I really look forward to this annual seminar. Each year I learn a bit more about bass fishing and each year I understand Matt’s techniques and expertise a bit more. I’m confident that I will catch my first Winter bass this fishing season. Thank you Tactical Bassin.
Well Done! Your Tutorials are awesome. I'm recovering from Lung Surgery, I need these type of videos to get me ready once I am back on my feet, hopefully by pre-spawn. Thanks Matt
My favorite time of year, hardly any traffic. I fish 2 different highlands reservoirs in NE TN(I know you 2 have fished them) and have been hammering smallmouth dropping in areas just like you described. Love winter fishing.
Threatening to catch fish in our own lakes is hilarious….because you would totally hurt some feelings! I know you guys would just slay my favorite places like never before.
Im truly jealous that you're still able to access water that isn't frozen lol. I've never been much of an ice fisherman but I just might pick it up this year 😂. Thanks for another great video Matt!
I agree: my options for bass fishing is power plant lakes 1-2000 acres. Current is almost always present. Temps here in NC range from 94 degrees in summer as a high and lows are 45 - 50 with fluctuations of 10 degrees in areas
Great stuff as always! You guys should offer water breakdown services for a fee. I'm sure a ton of viewers would love to get your input on how you would break down thier local waters, even if you are just looking at depth maps and satalite views (myself included).
When is go fishing using the tricks you guys teach I keep running into somebody who watches your content I don't know of a better compliment for your work
I do a lot of urban fishing and all I usually hear is, "there aren't any fish in there, don't fish here it is polluted!" Then I pull a 7 pound bass out of a culvert and they are all, "you can't eat that." Like who the hell is out here eating 4-5+ pound largemouths. 😂 Literally had a homeless lady living in her van try to tell me I couldn't fish in a public pond. 😂
THIS is the stuff ive been a sub for years for. Im not so much interested in the baits. Once u are familiar with all the baits in the industry that talk is very redundant. I like digging in your brain to see where you would go as well as map study.
Looking forward to learning how to fish this winter and your videos have helped a lot! Trying to learn the jig a lot more. What kind of depths are you dragging it in?
Shore Fishermen - PB now 11.4 - looking for teener...remembered that whenever I purchase one of your recommendations I catch bass...so the football jig and Yama in your colors and the TRD. "I love the jig and in VA its getting cold and that's one of "The" baits. Ponds
I tried to go Saturday, but our lakes and ponds already froze over. I’m in southeast Illinois which it was 16degrees Friday morning to 52degrees Saturday afternoon. Can’t wait to try these tricks out tho
I've nene both bass and striper fishing here in TN and can confirm on the striper. The bass fishing has slowed unless you're dropping on them with FFS. Jerkbait bite is really good though, caught 20 smallmouth yesterday on a 110 jr+1.
I feel like living in AZ our waters feel different because we could be like 2 months behind to these types of videos. Like it was still mid 80s last week here xD
I know this is a narrow subject, but could you do a video on power plant lakes. One of my best winter lakes is a power plant lake(2600 acres). The temps in it fluctuate a ton, from 38 to 52 depending on the day. It has massive fish but are EXTREMELY hard to catch.
Great info Matt thank you!!! I am a bank fisherman and mainly fish ponds but I do live near Lake Norman, NC and we do have a warm water discharge area that I can fish on the south end of Lake Norman in the winter months. I've never had great numbers days there but have caught a few decent ones in the past. Since I mostly fish ponds I'm not really used to fishing this area because there is a strong current coming out of the power plant and it's much deeper there than the ponds that I normally fish. Any suggestions on what I should be throwing there? The other problem is that it gets lots of pressure here in these cold water months due to it being much warmer here than out on the main lake.
Will winter bass break through the ice to bite a jerkbait? Asking for us northern folks 😂 In all seriousness, I always take your winter advice and apply it to late, late fall fishing until ice-up here in northern Wisconsin. Thanks for great info as always!
