Some of today’s anglers have learned to be weary of deep, crystal clear lakes. Add to the mix, some cold winter time conditions and most anglers will cringe at the thought of fishing in the dreary cold on a lake you can sometimes see the bottom while sitting in 25ft of water. One lake that fits that mold is north Alabama’s Lewis Smith Lake. I, along with many others, am proud to call Smith Lake home, but I will admit that Smith is an acquired taste. It’s a love or hate relationship when it comes to bass fishing in clear, cold water. But with the right attitude, and a little know-how, a good angler can conquer Smith Lake and any other lake that resembles it. 

Most of today’s anglers have conditioned themselves to cover as much water as possible in the least amount of time. Trolling motors on high, whizzing fast moving baits down the bank to eliminate water quickly, is the mind-set of today’s angler. Then, there is that small majority that realizes the best fish will usually come to those that choose a lure that primarily targets big fish, and they learn to fish it slow and methodically. That second group of anglers knows that one lure will produce when others fail. They know that cold, deep, clear water calls for one lure and one lure only, the JIG.

It’s been around for decades. It’s produced more tournament winnings than most other lures combined. It’s the one lure that bass haven’t grown accustomed to because of its close familiarity with a bass’ favorite food source, the crawfish.  Smart anglers realize that with both pleasure and tournament fishing, quality usually trumps quantity and the ‘ole jig and pig fits that bill perfectly.

Wintertime bassing on Smith Lake calls for the jig more often than not. Once the water temperatures dip below the 60 degree mark, there should always be a jig tied on one of your rods on the boat deck, but preferably the rod you have your fingers wrapped around. Cold water conditions combined with cold water clarity is the perfect time for good quality bites with the jig combination.

Just about every lure manufacturer has their version of the jig in their lure line ups. There are dozen of different shapes and sizes and even more numbers when it comes to the color spectrum. I’m going to narrow it down a bit and concentrate on just a couple different types of jigs. Your regular round and football head jig and a hair jig. The football head jig has proven most effective when it comes to the “casting” method of jig fishing. The round head jig is used by most in flipping and pitching situations, and the hair jig is the deep water favorite of those that prefer jig fishing during the winter months. 

Since the jig closely resembles the crawfish in a bass’ diet, it’s best to trail that jig with another lure. In years past, the “pork” trailer was the choice of the pros and seasoned anglers. That hasn’t changed, as it is still the best bet for quality bass. Today’s anglers seemed to have made the move to soft plastics and most use some type of crawfish shaped trailer. Most recently, the Netbait Paca Craw has came into the bass fishing mix with a vengeance and has proven itself worthy as a good choice of jig trailer. Simple plastic “pork” imitators are probably still the choice for the majority of anglers on Smith Lake.

In cold water conditions, this Smith Lake angler and other seasoned regulars go to “casting” a jig into open water. Areas such as long points, brushed humps and rock ledges work best, but don’t shy away from the bare looking flats that will sometimes hold cold weather bass in search of an easy meal. Some of the best wintertime flats areas on Smith Lake are in the area called Major Miller Bottoms which branches off of Simpson Creek. This area offers some of the more shallow flats available on the lake and hold brush and flooded timber that has been there holding bass for years. When casting a jig around these flats areas, the absolute biggest challenge is to be a line or lure watcher. Keeping a close watch on you line is a must. The strike will more often than not occur when that jig is falling. Not just on the cast, but when the jig is moved and falls back to the bottom. Sometimes on long casts, the hook-set is compromised when the strike occurs at the end of the cast and on the fall. These strikes require extreme attention and a long, quick set.

When working the jig on long cast, each small snag or stick-up your jig hits is extremely important. Every time your jig hits a small snag or even a huge brush-pile, your heart should skip a beat. Simply because this is where you’re going to get that strike you’ve been waiting on for the last few casts. When moving the jig through that cover, pay close attention to every inch of water the jigs moves through. When it’s pulled up a limb and it hits the top, drop it back down a few times. Sometimes even more than just a “few” times will trigger that quality strike. Once you’re satisfied the strike isn’t there, hop it over the snag and pay close attention once again. That movement will sometimes cause the reaction strike once the lure breaks free and it falling once again. Remember there usually isn’t an “in-between” strike with the jig. Either it’s a bone jarring thump, or you simply pick the jig up to move it and all you feel is that slightly heavy feeling. You know you’re in business on either end of that equation.

It was only a couple Februaries ago when my tournament partner at the time, Josh Hill and I were fishing in the Miller’s Bottom area on Smith. We were all bundled up and trying to keep warm on a cold early weekday morning while playing hooky from work. We were casting jigs to a deep, long point and haven’t had any luck to show for our efforts. I convince myself that the only problem is that maybe we were throwing the wrong colors. So I tie on a brown, crawfish colored jig and make a long heave. Just before the bait hits the bottom, I notice the line jump and set the hook. After a lengthy fight, I land a 6.12 pound spotted bass, my second largest at the time. We take a couple pictures, release the magnum spot and Josh asks for brown jig. I dig into the tackle box and find an identical jig and he ties it on and makes a cast into the same general area. I stand there and watch his line as it falls and, you guessed it, exact same thing happens. His line jumps, makes a big hook-set, and he lands another six pound Spot, 6.23 pounds to be exact. Two six pound spotted bass on back to back casts. That will probably never happen again in my lifetime, but it made for a great trip and a story that will last for decades between two fishing buddies. It was simply made possible by just changing the color of jig we were using and making longer casts into a good area with plenty of cover.   

