Even though I have a tackle box full of crankbaits, I seem to gravitate to soft plastics more often than not. Winter months are no exception.  I use 2” to 3” paddle tails, 3.5” to 3.75” craws, tubes, and smaller jigs.  

There are three baits I’ve got my eye on and getting ready to place orders for.  The first two are from Winco’s Custom Lures and if you’ve been around YakAngler for long you’ve seen them in action with the smallies Juan Veruete of Kayak Fishing PA keeps us all longing for.

The last one that I have my heart set on at the moment is a small jig I found new for 2012 at LandBigFish.com and it’s called
The Cold Steel Shakey Head. It has a flat-head, stand-up and it is made with an Ultra Sharp Mustad oversized 5/0 hook for straight bait rigging. It sports a finesse-style skirt tied to screw-lock bait keeper holder that won’t slip down on the hook when skipping under docks.  They’re sold 2 per pack.
Truthfully, all of the downsized gear in the world doesn’t help too much if you don’t learn to
SLOW D O W N.  For example, even in warmer temps there are days I’ve had more luck with the ol’ faithful Carolina Rig when I cast it, let it sink and leave it lying there. I’ll sometimes wait a couple of minutes then give it a little shake.  As painful as that technique may sound to our adrenaline junky alter egos, believe me when I say that about the time you think you’re moving it slow enough, you’ll probably need to slow it down more.  Especially with water temps in the mid-50’s or lower.

The ironic part about fishing in winter is that on the days that are nice to fish, such as a clear day when the sun is shining bright, it’s usually not the ideal day to actually be catching fish. Since most of the time when we have clear days the air is somewhat colder, it only stands to reason that on the grey days when the clouds are hanging low the air temperatures are a little more favorable for our goal of catching fish rather than just fishing.

 

 

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About the Author: Pam is a Pro Staff Member at Yakangler.com, a member of the Hobie Fishing Team and Canoe Kentucky's Pro Team. She is the Director of KentuckyKayakFishing.org where their goal is to help "Yaks Give Back" to our citizens, the environment, and to promote the growth of kayak fishing in our state. Pam is also the author of ShesAManiYak.com