John’s Note: Davy Hite (https://www.facebook.com/davyhite) of Ninety Six, South Carolina, ranks as one of the top-10 money-winning anglers of all time.

In cold weather, I’ll fish South Carolina’s Murray and Greenwood lakes.

But during January and February, I prefer Lake Greenwood, since I’ll have many opportunities there to catch an 8 pound or better pre-spawn bass. Typically, the water temperatures are in the mid to upper 40s. If neither a warm front nor a cold front moves through, I’ll primarily fish soft and hard jerkbaits over deep water close to shallow water. With a severe drop-off, the bass can sit in staging areas and move up or down the water column easily. You have to decide what the fish prefer on the day you’re fishing – brush piles, rock and/or sandy or clay banks. On a map, the bottom contours with the lines really-close together indicate sharp drop-offs close to shallow water, where generally you’ll locate bass.

Most of the time in the winter, bass will be suspended in a water column, instead of relating to the cover or to the bottom. I’ll fish the Rapala (http://www.rapala.com) and Lucky Craft (http://www.luckycraft.com) jerkbaits because they’ll sink slowly down to the lethargic bass and entice them to bite. My favorite soft plastic is the Berkley PowerBait Saltwater Jerk Shad (http://www.berkley-fishing.com). I’m not big on scents, however the scent in this Berkley bait makes a difference in whether the bass bite or not in the winter.

If the bass just nip at it, those treble hooks will catch them. However, if the bait’s falling all the way down into the cover, I like a Texas-rigged, soft jerkbait. I’ll fish shad-colored jerkbaits, or in stained water either a black- or purple-black-colored bait on 10-pound-test Berkley Trilene Maxx line or Trilene Pro Grade Fluorocarbon line. I use a twitch-twitch-pause rhythm and sometimes give a three-count before I move the bait. You have to determine the rhythm of retrieve the bass want. At this time of year, our area may have 25- or 75-degree weather. But any day I fish Lake Greenwood in January and February, I expect to catch a 7-pound-or-better bass.

To learn more about bass fishing, get John E. Phillips’ Kindle eBooks and some print books, “How to Bass Fish Like a Pro,” “How to Win a Bass Tournament,” “Catch the Most and Biggest Bass in Any Lake: 18 Pro Fishermen’s Best Tactics, “Hot Weather Bass Tactics” and “How to Become A Tournament Bass Fisherman.” Click here to get these books.

Next: Michael Iaconelli on Catching Northern Wintertime Bass