One of the songs we frequently hear in December is “The 12 Days of Christmas,” so let’s cut that number in half and look at the six baits I’d recommend for fishing the Deep South during the last month of the year. Before I explain my bait choices, we have to recognize the region’s seasonal patterns.
From my home waters of Lake Okeechobee to Lake Kissimmee, Lake Toho and Lake Seminole, wintertime fishing in this part of the country can be very, very good. However, it also can be very tough, because these are Florida-strain bass, and they’re very sensitive to weather changes.
Fishing might be great for several days, but a cold front can come through and shut down the bite. It’s feast or famine this time of year, but if you choose the right baits at the right time, the payoff can be amazing.
For example, I remember a tournament I fished several years ago during post-cold front conditions. It was dead, slick calm and sunny, so it was a tough scenario, but I found that the fish had positioned under mats outside the spawning areas.
Every single mat had a 4- to 6-pounder under it. Those big females were sunning right under those mats, warming their bellies. I caught more than 30 pounds that day. It was incredible how predictable it became.
This is a good example of why a flipping stick with a 1-ounce weight is always on my deck this time of year.
When conditions are stable, I break down my six baits of Christmas by prespawn staging and early spawning. The latter group is Florida-specific, but you have to be prepared to take advantage of the early spawners that may be on beds as soon as the fall.
So, looking at a scenario where the water temperatures are still in the upper 50s to low 60s, my first thought is a vibrating bait — something to draw reaction bites. My No. 1 bait is a ChatterBait JackHammer with a minnow-style trailer like a 3.3 Googan Squad Saucy Swimmer.
The fish might not necessarily want to feed, but the bait gets down in their face and they react to it. The same is true of a lipless bait. Before bladed jigs took over, a lipless bait was the deal. They’re still relevant, so I often alternate this with my ChatterBait.
Two more reaction baits you should be throwing during December in the Deep South are a squarebill and a spinnerbait. These two baits give the fish different looks, and that’s often what you need to generate bites.
Whichever one of these four reaction baits I’m throwing, I’m going to be very disciplined, and I’m not going to let myself get distracted. I’m going to commit to finding the fish with these moving baits, and I’m going to avoid getting sidetracked with a stick bait or other finesse rig because that’s how you find the motherlode.
When you’re drifting around on the flats, remember these fish are in schools. This is the time of year I use my Power-Poles a lot because when you catch one, you Power-Pole down and pay attention to where you caught that fish. There’s probably more there, so don’t miss the opportunity.
Sometimes, you catch a fish and you mess around taking pictures, you drift off your spot. When you don’t catch anymore you think, “There must have been only one there.” No, there were probably several fish there; you just missed them.
The thing is, you might catch all your fish in one hole the size of the hood of a car. This is the time of year I catch them in wads. I’m not looking for singles; I’m looking for mega schools. The way you find them is with reaction baits.
The reason it’s so important to Power-Pole down and focus on where you got your bite is that it’s often a one-cast deal. I’ve literally caught them one after another on one corner of a cattail stand, and they were nowhere else in the cattails.
For those early Florida spawners, I round out my six baits of Christmas with a paddletail worm and a flipping bait like the Googan Squad Bandito Bug. I’ll fish that paddletail worm on a slow retrieve to find unseen beds, but when I find a bed fish, I can stop and fish it like a traditional worm presentation.
With the Bandito Bug, I’m going to pitch that bait into likely bedding areas. You’re looking for one little hole in the grass, one boat trail, one high spot — anywhere you might find a group of fish in one small area.
You have to put in your time, but when you throw the right bait in the right spot, it can be like Christmas morning.
