Top 5 Bait Categories for January
0. January Fishing - Fishing During the Bitter Cold -
In January, winter is at its peak and the temperature stays low all day, causing bass activity to drop significantly and making them difficult to catch. In the first half of winter fishing in December, we traced the bottom with crankbaits and blade baits, but as we enter the bitter cold period, it's necessary to select even weaker search baits that match the bass' responsiveness. Additionally, when you feel the bass' reaction is exceptionally poor, targeting reaction-strikes can also be effective in January.
Moreover, one of the joys of winter fishing is targeting relatively energetic bass that come up shallow during the daytime when there's sunlight. In last month's feature, we introduced fishing for big bass in the shallows using big baits, but for January when it gets even colder, we'd like to introduce "Hover-strolling" which pursues feeding actions much more delicately and thoroughly. It's one of the techniques We want you to incorporate during the bitter cold period, so We'll explain it in the second half.
- 1. Deep lateral search to trigger reactions -Compact Crankbait-
- 2. Designed to target bass looking downward - Bottom walk-the-dog-
- 3. Lift-and-Drop action for reaction strikes (1) - blade bait -
- 4. Lift-and-Drop action targeting reaction strikes (2) - drop-shot-rig -
- 5. Precision finesse fishing in shallow water - Hover-strolling -
- 6. Conclusion
1. Deep lateral search to trigger reactions -Compact Crankbait-
When you haven't narrowed down the spots where bass are lurking in that field, you'll want to search an area by passing moving bait. From late fall to early winter, we used crankbaits for aggressive retrieves and compact crankbaits for one step weaker, but in January when it's bitterly cold, you also need to consider targeting reaction bites while searching horizontally. Even though their activity is low and they lack the energy to chase prey, set it up so they reflexively use their mouth when something unpredictable passes right in front of them.
Here, we really want you to use MEGABASS's SHADING-XR. While the darting action width is deliberately narrowed so it can approach wary winter bass, the complex weight design produces an unpredictable action that you don't know where it will dart, drawing out the bass' reaction. It has action even with an extremely slow retrieve, so it's perfect for tough conditions where you can aim for reaction bites while reeling slowly and carefully.
2. Designed to target bass looking downward - Bottom walk-the-dog-
When bass with low activity completely stick to the bottom, no matter how much you pass your bait above the bass, they won't react so easily. That's when high specific gravity soft-plastics used for Bottom walk-the-dog are effective. It's a relatively new technique originating in Japan where you sink a weight-less high specific gravity soft-plastic, do two jerks & drops to entice them.
By completely sinking the line and soft-plastic to the bottom, kicking up a dust trail while jerking, you can directly approach bass whose gaze has dropped. Plus, it's a bait movement that hasn't really existed before, so you can expect it to pique the bass' curiosity. For the soft-plastic, we recommend IMAKATSU's Fula Shrimp which has lifelike fluttering skirts.
Since it can sink to the bottom without weights, it's less likely to snag and can be actively dropped in intricate rock crevices, so the advantage of Bottom walk-the-dog with high specific gravity soft-plastics is that it can be used without being picky about the spot.
3. Lift-and-Drop action for reaction strikes (1) - blade bait -
Now let's get back to talking about fishing for reaction strikes. As we've described so far, the key to bitter cold bass is making them use their mouth out of reaction, and Lift & Drop using blade baits is a must. Compared to lipless crankbaits, blade baits have a faster fall speed and can-do finer lift & drops, so you can approach right in front of the bass while suppressing the movement distance more precisely.
Especially for bass that are stuck to the bottom and not moving, it's good to use DEP's Circuit Vib. With a low center of gravity structure featuring a circuit board on the back and an iron plate on the belly, the action stands up quickly, so it works well for low activity bass that are stuck tightly to the bottom without getting too far from their mouth.
4. Lift-and-Drop action targeting reaction strikes (2) - drop-shot-rig -
We'll introduce one more Lift & Drop technique for targeting reactions using a drop-shot rig.
While the Lift & Drop with blade baits from the previous section has high effectiveness, there's a risk it could disturb the spot in tough conditions like cleared up fields. The reaction-drop-shot rig eliminates that risk and allows you to more delicately aim for reactions.
By jerking the drop-shot rig right in front of the bass and then dropping the soft-plastic freely, it creates an action with fast and slow elements, aiming for the bass to reflexively use its mouth. Basically, you use a small soft-plastic so it's easy for the bass to inhale, and the appeal is being able to carefully approach a precise spot. For the soft-plastic, we recommend JACKALL's Jimmy Henge, a reaction-dedicated soft-plastic. The five arms opening and closing draw out reaction strikes.
For more details on the reaction-drop-shot-rig, please see this article.
5. Precision finesse fishing in shallow water - Hover-strolling -
Finally, let's think about fishing the shallows. In winter shallows warmed by the sun during the day, relatively energetic bass may come up to look for feeding opportunities. In the December feature, we introduced fishing for big bass in the shallows using big baits, but for January shallows fishing when it gets even colder, we'd like to introduce Hover-strolling this time.
Hover-strolling is a Japanese-born technique that uses small, highly buoyant baitfish-shaped soft-plastics to hover near the surface to mid-depths. The focus is thoroughly suppressing the forward moving force to show it to the bass slowly. During this season, very small fish often stay in the shallows, so Hover-strolling is also suitable from a "match-the-bait" perspective. If it's floating on the surface without moving at a single point, it should look like an attractive bait to bass that don't want to use energy if possible.
We recommend JACKALL's Elise 1.5 as a soft-plastic to use for Hover-strolling. While Hover-strolling is a relatively difficult technique, this ultra-small size is easy for bass to eat and renowned for its ease of use and operability even for beginners.
Detailed explanations of Hover-strolling are introduced in the article below.
6. Conclusion
Above, we introduced five bait genres we want you to use in January.
- Deep lateral search to trigger reactions - compact crankbait -
- Designed to target bass looking downward -Bottom walk-the-dog-
- Lift-and-Drop action for reaction strikes (1) - blade bait –
- Lift-and-Drop action targeting reaction strikes (2) -drop-shot-rig-
- Precision finesse fishing in shallow water - Hover-strolling -
When winter cold gets severe and bass stop moving, by all means try centering your tactics around reaction fishing, incorporating extremely finesse actions as the case may require.
Also, detailed explanations of winter fishing are introduced in the article below, so please take a look.
For those who want to master winter fishing while comparing it to December fishing from last month, see here.
