• Bass can be caught year-round.bass image by Liz Van Steenburgh from Fotolia.com
  
  Winter bass fishing is not ice fishing. It is fishing on large unfrozen lakes or rivers during the winter months. The weather can be a bit of a trial but the fishing can still be very good. As always with fishing, patience is a virtue. You have to remember the fish are cold and sluggish, and have moved to the bottom of the lake.
  
  

Heavy Jigs

• These are jigs with a 1/4 oz. head weight on them. The way to fish them is to find a deep hole where the fish will congregate together and cast across it. Let the jig settle to the bottom and then slowly reel it in while bouncing it across the bottom by lifting and dropping the tip of the rod. These jigs can be outfitted with a trailer for more action. These can be rubber jigs or pork skin jig skirts.
  
  

Deep Diving Plugs

• These are plugs that are designed to run deep. They will sink naturally up to 10 feet because of weights inside of them. They also have a lip on the front that will drive them even deeper when they are reeled back to the angler. Color is not an issue since the fish change what their trigger is on a regular basis. Cast this plug across the area you want to work and allow it to sink. when reeling back you can move the rod tip back and forth to add extra action simulating a wounded fish.
  
  

Artificial Worm

• Rig the worm with a 1/4 oz. bullet weight. This is a weight that looks like a small caliber bullet. These can be tossed right into the middle of one of these deep areas where the bass are sitting. Since the worm will try to float, the bullet weight will keep it down. Just pull the tip of the rod back toward you and reel in the slack and let sit for a second. Continue do this until you have fished the entire pool.
  
  

Spoons

• Spoons are lures that resemble the end of a spoon. They range in size from 1/2 an inch to 4 inches. They are meant to imitate the actions of a wounded bait-fish. They come in multiple colors and are easy to fish. Cast across the deep pool you have located and slowly reel the spoon back to you. The spoon will twist and turn under water and you have to do nothing but reel it to you.