Winter Bait Selection

Wiggle Wart Trick

Jig Trailer Selection

Lake of the Ozarks Qualifier

Kentucky Lake Regional Vids

Finally Got My Mask

Today I got my Save Phace Mask. Last year I got by with a friends paintball mask that I borrowed and the problem with it was that water would find it’s way through the mask. It didn’t matter even if I duck tapped it. Another big problem with paint ball masks is that they would fog up really bad. I’m hoping that wearing a Save Phace Mask will solve a lot of these problems. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that flying down the lake at 70mph and getting hit with hail or rain can take it’s toll on your face. Just a light rain at 20mph can make it hard to see. So far I like that the masks are really light weight which makes them a lot easier on your neck than a motor cycle helmet. I also got some pictures from a friend to share of my time down at the National Guard Central Division College Fishing Regional at Kentucky Lake. The pictures bring back some good memories and also remind me though how close we were to qualifying for the National Championship.

Winter Time Pond Trick

I spent a lot of time at the local ponds when I was a kid and when the water got really cold the bass action would really shut down. On a lot of ponds you don’t have bait fish like shad. You usually have either bluegill or crayfish. I have never had much luck on suspending jerkbaits while fishing ponds and a lot of times the jig bite just isn’t there for whatever reason.

After much experimentation I found that a weightless senko was one of the hottest baits that you could throw on these small bodies of water. The key to fishing these baits was to rig them wacky style with an octopus hook.

I would put a small split shot just up the line about 12 inches or so from the bait to help get it down towards the bottom where the fish were.

The technique was giving the bait a couple of twitches and then letting it sit for 20 or 30 seconds. I could catch the bass on this technique in clear and dirty water ponds. It didn’t seem to matter. I had the best results fishing the set up on 10lb test line.

I probably caught more cold water bass from the neighborhood ponds on that technique in the winter than anything else. The technique is so productive because the bait has a great action on the fall, it sinks so slow, and it looks easy for the bass to catch.

For colors I kept it pretty simple. Usually I tossed a watermelon or a green pumpkin senko. Once and a while I had some success on black and blue fleck in the dirty ponds.

Key things to look for are rocks and lay downs close to deeper water. If the sun was shining on them all the better.

If you decide to give some of the small lakes a shot at ice out be sure to pick up a wacky rigged senko.You won’t be disappointed.