A good thing you might want to use is a rattle trap. Also, think about breaking out the purple salamanders. You have a tied on jig, so what color are you using, I think the best thing around this time is going to be the white curly tails. Find a nice eddy and fish it. Since there are lots of rocks a brown colored worm is usually pretty good.

i like using soft plastic lizards Texas rigged during spring. slowly reel it in sliding across the bottom. lizards eat bass eggs so spawning bass will attack it if it’s anywhere near their nest.

I currently live in MN and have to fish cold, clear, water almost 2/4 of the fishing season.

Of course the Bass in your area may not act and react like the ones in MN, but maybe this info can help ya…?

Last fall, (right before the lake iced over/37-40 degree water), I went Bass fishing looking for live weeds on a shelf or drop-off near long flats, (in 12-14FT of water). Me and my partner fished the N-NW area of the lake because that is usually the warmest prt of the lake because it is sheltered from the harsh Northern fronts that move through.

I tried all the things that I thought would work , (1/4 OZ jig/curly-tail, suspending jerk-baits, 4″ Senko’s rigged Wacky, Storm curly-tailed swimbait, 1/4 OZ Jig/YUM Crawbug, Etc.), and then I began experimenting.

I have a large assortment of tackle to experiment with……lol.

Anywho, for sh*ts & giggles I tied on a holographic 1/4 OZ Rattle Trap thinking,”This ain’t gonna work”.

Sure enough it did!

I was amazed!

My retrieve was why, though. I let the RT sink almost to the bottom of the live weeds I found, then slowly swept the rod up, (just enough to get a “rattle”). The Bass hit it on the sweep up, (which is odd because usually they would hit it on the fall). I guessed they thought my RT was an escaping, distressed, shiner fleeing from the weedline. Between me and my partner we caught 6 Bass to about 3LB’s and 5 (or 6/ can’t remember), Northern Pike.

All in all it was a productive 4 hour day of fishing………(esp for such cold water).

By the way, we were using Power Pro 2/10 line on spinning tackle.

We put Kick N Bass attractant on every 4th cast.

And worked areas with LONG casts, (A 1/4 OZ RT will cast VERY far using 2 LB test diameter; which helped us cover water quickly and find active fish quicker). In my opinion, I think it’s important to be 30yrds from any structure you plan on fishing in such cold water with pressured fish.

Obviously, your water will be warmer than 35 degrees, but it goes to show you that reaction-strike lures can still be productive in super cold water if retrieved in a “Yo-Yo” fashion.

Well, hope this helps somehow..? Thumbs to everyone. Good luck in the T !