Winter
A lot of people often make the mistake of going too slow on Clear Lake. Sometimes it is good to fish the way you would any other day. Let the weather and the fish tell you what they want. Don’t assume they want it slow just because it is winter!
Jigs: No one can challenge that jigs are a great choice in the winter. I tend to stick with a simple pattern in Black/Blue and 3/8 or 1/2 ounce size. I like a pork trailer if it is real cold and plastic most of the time. The thing I change up is the size of the trailer. Sometimes the fish want a bigger trailer giving the bait a slower fall and sometimes they want a smaller trailer, especially when the fishing is faster.
Shaky Head: Always a good choice in the winter because you can work this bait in the same place for a much longer time giving the fish a good look and a good chance to eat it. My favorite is a round head in Black and 3/16 or 1/4 ounce size with a Maverick 8” Shaker worm.
Ripping: Most of you know I love ripping! My choices depend upon depth. For deeper depths, use a Lucky Craft Staysee 90 or 120. For more shallow fishing, I prefer the Pointer 128. Your choice of color has to do with water clarity. In dirty water, use Clown, Table Rock, and Chartreuse Shad. In clearer water, use Ghost Minnow and Hitch colors.
When ripping, timing (the pause) can be the key to success. Play around until you figure out what kind of pause the fish want. When you catch a fish, pay attention to the timing between rips and duplicate that pattern to catch more fish. A good rule of thumb is to count. Start by throwing the bait, count to 4 a few times between rips, and if that doesn’t produce fish try increasing to 6, 8 seconds between rips and so on. The fish will tell you what they want.
Sometimes the fish will key on bait size so have a few 100’s with you as well. Another good bait is the River 2 Sea Jerk Shad 88… it has a really radical movement to it. For deep cold water use the Rapala 9. It is silent, just weight it and go!
Check out Skeet Reese's YouTube video about the Pointer 100