January Tackle Warehouse Staff Picks

These baits allow me to cover water quickly, can be fished at any depth, and provide a fun way to catch bass.

If conditions allow, I prefer to parallel the bank as close as five feet from shore and slowly wind the swimbait back to the boat. This is a pretty simple and straightforward presentation, but I may switch jigheads around based on depth and retrieve speed. Vertical/bluff walls and points are often productive, but afternoons with high sun can get the bass shallow, with mud or pea-gravel transition zones also being solid areas to try.

These baits work great in water with good visibility. When fishing clear water under sunny skies, I like the Easy Shiner in natural colors like TW Ghost Shad, Pro Blue Shiner, and Tennessee Shad. In the Little Dipper, I often use Purple Smoke, Money Shot Violet, and Bad Shad. When fishing in overcast, rainy, or otherwise low-light conditions, I like the Easy Shiner in Pro Blue Red Pearl, Pro Purple, Ghost Rainbow, and Sight Flash. For the Little Dipper, I lean towards Lab Rat and Guntersville Shad.

I personally have caught numerous 4–5lb largemouth as well as many 20lb limits utilizing these little swimmers early in the year, but the most memorable catch was a 6lb largemouth my daughter caught on an Easy Shiner a few years back.

I like the Megabass Destroyer P5 Wind Buster spinning rod with a Daiwa Tatula Elite 3000 spinning reel. I have also just started throwing these little swimbaits on a Dobyns Sierra Ultra Finesse casting rod paired with the new Tatula PX BF70 casting reel spooled with 7-pound Sunline FC Sniper fluorocarbon.

Its tight vibration closely mimics a dying baitfish and can trigger lethargic bass that won’t react to more subtle offerings.

I like fishing the bait around suspended schools of bass with a lift-and-drop aka “yo-yo” style retrieve. I’ve also found a more aggressive rip-and-drop retrieve can be very effective, so it pays to play around until you get bit. If a school of fish isn't located, try focusing your attention around key winter spots, like creek channels, bluff walls, main-lake points, or jetties/current breaks.

When fishing clear water, natural baitfish colors typically work best. Brighter, bolder colors can also be highly effective when faced with murky or stained water conditions.

I haven’t caught any real toads on this technique quite yet, but I made some great memories catching smallies over 3lbs while fishing this bait one particular day back East with my father and a buddy.

The 7’3” Daiwa Tatula Cork casting rod (medium-heavy, fast action) is excellent when paired with 10–12lb fluorocarbon. I also like 20lb braid tied to a 10lb fluorocarbon leader between 8–10ft long. Braided line has virtually no stretch which really helps when yo-yoing and ripping the blade bait. For reels, I prefer low-profile baitcasters like the Daiwa Tatula 200 and Shimano Curado 200M with ratios of 7 or faster, as being able to quickly reel up slack is helpful since many bites come as the bait falls.

If you’ve got cold, dirty water in January, you’re not going to get a lot of bites, but you may be able to fool some of the biggest fish of the year. The Booyah Single Colorado Spinnerbait lets you efficiently cover water, effectively fish through newly submerged vegetation and debris in rising-water conditions, and attract big bass with a large profile and pronounced thump.

I find a lot of success slow-rolling this spinnerbait through laydowns, brush piles, boulders, and around docks in 8–10ft of water or less.

When dealing with less than a foot of visibility, I like a chartreuse and white skirt with a big gold #6 blade. When fishing more than a foot of visibility, throw a different bait!

I feel like I catch several 6+lb bass on this spinnerbait every winter. I’ve also had some solid bites while fishing from the bank when I’m short on time. What’s particularly notable is how few fish under 4lbs I catch on this bait!

I throw this big spinnerbait on heavy jig tackle, namely the Megabass Braillist rod paired with a Shimano Curado 200HG filled with 22lb Seaguar Tatsu.