The months of December through February are when the water temperatures at Clear Lake dip down in the 50-degree range or lower and the bass tend to slow down their feeding, which can lead to them becoming extremely lethargic. This is the time of the year when live bait outperforms artificial lures and plastic worms by better than 3-1.
Jumbo minnows, crawfish or even large nightcrawlers can be deadly on wintertime bass. There is a reason the local fishing guides use live minnows during the winter months to the exclusion of all other baits. When all else fails their clients can catch bass on live minnows.
Even crappie prefer live minnows over the standard crappie jig. For example, a few years ago I was fishing the Kono Tayee docks for crappie. There were approximately 10 boats working the area and two were using live minnows. The minnow fishermen caught three fish to every one caught on jigs.
It was about 15 years ago when fishermen discovered that jumbo minnows would readily catch very large bass during the winter months at Clear Lake. The fishermen discovered that fishing with a live minnow actually improves as the water gets colder. Now most of the fishermen use jumbo minnows during the winter months.
Bass locate their prey by several methods and the primary method is sight. However, they also have excellent smelling abilities. They have a lateral line running down their side which senses movement. In an experiment conducted a few years ago, researchers released minnows into a tank holding several largemouth bass that had been “blindfolded” with eye patches. The bass were able to easily locate the minnows through the vibration alone and intercept them one by one. This could explain why a bass can feed so successfully at night or in extremely dirty water.
One reason live minnows are so effective is that a live minnow suspended beneath a bobber probably gives off some kind of distress signal or odor that the bass intercepts. Studies have shown that a bass can instantly find an injured or sick minnow out of a school of minnows. This could be nature”s way of not only providing an easy meal for the bass, but also keeping the minnow species healthy by culling out the sick and weak ones.
Most of the fishermen rig a minnow several ways. One is to run a size 2 hook through the lips of the minnow and then attach a small split shot about 10 inches from the hook. The minnow is allowed to swim above the submerged rocks or beneath the docks. This is called “fly lining.” A few fishermen rig the live minnow split-shot style and fish them off the bottom.
Another technique is to use a slip bobber and drift with the live minnow suspended about 4-6 feet beneath the bobber. A bobber stopper is attached to the line, which allows the fisherman to make an easy cast. The stopper controls the depth of the minnow. Commercial bobber stoppers are available at the local tackle shops.
When you see the bobber go under or move off to one side, feed some line out to give the bass enough time to get the minnow completely in its mouth and then set the hook with a sweeping motion.
Often a bass will just play with the minnow and won”t even take the bobber under. Other times they just slam the bait.
One fisherman told me he located a school of bass and as soon as he dropped a live minnow down a bass would grab it. However, when he used an artificial minnow or plastic worm he wouldn”t get a bite. The bass would swim up to the artificial lure, look at it or even nudge it and then just swim away. It was just the opposite for a live minnow and the bass would aggressively attack it.
Some of the better areas for winter bass fishing are along the tule shoreline between the State Park and Lakeside County Park. The docks at Nice and Lucerne hold some monster bass during the cold months. Rocky Point also holds some monster bass. The deeper water at Henderson Point is an excellent area to use live minnows. Wheeler Point has large bass as well. Monitor Point, Konocti Bay, the rockpiles near Rattlesnake Island and Shag Rock are all good bets for large bass when using live minnows.
The only downside of using live minnows is cost. A dozen jumbo minnows goes for about $12 and extra-large minnows cost about $8. When the fish are biting it”s not unusual for a fisherman to use up to two or even three dozen minnows per day.