Is there such a thing as a mini highland reservoir? In north east Ohio all the lakes are clearly lowland reservoirs, but in the southeast they could go either way. On the map they look like highland reservoirs but they don’t have the depth. It averages 20 feet with some 30 foot holes and gets 40 foot by the dam. I’m always been confused on what to call them. Specially lakes like salt fork, leesville and cleandening. Then we have the hybrids like piedmont , Seneca and wolf run.
WV ohio river valley is the same way. I'm on a little ~1000 acre that behaves like a baby highland on the lower 1/3, lowland/shallow river in the upper sections. Highly pressured lake.. and honestly the numbers aren't great.. but I have pulled some tanks (for this part of the country) out of it. You'll only get a handful of bites per day but it's either a dink or a 3-4+ And the biggs seem to be usually dialed on big gizzards.. and nobody fishes glides here 😁
I'm in Knoxville on the Tennessee river. Just moved here in late June and have had pretty good success fishing from the banks. Probably caught 50-60 Bass. However, with the rivers being much lower, most of my previous spots are not fishable (and I am shocked to see how shallow they were). Any advice for bank fisherman in the winter? I'll have a bass boat someday! But likely a kayak before then.
So something like urban lake front where the water is 15ft+ at the bank I would want to fish along the sea walls or structure that goes out into the lake?
What type of lake is wilson on the tva? Not a canyon type. No off shore structure. No long points. Only shallow on tbe east end. Very deep tbe further west you go
Wilson is a hybrid. Its a lowland reservoir, but has so much current that it's almost just a river. There are places on the lake where both situations can apply.
I'm a bit confused on how to classify my local fishery. It matches the initial description of a highland reservoir much better than the lowland, but is only 30ft deep at the absolute deepest. How should I approach this?
I am in a small highland reservoir that has tons and tons of carp. 1 main creek channel and a few main lake points. I have a hard time finding a consistent bite. How do I distinguish between bass, trout and carp on electronics to make sure I am targeting areas that have bass and not just seeing carp or trout schools?
I'm in the same boat here in WV (just sans trout) Honestly it can be VERY frustrating because the carp will stack on the edges of the old creek channel and on the ledges. A lot of times I don't know i'm wasting my time until I see the bubbles coming up.
@@Cjdklh At least during warmer weather, the bubbles are a MAJOR indicator. As they root in the bottom they almost always dislodge gas.. so you will see bubbles on the surface and often bubble trails on down/side imaging. Also note that the carp are often much larger, so thats usually an indicator for me. Most small carp feed in weeds so the rooters are usually sizeable.. 7-10+lbs. For me I use contextual clues. Cover, on structure, probably bass. Offshore bass are often in schools/packs and usually go by the "not more than 3 dots high, with some spacing" rule. Fish the moment has covered the "shapes" of schools and fish returns and it helped me out quite a bit.
I’ve caught some of my biggest bass in mid January. I used to fish year round- but now I can’t take the cold. If I dress warm enough I can’t move - and I’ve never found gloves functional or warm enough.
Basically for the full size A-rigs they use what amounts to a heavy Jig rod, the mini and micro size A-rigs can be fished with lighter rods, especially the Tactical Bassin micro A-rig, it’s basically a spread out spinnerbait that weighs between 1/2oz to about 5/8oz depending on what size highways you use ( it only has three baits instead of the normal and mini rigs allowing for up to 5 rigged baits).
AGAIN, perfect freaking timing matt ! Spot on with the information like always. I just wanted to thank you for the recommendation on the new GLF matte jig. I've been DESTROYING largemouth in cali with it, mirky water largemouth fishing 😂with it, and it's designed for smallies, so guys, I highly suggest you pick some up paired to the glf 2.1 inch snackcraw is just LIGHTSOUT caught a 4.4 on it the other day on a really tough lake !
It’s a shame 10,500 people have watched the video and only 710 likes it. It’s a shame people come here to learn and watch videos and can’t leave a thumbs up!
