Nice Budget Winter/Early Spring Baits

By Ian

  It's hard to stay pent in indoors if you like fishing. I like to go out during the winter to go fishing on good days. I like to go winter fishing on those warm days in the winter. Fish need to eat, too. Here is my lineup:

1. Soft Plastic Jerkbait/Flukes - Forget about the suspending ones if you're on a budget. Soft plastic jerkbaits work perfectly fine. You can easily get 8 for a pack or $2-3. Good hard jerkbaits are very expensive, and many soft jerkbaits have made a name for themselves. I prefer using 4" or less when it comes to soft plastic jerkbaits. Just cast it out, let it sink near the bottom, and give it a twitch with our rod. Then wait 5 seconds. If fishing is slow, wait longer. I sometimes wait 15 seconds between twitches.

2.  Finesse Texas Rig - Bass tend to be down the water column  when it's cold. That's why topwaters don't do well when the water's cold. Get a finesse style 4" worm, and pair it off with a 2/0 offset hook and 3/16th tungsten bullet weight. Tungsten? Ins't tungsten supposed to expensive? Yes, but fishing with tungsten is much better than lead. Take my word for it. You will feel a lot more bites with tungsten, it is small and low profile, so no fish are spooked. 

Tight Lines,

-Ian