Bass Fishing: Early Winter Transition: VFJ28 

I'm always learning something new from your great educational videos an I really appreciate what you do!

I promise I mean this as a compliment. This is such a nerdy video. Thanks for this.

Very nice video journal, thanks for putting this out. I hope you and your family have a great holiday season.

you are a huge wealth of knowledge,Paul&along side a lot of commentors;i too love winter bass fishing.It forces me to slow down as an angler & I feel compelled to check up on these fish that I declare my "home waters" through the seasonal changes here in West Virginia.I just realized our Lab waters are very similar-dish pan and an average of 5 ft depth with an 8 ft deep spot in the main basin.structureless but full of vegetation that turns into a green strand of goo in winter.I just caught a 4 1/2 lb Largemouth 2 weeks ago on an 8th oz chatterbait..(cold water presentation=downsizing big time)so there are some big gals in there

I see you are swimming your Ned lure. I tend to try to stay near the bottom with mine due to my lake being inhabited by Pickerel. They will beat a bass to a moving lure every time in the Winter!

Awesome video i caught my pb in 46 degree water 6lb

Great information and classic reels!!!

New sub from NJ nice info

Man, I love these videos!

Another excellently educational VFJ. Well done Paul. Cheers 🍻

Should’ve popped me some popcorn 🍿 Your videos are always educational and great from beginning to end. Thanks for posting!

Loved the video man thanks for making these VFJ to help us !!!!

Most Excellent once again! You really captured the brilliant colors of the bass! Well done, Paul! Visiting El Centro Ca ,now, then Presscott Valley after Christmas. It will be very interesting, and a challenge, to learn if or what subtle differences there will be from my Ga fishing. From desert to mountains... Have a Great Holiday season and Best wishes !! ...man, those bass are magnificent in their winter colors...whew..

Another great video paul... informative and interesting as always!

WOW. Thanks for another amazing upload!! Newly subbed and looking forward to getting caught up!! I wanted to stress the importance of your content because, I feel, there is a huge focus on gear and technique while bass behavior is often SO overlooked. Thanks again for such informative videos!!

The Nature of Fishing Some things I noticed in the video relate to discoveries I found too. Bass like green weeds in winter if they still exist. They provide warming water and better oxygen content. They also harbor hiding places for small prey like tiny crawfish and minnows. One small clump of green weeds is enough to draw bass. A pond full of weeds is even better. I never checked the oxygen levels, but only guessed that they would be higher. Fishing a shallow stocked trout pond this winter I started catching bass and trout around green patches of weeds. As the season went further into winter and the water-cooled to 38°, I started catching more bass than trout. I even caught bass by casting my lure on to the ice forming in shallow water and pulling it off letting it drop into the edges of green weed patches. I consider as you do line diameter is the most important factor over others. I discovered using green braided 6-pound line with a diameter of .005” of an inch worked better without a mono or fluorocarbon leader. The small diameter and its tendency to float helped because it slowed the sink rate and let me suspend the lure longer in shallow water. I noticed you used a Charlie Brewer Slider jig hook and a TRD worm. I was much more successful using 1/16th ounce jigs with a two-inch paddle tail swimbait. I used Do-Nothing worms for years and they are sadly over looked currently, but so effective it is almost a secret few anglers consider. The rod and reel I used to fish these tiny baits consisted of a 5’ 6” ultralight rod and a BFS baitcasting reel. This is not to say spinning tackle would work just as well. It is a little late now; come spring and the ice melts, it’s likely a good place to start catching bass. One bass spit out a few minnows even smaller than the swimbait and seem to be goring on them. That made it a no-brainer what I needed to do.

Valuable info right there! Lived up north longer than I care to admit. I remember well those fishing-less months. Not into ice fishing, lol. Happily now in Fla . . year-round bass angling! Prespawn is on and they are chewin'!

were you swimming a 3” senko? 2/0 ewg? also... what’s this interesting flotation device you operate with flippers and waiders??

SWEET!!!!

Winter bass fishing, believe it or not is one of my favorite times to fish, lakes r empty so i basically have the whole place to myself. U can catch some giants too if u kno what your doin. Really separates boys from men lol. Great vid man keep em comin!

I love your videos and I am glad that I found you. I live in Boulder and have been trying to figure out where the ponds that you fish are located. Are all of the ponds in your videos public or a combination of public and private. Thanks