If the fish go yo the deepest part of the lake what good are baits that won't get down to them. It sounds like a bunch of bullshit. Your tactical crank, of which I have 4. Only dives 15-16 feet. Having a hard time believing this
Obviously you have to fish a lure that gets close enough to the fish to get a reaction, if the fish are hugging the bottom in 25’ of water and you know they are there then fish the jig or a jigging spoon.
I really look forward to this annual seminar. Each year I learn a bit more about bass fishing and each year I understand Matt’s techniques and expertise a bit more. I’m confident that I will catch my first Winter bass this fishing season.
Thank you Tactical Bassin.
Well Done! Your Tutorials are awesome. I'm recovering from Lung Surgery, I need these type of videos to get me ready once I am back on my feet, hopefully by pre-spawn. Thanks Matt
My favorite time of year, hardly any traffic. I fish 2 different highlands reservoirs in NE TN(I know you 2 have fished them) and have been hammering smallmouth dropping in areas just like you described. Love winter fishing.
Center hill and dale hollow??
@@Fallingwateroutdoorsdoubt it he said NE. Probably south Holston and watuaga
@@rodneyrandolph2128 thank you! 💪🏽
Threatening to catch fish in our own lakes is hilarious….because you would totally hurt some feelings! I know you guys would just slay my favorite places like never before.
Im truly jealous that you're still able to access water that isn't frozen lol. I've never been much of an ice fisherman but I just might pick it up this year 😂. Thanks for another great video Matt!
If there is a positive to ice fishing is at least you can walk out to where the fish are, can’t do that in soft water unless your name is Jesus.
Thank you for including the pond prowler in this video
Great job matt, I have learned so much over the years from tactical, I go fishing and can always draw on my memories of your info to help. Every time!
Always great refresher this time of year
Awesome. I'm new to freshwater fishing and TB has been a wealth of info. Thanks!
I agree: my options for bass fishing is power plant lakes 1-2000 acres. Current is almost always present. Temps here in NC range from 94 degrees in summer as a high and lows are 45 - 50 with fluctuations of 10 degrees in areas
Great stuff as always! You guys should offer water breakdown services for a fee. I'm sure a ton of viewers would love to get your input on how you would break down thier local waters, even if you are just looking at depth maps and satalite views (myself included).
Really great video!!
When is go fishing using the tricks you guys teach I keep running into somebody who watches your content I don't know of a better compliment for your work
I do a lot of urban fishing and all I usually hear is, "there aren't any fish in there, don't fish here it is polluted!" Then I pull a 7 pound bass out of a culvert and they are all, "you can't eat that." Like who the hell is out here eating 4-5+ pound largemouths. 😂
Literally had a homeless lady living in her van try to tell me I couldn't fish in a public pond. 😂
You drunk again?
I had a stroke reading this
Morning Matt! Thanks again for doing all these videos. Super helpful, super informative. Only channel we need
Great info! 🙏🏼
THIS is the stuff ive been a sub for years for. Im not so much interested in the baits. Once u are familiar with all the baits in the industry that talk is very redundant. I like digging in your brain to see where you would go as well as map study.
Thanks again. This was extremely helpful
Looking forward to learning how to fish this winter and your videos have helped a lot! Trying to learn the jig a lot more. What kind of depths are you dragging it in?
Shore Fishermen - PB now 11.4 - looking for teener...remembered that whenever I purchase one of your recommendations I catch bass...so the football jig and Yama in your colors and the TRD. "I love the jig and in VA its getting cold and that's one of "The" baits. Ponds
Matt you are a great information teller thank you. Bassmd
Another great video, would you call Chicamauga and Watts Bar Highland reservoirs?
I tried to go Saturday, but our lakes and ponds already froze over. I’m in southeast Illinois which it was 16degrees Friday morning to 52degrees Saturday afternoon. Can’t wait to try these tricks out tho
Good stuff; teaching us how to track, not just hunt.
