If you are on the hunt to catch your PB – your personal biggest bass – Mark Zona knows the perfect recipe: cold water and a big offering.
“After 40 years of fishing and 20 years of covering tournaments, I have seen more big bass caught in the coldest of waters,” said the Mercury Pro Team member and host of “Zona’s Awesome Fishing Show.” “Think about it: How many small bass do you see caught when it’s freezing cold? I don’t know where the small bass go when it’s cold, but I do know that is when the biggest bass bite in bunches.”
Of course, the term “cold water” is relative to where you live. But no matter where you bass fish, Zona defines truly frigid water as “the absolute coldest point the water reaches in the lake you are fishing. I’m talking absolute rock bottom on the thermometer.”
He makes it clear that he is not talking about ice fishing, but rather the point just before a lake freezes over or just after a lake “ices out” and thaws enough to fish from a boat.
“I’m talking 37- to 45-degree water temperature,” Zona said, “with 37 degrees being more in the Midwest and in the North and 45 degrees being extremely cold water in South Texas or Florida.”
Zona is also adamant about the weather conditions being extremely cold as well.
“The bite windows for big bass in the winter are extremely small,” he added. “I’m talking 15- to 30-minute windows that usually happen first thing in the morning or right before dark. And I don’t mean on the prettiest day of the week, either. I’m talking about the days when no one else is on the lake because it’s blustery and cold. Snow flurries or a bit of sleet floating around in the air helps the cause. This is not comfort fishing by any means.”
So, what is the best lure for catching the biggest bass this time of year? Certainly, there are a lot of great wintertime lures out there: suspending jerkbaits, umbrella rigs, Damiki rigs, blade baits. But according to Zona, there is only one lure you need for the best shot at truly catching your personal best bass in the most frigid conditions.
He breaks it all down for you in this video.
To learn more about Mark Zona or “Zona’s Awesome Fishing Show,” visit MarkZona.com, or check out this Mercury Dockline video.