Alternatives For Early Winter Fishing
December 5, 2008
If you’re like many bass anglers today, late fall/early winter bass fishing normally means you’re going to spend your time in the backs of tributary creeks casting shallow water spinnerbaits, crankbaits, and even topwaters for migratory bass feeding on shad.
Nothing wrong with that, except that the backs of creeks can get crowded in a hurry and when they do, bass action usually slows dramatically. Even if you’re the only one present, you still don’t know how hard that area has already been fished by others before you.
“There are alternatives to the backs of creeks this time of year,” notes veteran tournament pro Gerald Swindle, “and as often as not, those alternatives may be even more productive. Not all bass move to the backs of creeks, and they certainly don’t all move at the same time. In my tournaments now, I don’t even bother going all the way into a tributary, simply because I know it’s going to get fished hard.”
Swindle, who makes a living on the Bassmaster Elite circuit and who captured the 2004 Bassmaster Angler of the Year title, has three alternative locations and three lures he prefers for the late fall/early winter season. The keys to all three, he emphasizes, are the presence of baitfish and water temperature down to about 55 degrees.
“My philosophy is that right now all bass are thinking about is feeding, which makes this season even better than spring,” he explains. “In April and May bass are also shallow but they aren’t thinking about feeding. You have to make them bite. That’s not the case now. Bass are feeding somewhere everyday in late fall and early winter.”
Swindle’s three locations include main lake flats, pea gravel points, and bluffs, and his lure choices are small jigs, spinnerbaits, and spoons. Here’s how he puts them together:
Main Lake Flats
“When I look for big flats, I study a topo map of the main lake and look for the largest flat I can find,” notes the Alabama pro. “It may even be the same flat the fish use for spring spawning. I want shallow water that has a definitive breakline, but it doesn’t have to be a 
huge drop. In fact, for me, a drop from three feet on top of the flat down to about six feet is perfect.
“I want to be able to see that drop so I can fish it accurately. Bass will hold in the deeper water to ambush baitfish, so I want my lures to come over that break on every cast.”
Baitfish are what make this pattern work, and if you don’t see any activity, adds Swindle, you can just about be certain there aren’t many bass around, either. The bass you’re looking for here are eating that bait, and when they are present, it can be an all-day pattern; you can re-visit the flat several times.
Swindle’s lure choices for the flats are a ½-ounce tandem willowleaf spinnerbait – the model he prefers actually has a ¼-ounce head and another ¼-ounce of weight hidden under the skirt, and the blades are a smallish size 3 and 3 ½ -- and also a ½-ounce, 3 ½-inch flutter spoon. He fishes the spinnerbait on 17-pound fluorocarbon and the spoon with 15-pound fluorocarbon.
“Always think reaction strikes,” he emphasizes, “so I burn my spinnerbait as fast as I can reel it, and with the spoon I make long casts, let it sink, then pop it twice to make it jump and fall.” This time of year, most lakes are as clear as they’re going to be all year, and Swindle doesn’t want the bass to get a good look at anything. “The only thing I really want is for them to see is something coming over that breakline just like a shad breaking away from a school.”
Pea Gravel Points
“Growing up on Lewis Smith Lake in Alabama where the water is clear and fishing can be tough in the fall, my friends and I were just playing around once and discovered you can burn spinnerbaits over long, tapering points and catch a lot of bass,” remembers Swindle, “and in the years since, I’ve done it on lakes all over the country.
“The small pea-sized gravel seems to be best, but don’t limit yourself to them. Long tapering points attract and hold bass throughout the year and in the late fall and early winter months they’re even better because they also attract baitfish.
“By burning that spinnerbait with a 6.3:1 or a 7:1 high speed reel, you can cover the entire point in just a few minutes, and I’ll even work water out to as deep as 15 feet, because, again, I’m after feeding bass and want a reaction strike. If a bass is out there feeding on shad, he’s going to come up for my spinnerbait.”
Swindle may also alternate the spinnerbait with his spoon, especially if he gets several strikes that indicate a school of fish may be present. And, like the flats, points can also be an all-day, repeat visit pattern.
Bluff Walls
Here Swindle is looking for suspended bass that may be only five or six feet down but holding very close to the wall itself. His first choice is the flutter spoon, because, he says, it’s doing all the work as it falls.
“I let the spoon fall on a semi-tight line so I can detect strikes better,” he explains. “Strikes are going to come on the fall, but if you let the lure fall on a totally slack line, you’ll miss a lot of those strikes. Give yourself enough slack to let the spoon flutter and twist, but keep the line tight enough so you can see it twitch or feel your lure stop.”
Many bluffs have an underwater shelf 12 to 15 feet down and if he doesn’t get a strike on the initial fall, this first shelf is as far as Swindle lets the spoon drop. The majority of bass 
on bluffs this season of year are suspended well above that shelf.
“If I don’t do any good on the spoon, my second lure choice is a 3/8 or ¼-ounce finesse jig with a twin-tail trailer,” he continues. “I want the trailer’s swimming action, which also helps slow the jig’s fall. I fish it on 15-pound fluorocarbon line, and use a medium/heavy action rod, because it will catch a lot of big bass.
“I make short pitches, but I don’t let the jig fall deeper than eight or 10 feet, and if I don’t get a strike on that fall, I just start reeling the jig slowly back. I really catch a lot of fish when I am swimming the jig like this because I think bass follow it down.”
This is the only time Swindle actually wants a slow falling lure. While he could burn the bluff face with his spinnerbait, he feels the jig’s swimming action, not its appearance, is what triggers bass to hit it. He prefers bluffs with a lot of irregular indentions, and he doesn’t worry that his boat may actually be in 30 or 40 feet of water. This time of year, the bass are shallow and they’re feeding.
“Just remember,” the Bassmaster pro concludes, “this time of year is all about bass feeding in preparation for winter. You can nearly always find fish in at least one of these three alternative areas, especially if you see baitfish activity.”