January starts the New Year off with cold winter winds and chilly water temperatures that often result in slow fishing, well, the fishing may be good but the catching is at best slow. There is one lure that will increase your chances at getting the attention of Mr. Bass and that is my topic of instruction this month.

The “mighty minnow” is actually a selection of minnow imitating baits that have worked for me on numerous occasions and they consist of the Rebel Spoonbill, the Smithwick Rogue and Rapala’s Husky Jerk and Countdown Minnows. Each of these baits has a particular application in which they excel. They all resemble the predominate baitfish that bass feed on during the winter.

You should always be looking for the presence of shad on your sonar, and they are generally suspended anywhere between 5 and 15 feet deep, over much deeper water. Finding the shad is usually the easy part, just look for major creek or river channels that come in contact with a steep rock or bluff banks and idle back and forth along these channel breaks looking for the schools of baitfish.

The clearer the water the better. Its amazing how far a bass will come for a minnow bait if they can see it and if its worked properly. For those fish that are a little aggressive you can work the Rogue or Husky Jerk in sharp-quick jerks and experience some of the best winter bass fishing imaginable. Keep in mind that you will need to let the minnow “suspend” in the water for several seconds between jerks and this pause will allow the cold-blooded lethargic bass to swim up and eat your bait.
 
(left to right: Clown color, gold/black back/orange belly, silver/blue back/orange belly Rogues)

For those times when the bass are a little deeper, say 10 to 15 feet and sluggish, the Rebel Spoonbill will generally produce more fish. Although this bait is challenging to cast even on a calm day, it is extremely effective on bass and stripers that are relating to the schools of shad in deeper water. Work the spoonbill by sweeping your rod tip sideways 2 to 3 feet instead of the short jerks that you use on the rogue. Work the bait down to about 10 feet and let the bait “suspend” in the water for up to 30 seconds before you move the minnow again. This method is deadly if you can force yourself to “not over work the bait”.

(top to bottom: silver/blue back, clown color, gold/black back/orange belly-Spoonbills)

One of my favorite techniques is to throw the shorter/smaller Rapala Countdown Minnow-CD#7, in the same areas that I mentioned above and let it sink on semi-slack line, while I “count it down” to where I think the bass are. Even those bass that are not interested in eating tend to inhale this minnow as it flutters in front of them. Work this bait like you would a plastic worm, with the lift and drop technique. Occasionally twitch the countdown with your rod tip before you reel it in for another cast. I look at the “Countdown Minnow” as the finesse bait of the minnow family.

(Countdown Rapala’s in the Number 7 size)

As you can see in the pictures there are only a few colors that you need to choose from. Use a gold sided/black back on cloudy days. The chrome sided/blue back on sunny days, when there’s no wind and the clown color on sunny days when it’s windy. If the lake or impoundment you are fishing has Smallmouth Bass, make sure that your bait has some chartreuse on it. These techniques have been around for a long time and still produce fish on a consistent basis.

For best results, throw these minnows on Berkley “Vanish” line, which is a low stretch/low visibility/low memory line, the 10 lb. works in most applications. 

Until next time, practice catch and release and good fishing.