Winter Crankbait Bass Fishing: Expert’s Tips and Tricks

There are all kinds of tall tales about winter bass fishing. From telling anglers not to bother going out to a brief phase where everyone wanted to throw massive glide baits for a while, and that was all anyone thought worked, there have always been stories that made winter fishing seem like an entirely different sport.

Well, none of that is true. There are some differences during the winter season, but they mostly come down to subtle that adjust things you already do during peak fishing season.

A good example is winter crankbait bass fishing. Although many first-time winter anglers are told to keep their crankbaits in their tackle boxes, they can be major big bass producers.

To help you make the most of your crankbaits in winter, we’ve put together this in-depth guide with tips, tricks, and other tidbits.

Are Crankbaits Good for Bass Fishing in Winter?

As we said, many anglers put their crankbaits up during the winter in favor of super finesse-based baits. This is because of the idea that bass somehow slows down, don’t react to the action, and generally sit around all day any time it’s cold out. 

That’s simply not true. 

Although they are more lethargic and try to conserve their energy, they are still the apex predators of our freshwater lakes and ponds. They will pursue a crankbait if they feel it is a threat or a meal.

Despite being known for its high-speed retrievals and lots of action, the crankbait is an extremely versatile lure. It can easily be used in a more finesse-based application to bring big bass into the boat.

Why Should You Try Crankbaits in Winter?

If finesse baits, big realistic glides, and other baits are all known as great winter options, why should you bother with crankbaits in the first place? Even if they work, we know that other options excel, right?

There are a few reasons.

1: Accessibility

First, every angler already has several crankbaits in their tackle box. Even pan fishermen keep the smallest versions on hand for difficult days.

In comparison, many lures for bass promoted as premium winter baits are more niche. We’ve even written guides recommending niche soft plastics and expensive hard baits. 

While those are amazing options, every tackle store and online retailer offers many crankbaits in every price category, color, and size.

Not to mention, they’re such common baits that you probably already have some ready to go. So, you likely don’t have to buy new gear to try this method out and start catching winter bass.

2: Ease of Use

We’ll talk more about this later, but you do have to change your approach when using a crankbait in the winter. However, it’s still the insanely easy-to-use bait you know and love.

Unlike finesse baits, fancy swimbaits, and many other top winter recommendations that require specific knots and complicated retrievals, a crankbait’s core concept stays the same. You chuck it out, reel it in, and the lure takes care of the rest.

That’s not just good for beginners who have yet to perfect their retrieval methods. It also helps a lot in the cold.

Remember that your hands aren’t as dexterous in 40-degree weather, you don’t think as clearly, and so on. Simplifying the process can help you fish consistently, while more complicated approaches can be difficult to execute.

3: Cheap Color Testing

This is mostly useful for beginners and intermediate anglers. Seasoned vets have likely collected so much tackle they can cover anything.

However, color plays a big part in determining a lure's effectiveness, and different seasons usually require dramatically different lure colors to match changing water conditions.

Getting a lot of nice lures for a basic peak-season tackle box is a lot for someone just starting, let alone buying a bunch of new colors in winter for the same stuff.

Crankbaits are a staple in the industry. Everyone makes them, and almost every brand offers many color options.

You can easily buy several new crankbaits specifically for winter from cheaper brands, and if a couple of them don’t work out in your local watering hole, it’s not a big deal. You can’t say the same about $12 packs of soft plastics you burn through, $40 swimbaits, etc.

Buying Your Winter Crankbaits for Bass Fishing: What to Look For

The crankbaits you buy will have a big impact on your success. We’re not necessarily talking about brands and models, either. Instead, it’s more important to focus on the action's color, size, and quality.

1: Color

During winter, it’s typically best to go with lighter colors, such as silver and grey, with various accents that create different effects.

This is for two reasons.

First, the water tends to lighten dramatically during the winter. Since most of the underwater flora dies off, there isn’t as much organic matter to stain it and create the dark, murky lakes you’re probably used to with winter fishing. 

Many ponds and lakes get incredibly clear during the winter. Especially if they’re small. Lighter colors match the lighter water and look more realistic when the lure is presented.

It also helps match the hatch. Bass tend to target the juvenile bait fish from the previous spawn throughout the winter. They’re easy targets, and while they’re still small, they’re substantial enough to warrant snapping up. Most of these fish are lighter in color during this period, and lighter lures represent them more naturally.

We recommend using silver and white lures with small red or white accents during the cold season. However, you might also want to add some variations of blue and yellow in case your local watering hole changes conditions and you need something different.

2: Size

For the most part, we recommend reducing the size of your crankbaits in winter. In general, smaller baits tend to catch more consistently despite big bait trends that have popped up over the last decade.

