ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Matt Allen and Tim Little are well-known big-bass experts who own Tactical Bassin , a website and social media channels dedicated to educating the public about bass fishing .

ith overnight temperatures flirting with the freezing mark in many parts of the country , now ’ s the time to throw on a couple of extra layers of clothing , grab your fishing rods and head to the lake . When you get to the launch ramp , don ’ t be surprised if you ’ re the only bass angler there – and don ’ t let this discourage you . The bass are biting . Now is your chance to have the entire lake to yourself and target some of the biggest bass you ’ ll come across the entire year .

If you ’ re one of the guys or gals that live in a part of the country where your lakes ice over , hopefully you ’ re catching

fish in an icehouse or reading this article next to a warm fire . For everyone else fishing in parts of the country where the lakes don ’ t turn solid , wintertime bass fishing can be very rewarding .

When anglers think about cold-weather bassin ’, they usually think about cold , lethargic bass that are thought to be best targeted with smaller , more finesse-oriented presentations . If you ’ re one of those anglers , you ’ re not wrong . There are absolutely times when using smaller finesse techniques produce bites when nothing else will . However , through many years of fishing the coldest water

and in the nastiest conditions , we ’ ve discovered that bass will chase down and eat fast-moving reaction baits as if it were in the heat of summer . Believe it or not , these reaction techniques often outproduce slower finesse techniques in wintertime scenarios .

getting up to speed ( cranking )

The first technique we lean on time and time again is a technique that has produced several double-digit bass and bass up to 13 pounds for us . We call it “ speed cranking ” – fishing a crankbait as fast as you can physically turn your reel handle and implementing quick pauses in your cadence .