We are lucky here in California that we can fish through the winter. Things can get tough at times, but it is my favorite time to fish. You don't have to deal with all the other yahoo boaters on the water, and if you dress up nice and warm it can be enjoyable.
A 4.20 Spot caught in the begining of February on Lake Shasta.
In general I believe that big fish are a little easier to catch in the winter. I am usually looking to fish deep water or somewhere right near it. I like to fish slowly and very intentionally. I pay close attention to my graph, always looking for bait and fish arches. I fish a lot of heavy baits that I have good control of and can keep good contact with. Most of the time I will not even fish until I locate fish on my fish finder. The great thing about this time of year is that fish have a tendency to school up. Once you get a bite there are usually more bass around.
There are a few techniques I focus on: slow-rolling at a controlled depth where I have located fish, jigging spoons on suspended fish, or hopping down steep banks for active fish.
Fishing Slow and Deep
When I locate fish on the bottom this is when they are usually the least active. A lot of times these fish will not even show up as arches on your graph. They will appear more as rocks but look closer – especially if you're really familiar with the bottom contour. I will usually target these fish with a big swimbait, a football head jig or a 6" darter head worm such as a Robo Worm. I will slow-roll the swimbait and drag the worm or jig painfully slow over these areas watching to see if any fish arches rise off the bottom.
Playing the Spoons
Secondly, I will locate bait balls with arches under and around them. This is when I bust out the spoon such as the Hopkins or tail spinner such as the Revenge shown below. Fishing becomes much like a video game at this point. If you pay close attention you can see you baits drop down on your graph and put them right on the fish arches. It is very satisfying to see a fish arch move towards your line and feel your rod load up.
Hopping the bait
Finally, I will target steep walls and hop either a jig or swimbait down to the bottom. I will usaully do this on warmer days or days with rain when I have a good idea the fish are more active. I really like the Blade Runner Spintrix for this aproach. For the most part I don't pay to much attention to water temp exept on these sunny days. I really feel that fish will hold close to rocks that pull warmth from the sun.
If things get real tough don't be afraid to have some fun and go buy some minnows. A lot of people get so caught up on artificial lures sometimes that they forget how fun it can be to fish live bait. These can be fished either on a bobber or split shot rig.