The Bass here in New Jersey have slowed to a crawl, but Wow! The Stripped Bass have been on Fire with vertical jigging 🎉
Not a Bot BTW
🤖
I've nene both bass and striper fishing here in TN and can confirm on the striper. The bass fishing has slowed unless you're dropping on them with FFS. Jerkbait bite is really good though, caught 20 smallmouth yesterday on a 110 jr+1.
@@073286 love fishing jerkbait! but they're to deep here for that right now 30' plus
Would this still apply to a blueback herring lake like lake Murray and is lake Murray a highland resivior
I tried the burn burn pause in saltwater with little paddle tails and worked insanely well
I feel like living in AZ our waters feel different because we could be like 2 months behind to these types of videos. Like it was still mid 80s last week here xD
Thanks Matt great job on the cold weather Bass and baits to get them on 👍🏻 Rockin TB!
I know this is a narrow subject, but could you do a video on power plant lakes. One of my best winter lakes is a power plant lake(2600 acres). The temps in it fluctuate a ton, from 38 to 52 depending on the day. It has massive fish but are EXTREMELY hard to catch.
Great info Matt thank you!!! I am a bank fisherman and mainly fish ponds but I do live near Lake Norman, NC and we do have a warm water discharge area that I can fish on the south end of Lake Norman in the winter months. I've never had great numbers days there but have caught a few decent ones in the past. Since I mostly fish ponds I'm not really used to fishing this area because there is a strong current coming out of the power plant and it's much deeper there than the ponds that I normally fish. Any suggestions on what I should be throwing there? The other problem is that it gets lots of pressure here in these cold water months due to it being much warmer here than out on the main lake.
Will winter bass break through the ice to bite a jerkbait? Asking for us northern folks 😂 In all seriousness, I always take your winter advice and apply it to late, late fall fishing until ice-up here in northern Wisconsin. Thanks for great info as always!
Do you know if Lake Lanier is a highland or lowland reservoir?
Is there such a thing as a mini highland reservoir? In north east Ohio all the lakes are clearly lowland reservoirs, but in the southeast they could go either way. On the map they look like highland reservoirs but they don’t have the depth. It averages 20 feet with some 30 foot holes and gets 40 foot by the dam. I’m always been confused on what to call them. Specially lakes like salt fork, leesville and cleandening. Then we have the hybrids like piedmont , Seneca and wolf run.
Absolutely! I've seen small ponds built in steep canyons that behave exactly like a highland reservoir 👍🏼
WV ohio river valley is the same way.
I'm on a little ~1000 acre that behaves like a baby highland on the lower 1/3, lowland/shallow river in the upper sections.
Highly pressured lake.. and honestly the numbers aren't great.. but I have pulled some tanks (for this part of the country) out of it. You'll only get a handful of bites per day but it's either a dink or a 3-4+
And the biggs seem to be usually dialed on big gizzards.. and nobody fishes glides here 😁
I'm in Knoxville on the Tennessee river. Just moved here in late June and have had pretty good success fishing from the banks. Probably caught 50-60 Bass. However, with the rivers being much lower, most of my previous spots are not fishable (and I am shocked to see how shallow they were). Any advice for bank fisherman in the winter? I'll have a bass boat someday! But likely a kayak before then.
Saw under your budget arig combo. Does the Shimano SLX 7'5" Med/Heavy run on the stiffer side. Thinking of using it ARig and T-Rig
Winter has become my favorite time to fish. No boats and big fish.
So something like urban lake front where the water is 15ft+ at the bank I would want to fish along the sea walls or structure that goes out into the lake?
From what he was saying and my own experience that sounds like the place to start.
Thank you. I live close to the lake front but it’s a pain to fish because how clear and pressured it is.
Is the video messed up and shifted to the left?
The intro is, the rest of the video is okay
What type of lake is wilson on the tva? Not a canyon type. No off shore structure. No long points. Only shallow on tbe east end. Very deep tbe further west you go
Wilson is a hybrid. Its a lowland reservoir, but has so much current that it's almost just a river. There are places on the lake where both situations can apply.
