower during this time, so they don't need to eat as much. However, this doesn't mean that you can't catch them. You just need to adjust your fishing techniques and bait selection accordingly.
It's important to note that the specific depths and locations can vary depending on the body of water you are fishing in. For example, in Highland reservoirs, where there is a significant drawdown before winter, bass may suspend off the bank and look for deep water access and structure. In ponds, bass tend to stay close to the dam, where the deepest water is located.
Overall, the key to finding bass in winter is to look for deep water access and structure. Pay attention to the video context and the specific body of water you are fishing in to get a better understanding of where bass might be during the winter.
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Where Do Bass Go During The Fall To Winter Transition? (And How To Catch Them) by TacticalBassin → varies from one place to another out here where we are this is Clear Lake in California water temps here typically just get down to the high 30s low 40s if we have a cold winter it'll get all the way down to about 36 degrees but we rarely get colder than that obviously guys in the North your water it's going to freeze up guys in the south you don't get anywhere near as cold so that will be a factor in how tight these fish bunch the colder the water the more they congregate the more the they bunch up and the more they just focus on survival less on eating because their metabolisms are low during those cold months so less on eating more on just getting through it but that doesn't mean that you can't catch them we will circle back on the baits in just a moment so the actual locations let's focus on that where do you start your search these fish are headed towards a deep water access typically you're steeper rockier banks or where the fish are going to focus that way they can make small moves they don't want to travel way back into a shallow bay to feed this time of year and have to come back out that doesn't work well for them because again metallic metabolism is low water is cold they don't want to make big moves they don't want to move quickly they just want to
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Where Do Bass Go In Winter? (And How To Catch Them) by TacticalBassin → your entire goal this winter should be get away from current and fish deep the fish are going to sit in the holes now that can vary you know in a system where it's only 15 feet deep they'll sit in those 15-foot holes but if we're talking about a giant river or you have hundred or 200 foot deep holes you know some old natural river they will not be in the bottom of these giant holes they'll hold on the edges they'll find that natural depth line that they like maybe 20 30 feet but once you find them as you work up or downstream those fish will continue to be at that same depth in those same current pockets all the way down through it it's incredibly consistent all right number three you guys in those Highland reservoirs what makes you different is a Highland reservoir tends to have a big drawdown going into winter they suck a lot of water out of those places and that will force fish to come out off the bank and suspend now that has already happened your fish have already gone through that process so what are they doing now after they finished suspending once that water stabilizes when it it's common level for the winter those fish will do a couple of things they're looking for deep water access that's the biggest thing deep water access is key and structure is key so for a Highland
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Where Do Bass Go In Winter? (And How To Catch Them) by TacticalBassin → back they might only go 30 or 50 or 100 feet into them but they want out of the moving water so they'll be in those ox posts if you don't have any of that then where your river makes your bends it's wings anywhere that they can get on the edges of that and get out of the current they will be flat on the bottom in that calmest edge just inside of the seam and the calmest water flat on bottom why do they do that because as current is moving downstream most of the your your basket right up on the edge right you know in really fast water they'll hug right up against cover they'll sit behind rocks or up in the grass it's because it's slowing the flow and they can sit behind it and jump out and eat well the same is true of the bottom whether that's five feet deep or thirty feet deep as that water is moving across the bottom it's slower just like up on the edges than it is in the middle so in the wintertime that bottom will be really stable it's that slower water it's the most insulated from the high and low temperature changes up at the surface so they will go to the bottom on those current edges and they'll do everything they can to stay out of the current so whether you're in a Delta system a tidal system or an actual river
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Where Do Bass Go In Winter? (And How To Catch Them) by TacticalBassin → fish and then last lakes like the one I'm on here where you have fairly stable water maybe just a few feet of Swing you've got some deep water holes but it's not a reservoir it's a natural lake with natural contours where do those fish go alright pond guys we're going to start with you good news is yours are actually the easiest fish to locate now why is that because the body of water is smaller whether it's a one acre pond or a 20 acre pond the fish don't have as far to go when you're standing on the bay and you're catching nothing it seems overwhelming but try to put your shoot yourself in the shoes of a guy on a fifty thousand acre lake in a boat that hasn't had a bite in weeks he doesn't even know if he's within five miles of a bass he has no idea the good news with a pond is that at least you know you're close to the fish so here's where you look if your pawn has a dam on it so it's got a shallow water end and a deep water end the fish have gone to the dam a hundred percent of the time that coldest winter period those fish go to the deepest water and they go to the bottom they're fishing excuse me they're sitting right at the base of that dam now if that dam is huge
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WINTER Bass Fishing COMPLETE GUIDE // Where do They go in Cold Water?? by BassFishingHQ → not true the fact is is that bass simply are eating less during the winter because they don't need to eat a whole lot they can eat a bluegill or crawfish and it will maintain their bodies for a longer period of time than during the summer when the water temperature is high and their metabolism is super fast the other thing to keep in mind is that bass like to have deep water close by during the winter now deep is relative depending on what lake river stream or pond that you are fishing some places deep may be 7 or 8 feet and other places deep maybe 40 50 60 70 foot deep so keep that in mind before we get any further let's define what winter bass fishing actually is i'm going to define winter bass fishing as water temperatures below 50 degrees and this is typically going to happen during december january and february now if you live down south your waters may actually not ever get below 50 degrees and up north your water temperatures are obviously going to be freezing as many of the lakes during this time of the year are actually frozen even though these lakes may be frozen you can actually still catch bass through the ice during the winter if you can withstand the cold so let's look at the general movement of wintertime bass during the late fall as the water continues to cool and get extremely cold
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Where Do Bass Go During The Fall To Winter Transition? (And How To Catch Them) by TacticalBassin → water it's a video in and of itself so for now we're going to leave it at just that but what matters about that why it applies to you is that during the warmer months there's a thermocline in the water essentially the fish will only go so deep once they pass this magical line this thermic line there's very poor water quality lower oxygen levels so the fish are sort of corralled into a smaller part of the lake well as we go through fall that changes everything equalizes very similar water conditions from top to bottom and I'm talking deep so all of a sudden bass in a lake that may not have been going past 15 or 20 or 30 feet deep can now go 50 60 80 a hundred plus feet deep without any issues that's the bad news the good news is that while this lake got much larger the areas that they can go got much larger the fish congregate together more than any other time of year they bunch up into very tight locations often mixing species you'll find bass catfish pan fish all these different fish together in really small locations so even though it can be at any depth range the actual locations are small and once you find them the best news of all is it's extremely consistent throughout the entire winter they rarely abandon an area as we get colder and colder and colder now cold
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