The winter, spring, and fall periods constitute the cold-water period and often reduce bass feeding (and metabolism) to a crawl. Try moving baits first, but pro bass angler Shane LeHew always has a compact worm at the ready. He explains how he fishes smaller 5- to 6-inch Texas-rigged worms during a tough bite, emphasizing the importance of long casts and dragging the bottom slow and methodically.
FEATURED TACKLE
- WORM – Berkley PowerBait Speed Boss, Redbug
- HOOK – Berkley Fusion19 Offset Worm Hook, 5/0
- WEIGHT – ARK Fishing Tungsten Worm Weight, 1/4-ounce
- ROD – Abu Garcia Veritas PLX Casting Rod, 7’3″ MH
- REEL – Abu Garcia REVO STX Gen 4, 7.3:1
- LINE – Berkley 100% Fluorocarbon, 17- or 20-pound
For Florida-strain bass, temps in the 50s can have them hunkered down. For northern strain, water temps in the 40s are cold. And regardless of water temps, there are days where you can’t make ’em eat a moving bait. Dragging and shaking a worm along is rarely wrong in this situation. Lehew wraps it up with his go-to soft bait colors for dirty water and his go-to rod and line for making long casts, detecting subtle bites, and driving worm hooks home.
OTHER GEAR
- FISH FINDER – Garmin ECHOMAP Ultra 102sv
- FORWARD-FACING SONAR – Garmin Panoptix LiveScope System
- GLASSES – Costa Del Mar Rincon
- BOAT – Skeeter FXR20 Bass Boat
