Hey guys, Bassmaster Elite Series pro Drew Cook here with BassResource. And, we're talking about wintertime worm techniques. Throwing a worm in the wintertime, you know, a lot of people aren't on the water. It's a great time to be out there. There's a lot of people, you know, they're in the deer woods, they're cold, you know, in the house, don't wanna be outside. It's one of those times that you can catch some really big fish and not have to compete against a lot of people on the lake. You know, but it's also something to think about when it's cold, you know, everything slows down. You know, you're not catching 'em, moving fast, you gotta really hunker down and fish slow to be able to get bites.
In the wintertime, this is the only baitcaster that I'll throw on a worm in the wintertime. This is a Carolina rig. I've got 20-pound, Sunline Shooter main line and coming to my weight here, a good thing about Carolina rig. It's coming to my weight...I have a 3/4 ounce Tungsten weight. I like the Tungsten because you can just feel things a lot better. You don't have to have it now. I used a giant lead weight for my whole life, really and, you know, until they started, you know, giving us Tungsten. I have a 3/4 ounce Tungsten weight and two beads. And, these beads are there for, you know, protecting your knot from this big weight that's honking around, but it's also there to make a sound. So, whenever you're hopping this thing over, you know, a limb, or a brush pile or, you know, a stump, or a little bit of grass, these things are clicking. And, for years I've been told it sounds like a crawfish, but, I just think it is something to get their attention, you know, they're getting over there and looking at it.
And, from there you have a big SPRO swivel to my leader. So, my leader, you want it smaller than your main line. So, whenever you get your bait hung on something and you pull it and break it off, you still have your weight and your swivel and stuff, because when you break this whole thing off, it's a ordeal to tie it back together. You know, you got three knots, you gotta get leader line out and you do all this. So, you wanna make sure it's smaller. So, I have 14-pound sniper, going to a 4/0 Gamakatsu Hybrid Worm Hook with a 5-inch, trick stick on here. This one's in tilapia. And that's, you know, pretty much my go-to whenever I'm throwing a Carolina rig with a trick stick on it. It's gonna be, you know, that green pumpkin base. I really like this color because it's got a little bit of blue, a little bit of purple in it. I will throw, a darker color whenever the watercolors a little darker, throw a hematoma or a black and blue.
But, this is, you know, this is the perfect example of not having a whole lot of action, but that's what gets bit. You know, you're just dragging this weight along and your bait just kind of glides over here and falls down. You know, you pull it again, it just glides over here. So, nothing crazy. There's not a whole lot of, you know, there's no tail on here, there's no action, it's just gliding and following. That's what's getting the bites.
Next is gonna be a Ned Rig. This is kind of where the Ned Rig started, it was wintertime. And, this is actually a bait that I designed for Big Bite. It's a craw to start with, but, it was made to pinch off and use as a Ned Rig. You can see here, you know, this is how it starts, but you just pinch these legs off to use as a Ned rig.
But, I've got that on a 3/16 Ram Head from Big Bite. This is their Ned head. You know, I got 7-pound, Sunline Sniper. It's a 12-pound, Sunline SX Braid and I'm throwing this on Dobyns Xtasy 753.
So, you ask, "Well, man, it's a big rod. You know, you don't need all that." Well, you don't need it, but it's better to have it and not need it, than need it and not have it in my opinion. You know, just to be able to throw it a little bit further, be able to hook 'em, because a lot of times when you're throwing this Ned Rig in the wintertime, you know, you're fishing pretty deep. Like, I'm gonna use Lake Hartwell as an example, or Lanier, you know, really clear reservoirs. You're catching 'em in like 30 foot, you know, 30-foot, 35-foot. That's a long way down. So, you can make a long cast and, you know, your bait hits the water and then you feed it line to sink and 30-foot down, you know, you've got a whole lot of ground to play with whenever you're trying to hook one of these fish.
And, this is great around rock. It's great around, you know, obviously not wood, but great around docks. You know, just throwing this thing around docks around rock and, you know, rip-rap or anything like that. Bridges, any blow throughs, you know, that this is a great bait to fish there. And, that's a place where a lot of fish are gonna congregate in the wintertime. Any of those bridges that are in those creeks because fish are wintering back there and they're gonna move around to start thinking about spawning and getting ready. That happens way before a lot of people give 'em credit because they're always thinking about eating and spawning.
And, last but certainly not least, is the drop shot. This is my kind of go-to drop shot, especially in the wintertime. You got to have, you know, a drop shot rigged up, because if you're throwing the Ned and you look under the boat and there's a, you know, a fish on the graph, it'd take you a minute to get that Ned down there to 'em. It doesn't take near as long whenever you have this drop shot. So, you're dropping it straight down on them. And, in the wintertime, it's pretty much exclusively me dropping on fish with a drop shot. I'm not really casting it much anymore. I'm actually finding the fish, dropping it down to 'em to keep it in front of their face, to be able to get those fish to bite because they don't wanna move, they don't wanna chase it, and they want it to be, like, right in front of 'em.
On my drop shot, this is the Big Bite Cliff Hanger Worm. This is also in tilapia. Like I said, "You can't go wrong with a green pumpkin base." This is a number one, heavy cover, finesse, worm hook. I've got a 5/16 Tungsten, 7-pound Sunline Sniper to a 12-pound Sunline SX Braid, and, this is on a 723 Dobyns Xtasy. It's a rod that I like for drop shot and it's not too long, not too short, you know, you can still get 'em around the boat pretty good. And, you know, one thing to note about wintertime fishing is, their mouths are a lot harder that time of year. So, you've gotta keep that in mind whenever, you know, you're fishing for these things. You tend to lose a lot in the wintertime because their mouth's so hard. But if you just keep constant pressure on 'em and, you know, maybe tighten the drag up a little bit more, then you'll be fine. But, those are my go-to worms for the wintertime.