Using a smaller crankbait allows you to achieve that finesse-like presentation without worrying about the complicated retrieval pattern. It also helps match the smaller juvenile bait fish that the bass prey on when they decide to eat.

It's usually best to use bass-sized lures, but you can also try a couple of panfish crankbaits. When we got tired of not getting bites and switched to pan fishing, we accidentally caught some nice winter bass on tiny panfish crankbaits no bigger than your fingernail. They do work.

3: Quality of Action

Finally, we said that brand doesn’t matter much when you’re just starting to build a winter crankbait collection, but quality does.

We recommend avoiding the super cheap crankbaits on the most popular general retail sites. They wobble weirdly, are more likely to have major defects, and sometimes just don’t work like a crankbait should.

You don’t necessarily have to spend much money, either. Walmart has released their line of inexpensive crankbaits that are great for when you’re just starting, want to try a new pattern or depth rating, etc.

You can also find very budget-friendly options from brands like Strike King, Berkley, and even Rapala occasionally.

Ensure you’re buying crankbaits that produce a lot of wobble and rattle and they don’t have any glaring defects.

How to Use a Crankbait in Winter

Now, it’s time to start covering strategies.

1: Two Depths

Bass transition through the water column frequently in the winter. Therefore, you should fish just off the bottom or beneath the surface.

When you notice the sun is beating down on the water's surface, use a shallow-diving crankbait that stays just a couple of feet under the surface. Most fish are coming to the surface to take in that sunlight and warm up for a while. This is also when they’re the most aggressive and likely to bite. 

This effect tends to be most noticeable when the sun reaches across the water for the first couple of hours after the lake is fully lit. The dramatic, sudden change in temperature stirs the bass up.

However, the bass go deep when there’s an overcast and it’s cold out. This might seem odd since we usually consider deeper water colder, but heat can be retained a lot easier in pockets toward the bottom while wind and very low air temperatures chill the surface. 

This is where you’ll fish throughout most of your day, and you’ll want to use a crankbait that can dive to the depth of your local watering hole.

2: Slow Retrieval with Lots of Pauses

This is where you’re likely to mess up at first. Crankbaits are popular because you can chuck them out and reel them at a decent speed, and the lure does all the work. They’re some of the simplest baits on the market. That’s still the core concept in the winter, but you have to slow it down a bit.

When reeling in your crankbait, go as slow as you can at first. It should take a while to get a full rotation of the handle. If the bass doesn’t bite, you can speed it up slightly for a few casts and see if that does the trick, but you won’t buzz it across the water like you would when fishing in summer.

Also, you want to add plenty of pauses to the mix. Try reeling the lure in a quarter turn of the handle, pause for 5 seconds, and then repeat. Those pauses give curious bass time to commit, and you’ll often see your line start to wave back and forth during a pause, even if you didn’t think anything was following it while you were reeling.

You have to remember that the fish aren’t zipping around in winter. When you fish too fast, the presentation is wrong, and the bass can tell something is up. 

Take it slow, tease them with pauses, and you’ll catch a bass.

3: Smack it on the Cover

This tactic is popular during peak fishing season and works in winter, too. If you can fish around the cover, try pulling the crankbait along it and knocking it around a bit. 

This tends to attract bass like crazy.

4: Last Chance Figure 8

This tip is a must-do for musky fishing and a good tactic for winter bass, too. As you get your crankbait back to the boat at the end of a cast, don’t immediately pull it out of the water and cast it again.

Instead, give it a slight pause, use your rod tip to draw a figure 8 with the lure, and pause again. If a bass quietly follows the lure in, this gives it one last chance to commit before you pull it out and start all over.

This won’t always work, but we’ve caught many bass in those last few seconds of a cast with this technique, and we’ve caught bass right along the banks and side of the boat that we didn’t even know were mere inches from our feet until their gaping jaws slammed shut on our lure.

5: Plan Accordingly

Whether fishing in spring or summer, you benefit from a lot of planning, but you can go out on any given day at random times and still have a good chance of catching something. In winter, you need to plan out your trips. Few things suck more than going out day after day in the cold and not catching anything.

Instead of focusing on the number of trips, plan well ahead and get your crankbait ready on the most optimal days.

Get Key Weather and Map Data for Your Winter Bass Fishing

Our last tip for winter crankbait bass fishing was to plan, and a lot goes into that. 

At BassForecast, we make it easy by bringing you real-time weather updates with the most detailed weather information available, fishing maps of nearly every waterway in the US, and guides to help you get started.

Download the BassForecast fishing app and plan your next fishing trip like a pro!