Cold water sometimes requires some close quarters jig fishing such a flipping and pitching and that’s where your round head jig comes into play. Smith Lake offers numerous opportunities for this method. Mid-lake areas between Raccoon Creek and Smith Lake Dam are suited perfectly for pitching and flipping a round head jig. This jig will not hang up as much as other styles and comes through the heavy cover easier than most. When flipping during the winter, you need to concentrate mainly on sun drenched rocky banks, private and public boat ramps and shallow brush that has been somewhat warmed by the sunlight. When targeting shallow brush, make sure and put your jig into areas that look as if you’re never going to see that jig again. The ugliest tangled mess you can imagine will hold cold water jig fish if it’s in the right areas. Work every inch of that tangled mess you flipped your jig to and you need to be prepared for a fight once the strike occurs.

Keep in mind that Smith Lake has over 500 miles of shoreline and offers waters up to the 300 feet deep mark. With that much shoreline, there is an almost unlimited amount of areas that a jig can be worked. Current is almost nil on Smith Lake simply because it is fed only by feeder creeks and run-off. It has no main body of water that dumps into it as water is drawn from it heads to the Sipsey River. With current out of the equation, cold weather jigs rules of other impoundments don’t really come into play. Rules such as working a jig down stream to trigger a strike for example. But other rules do apply. Such as working areas that have a good depth change, a sharp drop or an area that holds plenty of bait.

Probably the best kept secret in jig fishing is the hair jig. Secret may be too strong a word. The hair jig simply scares anglers to death. They know if the time comes when the hair jig will produce, it is probably the time they don’t want to be on the water. The colder the better for the hair jig on Smith Lake. The days when you have to battle ice in the eyes of your rod all day long. The days when you don’t want to lay a bass on your ruler in fear of him freezing to it. Those are the days when the hair jig will literally load your boat on Smith Lake. Another thing about the hair jig that makes most anglers weary is it’s best to go with light line and spinning tackle to use them. It’s not a must, but results will go up drastically when used with line under ten pound test, and if you’re really brave, drop down to four or six pound test for those finicky magnum Spots. The smaller diameter the line, the more bites you’ll get with the hair jig in Smith Lake’s clear water. The hair jig is best used in areas such as Rock Creek on Smith Lake. Rock Creek provides some of the deeper, clearest water on the lake and yes it lives up to its name, ROCKS. The hair jig works wonders when fished around rocks for big Smith Lake Spotted bass. It’s hard to beat a bone jarring strike on a 1/4oz hair jig on light line in 30 feet of clear water.

When it comes to the type of hair jigs bass desire on Smith Lake, there really isn’t a hands down favorite. The bear hair is probably the most popular, but it seems that good bear hair jigs are becoming harder and harder to come by. Deer hair jigs have became a favorite over the last few years for many anglers. Color is a major factor when it comes to hair jigs during a Smith Lake winter fishing trip. The most common is green pumpkin which goes for just about every lure on Smith, and it sometimes proves to be a challenge to find a company that produces quality dyed hair.  Brown seems to be the favorite of big fish hunters during cold water conditions. A 1/4oz brown hair jig with a small green pumpkin trailer will eventually get your line stretched during a bone chilling outing on Smith when put in the right places. 

When working any type jig in a cold water situation, be patient. Make sure and never work the jig too fast on the retrieve. This is probably the most common mistake most anglers make during the winter. The fish usually aren’t in a bold mood when there is ice conditions looming, and a slow moving small jig is sometimes just too tempting even for the laziest bass in the area. There is no need to be in hurry when looking for bigger fish with the jig. The bites will come sooner or later, and you’ll find that patience does pay off in the long run.

Your equipment you choose to fish your jig with is a major part of the puzzle. Besides just test strength with your line, it’s important to choose a quality line that can take the brunt of the fight of the bass and handle the abrasions that the heavy brush will sometimes hand out. I’ve found that Sunline’s Shooter Super Fluorocarbon handles any jig situation. Your rod will prove to be your biggest factor when jig fishing. For the 3/8 to 1/2 oz. jigs, a Dobyns DX 703C is the absolute best. When fishing the 1/4oz and smaller jigs, including the hair jigs, a Dobyns 702SF spinning rod suits the bill.

Using good equipment and having some knowledge of the lake you are pursuing those green monsters on comes in handy during a cold day on the water. Lakes such as Lewis Smith Lake can pose a challenge to even the most experienced jig anglers. Anglers that make it a point to learn jig techniques and refuse to let cold, deep, clear lake situations be intimidating are the anglers that will be sitting around the fireplace the following evening with plenty of big fish tales to yarn about.