Has anyone fished Jackson Lake in central Georgia. We don't really fit any of those categories. Any suggestions?
Have you guys ever fished Beaver Lake in Arkansas?
I'm a bit confused on how to classify my local fishery. It matches the initial description of a highland reservoir much better than the lowland, but is only 30ft deep at the absolute deepest. How should I approach this?
That can absolutely still be a highland reservoir 👍🏼
Dude I've had good and bad time on my home lake in the winter and fall it's low land super shallow but get really cold
I am in a small highland reservoir that has tons and tons of carp. 1 main creek channel and a few main lake points. I have a hard time finding a consistent bite. How do I distinguish between bass, trout and carp on electronics to make sure I am targeting areas that have bass and not just seeing carp or trout schools?
I'm in the same boat here in WV (just sans trout)
Honestly it can be VERY frustrating because the carp will stack on the edges of the old creek channel and on the ledges. A lot of times I don't know i'm wasting my time until I see the bubbles coming up.
@mattfleming86 exactly what I am experiencing as well. If I could just eliminate places based on carp that would help. :)
@@Cjdklh At least during warmer weather, the bubbles are a MAJOR indicator. As they root in the bottom they almost always dislodge gas.. so you will see bubbles on the surface and often bubble trails on down/side imaging. Also note that the carp are often much larger, so thats usually an indicator for me. Most small carp feed in weeds so the rooters are usually sizeable.. 7-10+lbs.
For me I use contextual clues. Cover, on structure, probably bass. Offshore bass are often in schools/packs and usually go by the "not more than 3 dots high, with some spacing" rule.
Fish the moment has covered the "shapes" of schools and fish returns and it helped me out quite a bit.
I’ve caught some of my biggest bass in mid January. I used to fish year round- but now I can’t take the cold. If I dress warm enough I can’t move - and I’ve never found gloves functional or warm enough.
Do you use a Deep Sea rod & reel to throw the Alabama Rig? Its like Punching--> its a HEAVY RIG to throw!
😂😂😂
Basically for the full size A-rigs they use what amounts to a heavy Jig rod, the mini and micro size A-rigs can be fished with lighter rods, especially the Tactical Bassin micro A-rig, it’s basically a spread out spinnerbait that weighs between 1/2oz to about 5/8oz depending on what size highways you use ( it only has three baits instead of the normal and mini rigs allowing for up to 5 rigged baits).
I thought something was wrong with my phone on the intro. 😂
Sorry about that! We're not sure what happened, thankfully it's not the whole thing!
@@tacticalbassin It happens hahah
is that image at 7:11 ...fishporn?
Florida, right?
AGAIN, perfect freaking timing matt ! Spot on with the information like always. I just wanted to thank you for the recommendation on the new GLF matte jig. I've been DESTROYING largemouth in cali with it, mirky water largemouth fishing 😂with it, and it's designed for smallies, so guys, I highly suggest you pick some up paired to the glf 2.1 inch snackcraw is just LIGHTSOUT caught a 4.4 on it the other day on a really tough lake !
Come to long lake Port orchard Washington
I know! It's under the ice!
🙌🙌🙌🙌🙌
It’s a shame 10,500 people have watched the video and only 710 likes it. It’s a shame people come here to learn and watch videos and can’t leave a thumbs up!
7:10
Deep Deep Deep
60 feet deep???!! Oh, we’re not talking about the fishing I do
8:07
What happened to the beginning of the video 😅
No clue! It's always something 🤦♂️
@tacticalbassin in 8 years of watching you guys that was a first 😅👍
Well that's a pretty good track record! We'll take it!
Long live the king
If the fish go yo the deepest part of the lake what good are baits that won't get down to them.
It sounds like a bunch of bullshit.
Your tactical crank, of which I have 4. Only dives 15-16 feet.
Having a hard time believing this
Obviously you have to fish a lure that gets close enough to the fish to get a reaction, if the fish are hugging the bottom in 25’ of water and you know they are there then fish the jig or a jigging spoon.