Winter Bass Fishing Mistakes and How to Avoid Them

In the middle of winter, most anglers hang up their rods and move on to other hobbies for a few months. If you’re reading this, you’re not one of those anglers. 

You’re in it for the long haul, whether a beginner with bass bite fever or a seasoned vet who can’t pull yourself away from the water. 

However, even if you’re excited to get out, feel the winter chill, and take on some of the hardest bass fishing possible, there are a lot of mistakes you can make that send you home without a great photo with a big bass.

Here are the winter bass fishing mistakes you’ll likely make and how to avoid them.

1: Not Fishing

The first mistake on our list is one we discussed in the intro. A lot of anglers simply don’t fish in the winter. 

People often think fish are dormant and the whole lake suddenly shuts down, but that’s not the case. The bass and practically every aquatic animal swim around like they always do. They just change their behavior to survive the cold like we do.

You’re not just missing out on more opportunities to catch fish and learn new skills by putting your rods away to avoid the cold. You’re missing out on what we consider to be the true test of a bass angler.

If you want to grow as an angler, you need to challenge yourself in the same way.

Avoiding this one is easy. While everyone else is enjoying a nice day by the fireplace, staying cozy, you freeze your rear off and target your next big personal best.

2: Not Dressing to Maximize Performance

Fishing in the spring is pretty straightforward, and you usually don’t have to think about how your clothing affects your performance too much, but winter is much different. 

You’ll be fine for the first half hour, but after that, you’ll notice that your fingers don’t want to work right; if you wear bulky clothing, it’s hard to balance in difficult spots like rocky banks, rocking boats, etc.

You need to consider those things when you’re getting dressed to go.

A good pair of fingerless gloves or very warm gloves that maintain your dexterity are essential. You rely on your fingers for knot tying, reeling, lipping the bass, and more, and if they’re not working right, you’re going to mess up.

We also recommend shades if there is snow on the ground. You wouldn’t think you’d need sunglasses in the middle of winter, but the second you get on the water, and the snow starts reflecting sunlight directly in your eyes, you’ll understand. 

They can also help you spot the bass in the exceptionally clear water if they’re polarized.

3: Not Considering Your Safety

Again, safety isn’t a big concern during peak fishing season. You have to worry about drowning risks like any water sport, but the weather doesn’t affect you too much.

The weather can sneak up on you in the winter and have serious consequences.

Your main issue is hypothermia. As discussed earlier, you must dress appropriately to retain body heat while maintaining mobility.

However, since you’re on the water, you must also consider what you’ll do if you get wet. Especially if you’re on a boat. If you’re 3 miles away from your truck and fall into the water without any way to warm up, a fun day of fishing can become deadly.

If you can afford it, get winter gear specifically meant for fishing, and look for quick-drying or waterproof outer layers. Of course, you can also keep a spare set of clothing on your boat.

Some good accessories to have are hand warmers.

Zippo and other brands make refillable hand warmers, essentially lighters you can close up and safely put in your pocket. However, disposable hand warmers are just as easy to buy for a few bucks.

This ensures you have a source of heat to keep you warm and to warm you up if you get wet.

Finally, make sure someone knows exactly where you’ll be fishing and when you expect to be home. 

Anytime you fish, this is a good idea, but there are enough added risks during winter fishing that you can’t afford to just drive off randomly and go fishing. 

If you let someone know, they will know something’s wrong when you don’t show up, and they can try to get a hold of you or reach out for help. We hate to be negative, but not many anglers are on the lake in the winter. If something happens, you might be alone for too long.

4: Fishing Too Quickly

Fish might be active in the winter but are much more lethargic. Bass, in particular, tend to minimize hunting to conserve energy and focus on easy meals that provide a decent amount of substance.

In short, you can’t buzz your lures across the water and expect a big bite with a dramatic fight. You’ll want to go much slower in the winter.

For many, this can make the experience boring, and they’ll get impatient. One thing that helps us is to keep our mind busy rather than just staring at our rod tip while barely moving the reel. 

It’s a great opportunity to let your mind drift, plan your week, soak in the sights, etc. Just don’t get so distracted, you miss bites. The point is not to get irritated and move too quickly. Do not miss the fish entirely.

5: Missing the Smallest Bites

This will mess you up. Especially if you’re solely a bass fisherman all year round. Bass are known for their hard and powerful bites, followed by a dramatic short-term fight before they slow down and let you reel them in. In the winter, it’s usually not that dramatic.

