Should You DOWNSIZE Your Baits In Cold Water?

All throughout the season, bass anglers are changing their tactics to have a successful day on the water. There are tons of factors that lead to the success of various methods, one of which being water temperature. When the water starts to cool off, many anglers switch to downsized baits. But is that the right thing to do? 

In general, colder water is anything around 55 degrees Fahrenheit or less. When this temperature marker is hit, bass metabolism starts to slow down significantly. Because of that, they have way less drive for going after large or fast prey.

In addition to that, they also focus much more heavily on conserving the energy they do have, rather than hunting for more food. This means you’re not going to get the reactionary strikes that you’d get in the summer. Instead, you’re looking to give them super easy opportunities to get a quick meal with these baits.

Bass aren’t the only ones affected by the colder water temperatures. Many of the main kinds of food that they’ll go after like shad and bluegill experience slower growth during this time of year. They also experience some of the same characteristics of not wanting to move around as much, making them slower and easier for bass to get ahold of when one swims by. 

There are lots of reasons why you would want to downsize your baits in cold water. The main one being that you’re likely going to get more bites. These smaller baits are going to be less work for a bass to grab than some of your larger or faster options. The smaller baits also make finesse fishing control much easier. You’ll be able to use your subtle line and fish slowly, watching closely for those light bites that are common this time of year.

These downsized baits are also just more realistic. You can use smaller plastics to more closely match the hatch of the prey in the area. If you’re fishing on a highly pressured body of water, these baits can also serve as a way to mix up what the bass have been seeing. If everyone else has still been using large baits, you can get more bites by downsizing.

There are a few really good baits to try when downsizing in cold water. Ned rigs are a go to, using a 1/16 to 1/8 oz jighead and a compact stickbait plastic. You can easily fish these slowly along the bottom where the bass are holding.

Dropshot rigs are great for this time of year as well. You can use a 3 inch finesse worm or small minnow style soft plastic and fish it vertically over areas with a bit more structure to get fish to come grab an easy meal with these baits.

If you’re fishing along points and ledges, don’t be afraid to try out a hair jig. Look for something about 1/8 oz in size, and slow roll them along these areas to get a strike.

While downsizing baits is generally the best method to catch bass in colder water, there are definitely some downsides to doing so. The main one being that these downsized baits aren’t going to create as much commotion in the water as the larger baits do. Because of this, the bass aren’t going to be able to notice them unless you’re much closer to them than you’d normally need to be in the summer.

These downsized lures can also be tough to get big fish to bite on. Larger fish are much more likely to expend their feeding energy on one big meal, rather than having to try to seek out many smaller meals throughout the day, so getting a big bass to bite a downsized lure can be a challenge. Additionally, these smaller baits can be hard to work through deeper water where bass may be holding. Once you’re fishing in 20 feet or deeper, holding that bottom contact can be a challenge.

With the pros and cons in mind, the real answer is that you need to find the right balance. Water temperature is certainly a main factor to consider, but you have many other conditions to consider as well. Water clarity, depth, and bass activity levels are all important to think about as well. If you’re fishing in stained water and the bass are super aggressive but the water is cold, it still may be a good idea to use some of your bigger lures.

While yes, in general downsizing baits is what works best for colder water, it’s not a set in stone rule that it’s always going to work, so make sure to keep a good variety of options with you every time you go out fishing.