Why Smaller Lures Catch More Fish In The Winter
- By: Pat Ogletree
- on
Something strange happens when the water turns cold… and it quietly ruins more winter fishing trips than anything else.
Many anglers blame “slow winter fishing.”
But I’ll show you how winter changes the way fish feed, the simple retrieve mistake that kills the bite, and how smaller profiles help bring it back.
And yes… there’s one moment when downsizing is the wrong move, and many anglers miss it.
If your cold-weather bite has vanished and you don’t know why, the video below will connect the dots fast.
Want the exact downsized lures Pat relies on all winter? The Ultimate Winter Bundle has them all, and for a limited time, you’ll get a Flea Flicker for FREE. Grab it here.
Featured Gear:
Key Takeaways:
- Bait size drops in the winter, you need to drop down to match
- Fish are more lethargic in the winter and don’t want to chase large bait. Small, slower moving bait is easier for the fish to catch and therefore the preferred meal.
- Change your retrieve to let the fish tell you what they want
Final Thoughts:
Winter doesn’t kill the bite – it just changes it.
Now you know the biggest change of all: downsize and slow down so saying “yes” to your lure becomes effortless for the fish.
Put this to use and winter turns from being frustrating to being productive and possibly one of your favorite times to fish.
IMPORTANT REMINDER
The 2 core benefits we promise to Insider Club members is to be able to find and catch fish easier than ever before while saving money on fishing equipment.
So I am including links to the quickest ways to achieve each :
1) Finding Fish System
2) Insider Club’s Group Discounts
Related categories:
STOP WASTING TIME ON THE WATER!
Do what the “SMART ANGLERS” are doing and join the Insider Club.
Here’s what you’ll receive today when you join:
- Weekly fishing reports and TRENDS revealing exactly where you should fish ever trip
- Weekly “spot dissection” videos that walk you through all the best spots in your area
- Exclusive fishing tips from the PROS you can’t find anywhere else
- Everything you need to start catching fish more consistently (regardless if you fish out of a boat, kayak, or land).
STOP WASTING TIME ON THE WATER!
Do what the “SMART ANGLERS” are doing and join the Insider Club.
Here’s what you’ll receive today when you join:
- Weekly fishing reports and TRENDS revealing exactly where you should fish every trip
- Weekly “spot dissection” videos that walk you through all the best spots in your area
- Exclusive fishing tips from the PROS you can’t find anywhere else
- Everything you need to start catching fish more consistently (regardless if you fish out of a boat, kayak, or land).
Good video. Thanks for touching on the rod size.
Great info Pat, This should increase my bites and hopefully my catches.
Great Info/Tips Pat…
Great tips!!
More learning!!!!!!!!!!!!
Never stop! I try to learn something new each day
Another excellent video and just in time for the Winter season! Thank you very much.
Glad you liked it Nick!
Great video Pat! One question about fishing the Flea Flicker so slowly…what about extremely clear water like SE FL? Do you still fish it that slowly? I always worry they can get too good of a look at it when moving that slowly in clear water.
I always try to match the mood of the fish but sometimes a fast retrieve can trigger a reaction strike too. I mix it up to see what they want
Well pat I actually made my own winter bundle of lures I bought a 3700 size plastic storage box and selected the smallest of my lures a few from saltstrong like the flea flicker and the 2.0 paddletail and a few tiny topwaters when the fish seem more aggressive like the baby spook and baby torpedoes to name a couple I also have some even smaller plastic shrimp even smaller then the power prawn jr and that is the chasebaits baby flick prawn in the 1.5 inch size when I use this is when the fish are very lethargic like after a severe cold front and here in northeast fl the water can get very cold and I know alot colder then where your at in mosquito lagoon I have seen several winters where the water was believe it or not in the mid 40s!!! But that’s a rarity most of the time on an average winter about anywhere from about 55 to 60 degrees anyways but I agree with your retrieves and when to use them just not the tweaker only caught 2 fish on them and even though I have a pretty big selection I don’t really use them because I have ALL of saltstrongs lures but after experiencing using them I have found some dont work as well for me but thats probably because everyone fishes differently and what works for some not really for others also noticed you seem to be in a john boat? What’s up with your extremely exspensive modern hobbie outback kayak? I have up fishing from my yak when I couldn’t fish fuana reserviour anymore on acct the park rangers drain it to a point of yaks not being able to fish it they do it to kill the foliage but the ranger in charge doesn’t much care about anglers and only the duck hunters so they leave it unfishable pretty much most of the year a darn shame to say the least lots of big gator trout and big reds I used to catch out of my yak there but it is what it is thanks for the info and all you do🤔😉👍
That Tiny Torpedo is a great topwater this time of year and through early spring! We are coming out with our own smaller Prawn also, I think they might be calling it the Micro Prawn, probably next year on that. The Jon boat has been a project I’ve been working on this year, I do enjoy fishing out of it but I don’t see me giving up the kayak any time soon. Appreciate you watching!
Oh wow I’ll be looking out for that tiny prawn size next year chasebaits of Australia unfortunatly isn’t here in the US anymore believe it I r not they used to have a warehouse here in jax that I used to order from but it was all online orders but unfortunatly because of lack of buissness here in the states they totally moved out of the US and the reason im mentioning this is because there flick prawn tpe plastic shrimp is by far my favorite plastic shrimp especially in water thats shallower then 10ft deep otherwise I use the saltstrong jr power prawn because unlike the chasebaits the power prawn can be used with different weight jigheads my favorite being the football weedless but on the flats and under docks in shallow water the chasebaits flick prawn is my go to when predatory fish are feeding on shrimp and when trout are busting those tiny 1 inch size shrimp at night under docks chasebaits makes a 1.5 inch tiny prawn so if saltstrong makes a smaller shrimp this next year then the jr prawn I’ll be sure to purchase some and try them out thanks for the reply and all you do😉👍
Thanks Pat. You filled in a few blanks for me.
Glad to do it! Thanks for watching!
For me this has been your best presentation to date. Thanks
So glad you enjoyed it! I hope it helps you out!