January is typically among the coldest months of the year. Depending on where in the country you live, that could mean ice, or the water temperature could be as high as the low 60s. It’s a relative thing, but my starting point is to look for deeper, more vertical areas. Up north, that could be a bluff where the depth drops from 10 feet to 30. Down south it could be a deep-water canal that is 8 feet deep. In either situation, expect the fish to be relatively lethargic.
As always, I’m going to give you two baits for up north of the Mason-Dixon Line and two for south of it. Up here in the north, the water could be in the 40s or even the 30s. That makes the fish quite inactive, so my starting point is to match that level of activity. That’s why I love a flat-sided, tight-wobbling crankbait. It doesn’t produce a lot of movement, and generally I prefer a silent version.
One of my favorites is the Berkley Frittside – you can tell it’s there, but barely feel the vibration. It also has an almost neutral buoyancy. When it deflects off a piece of cover, I kill it and it barely rises. That allows fish to commit. I chose three main color patterns: something shad, pearl or white; something chartreuse or green for when bluegills are around or the water is dirty; and you cannot leave home without a red craw pattern this time of year.
My second choice is a shad style soft plastic minnow. Lately I’ve been relying heavily on the Berkley PowerBait Switch. It’s almost a “non-action” bait with a little spade tail and the line tie pulled back. When fish are under the boat or on bridge pilings or bluffs, you can drop it straight down. It’s also exceptional with forward-facing sonar. You can “mid stroll” it through schools of suspending fish. I like it on a 1/4, 3/8 or 1/2 ounce head, and mostly baitfish colors. One sleeper color is the one I call “pinky,” formally known as Pink Wizard.
Let’s make the switch to the south, places like the Carolinas, Tennessee River impoundments, Alabama, even Georgia. One of the best choices in these scenarios is a suspending jerkbait. I know that I’m starting to sound like a broken record, but the goal is to mimic the activity level of the fish and this one gets it done. I again focus on more vertical areas like channel swings, bluff ends and riprap, and I really like the deep version of the Berkley Stunna. It gets down quicky and you can keep it in place. I’ll crank it down five or ten times to the desired depth and then move it with small twitches followed by long pauses. It’s definitely not like the summer when you rip it hard.
With the jerkbait the cadence is critical. Start off making several casts with 5 second pauses. Then make more with a 10 second pause. Work all the way up to a minute at a time and you’ll eventually feel the rhythm. Colder usually equals longer pauses, but not always.
Last but not least, this is a tough one. It could be a football jig with a chunk, but in a nod to all of the fisheries with grass, I’m going to go with a beaver-style bait. Whether you’re in Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, South Carolina or even California, there’s still lots of grass this time of year, and many of the biggest fish sit lazily under thick mats.
You may think that a beaver is best in March or April, and it certainly works then, but it’s accounted for most of my true giant January bass, too. Whether you’re flipping hyacinths or lily pads or dead reeds or any other sort of canopy, it penetrates well. It also doesn’t have a lot of action. Once in their zone, it has a simple, neutral fluid motion. I put it behind a 1/2- to 2-ounce tungsten weight, with 1 and 1-1/4 ounces being the most common sizes. A 3/0 or 4/0 Berkley Fusion hook completes the package.
My current favorite is the Berkley MaxScent Creature Hawg. You may think that MaxScent is just for smallmouths, but it’s a killer for big largemouths, too. Once I get through the mat, I let it hit bottom and then make a series of little hops. If the bass doesn’t eat, I reel it to the top and “tick the roof.” By leaving it in place for a short while, it allows the scent to convince them to eat.
Those are simple choices, but they’re proven winners. Remember to replicate the mood of the fish and look for vertical cover and structure and January can be a great time for giant bass.
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