Since they’re conserving energy and targeting easy meals, most of your bites will be extremely light. We’ve had many instances where we thought it was just the wind blowing our rod tip, but good-sized bass were on the other end.

There are a couple of ways to avoid this.

First, use a highly sensitive rod. Sure, it’ll jiggle around easier, but you’ll also notice the more sporadic tiny movements of a subtle bite. This also helps you set the hook quickly because the rod has less bend before the backbone kicks in.

Trout anglers and serious bluegill anglers often use another tip. Use your finger to lightly hold the line just above your reel. Even if the bite is too subtle to feel the rod jerk or see the tip make dramatic movements, you will feel the vibrations on the line. This takes a while to get used to, but you’ll find yourself doing it all the time once you get used to it.

A catfishing trick will be useful if you’re fishing extremely slowly and slack is naturally building up. Keep an eye on where your line meets the water. If a fish gets on it and takes the lure without signs of a bite, you’ll notice the line gently dancing back and forth as the fish moves. 

It might move a couple of inches or start darting off in the other direction if the bass realizes it isn’t a real meal. Of course, if it darts, you’ll feel it.

6: Fishing Every Day

Usually, fishing every day is a great habit. It can be in the winter, too. However, there are drawbacks.

Weather conditions must be optimal for you to consistently catch bass in the winter. There are specific windows of time when the bass will bite consistently, and outside those brief windows, you’ll get skunked.

We say it’s a mistake to fish every day because getting skunked repeatedly takes a toll on you. Especially when you’re fishing in the cold, and your experience seems to be wasting your time freezing instead of doing something enjoyable. 

This is a major problem for first-timers. If you hit the water for the entire month of January and don’t get a single bite, you’re a lot more likely to become one of those anglers who simply put their rods up and refuse to try. You NEED to catch that first winter bass to kickstart your enthusiasm in such challenging circumstances.

Instead, consider the rest of our tips and carefully plan your fishing trips for days most likely to produce good catches.

7: Fishing Too Early

“The early bird gets the worm” is most fishermen's mindset, and that’s often true. However, going out to the lake before the sun peeks out from behind the clouds is a good way to spend a couple of hours in the cold with nothing to show.

The bass tend to maximize their winter activity during the first couple of hours when the sun stretches over the lake and suddenly warms the surface. Most fish start rushing to the surface to eat, get warm, and boost their activity.

If you’re fishing in the winter and want a better chance to catch a bass, it’s okay to get a full night’s sleep and head out a bit later than you normally would.

8: Fishing Too Late

Again, timing is everything. After that brief period when the sun warms the surface, the bass tend to suspend in the depths where water retains its heat more efficiently. They’re harder to catch during this part of the day.

You should ensure you catch those first rays of sunshine and plan to make your trips shorter than they would be during the spring or fall.

9: Using Oversized Baits

One of the strangest modern trends is the fascination with using giant baits. It’s not uncommon to see a bunch of influencers, who shape much of the community, tossing giant swimbaits and sectional baits.

There’s a problem with that, though.

First, those are extremely expensive, and most anglers aren’t going to want to buy them.

Then, remember how we said the bass want easy meals in the winter? A giant bait that is hard to get in their mouth isn’t a great option.

Sure, it will increase your chances of catching a monster bass if there is one around, but the average bass you catch will be younger and smaller.

We recommend significantly reducing the size of your lures. If you have the equipment, you might even want to try some crappie lures. They work wonders as small finesse lures, and while they’re accessible to average bass, big bass also bite them occasionally.

This is a good way to maximize the frequency of catches rather than attempt to ensure every catch is a giant.

10: Using Summer Colors

The last mistake we’ll discuss is color choice. Most anglers expect to fish in the summer and early fall when it feels good to be outside. They often think fishing is only a fair-weather sport.

Unfortunately, they’ll often have great lures but are all summer-friendly colors.

In the winter, the water is usually much clearer, and even bait fish's coloring can be lighter due to environmental changes, many less than a year old.

When you set up your tackle box for a winter bass fishing trip, pick a variety of lighter color lures. White and silver are our favorites, but blue and pink options are also popular.

Catch Your Personal Best This Winter with Bass Forecast

Fishing isn’t like golf or baseball. The weather doesn’t send us packing or sitting in the truck until perfect conditions are reached. We roll with the punches and get fish on the lines.

Learning from common winter bass fishing mistakes allows you to stay ahead of the game and make the most of your time on the water.

We’re here to help you prepare for whatever comes your way when you hit the lake with real-time weather data, detailed fishing maps, and guides like this. 

Download the BassForecast fishing app today.