 Oh, there he is. Yes, we got him. The main keyword for today's video is slowdown. Hey yo, what's going on guys? Welcome to another video. So, I was thinking about a video that, you know, it would help you guys a lot this winter and I was really thinking, I was like, what can we do to help you guys catch more bass this winter? And I was like, you know, let's just make it super realistic today. It's like 20 degrees out today guys, very cold. So smash that like button, please, I'm really trying very hard. I'll work very hard on these videos guys. So simply by clicking that like button, it just me, it just, you know, warms up my day. I'm being serious with warms up my day. You get it? Today, what we're gonna be doing is I'm gonna go out on the pond today. It is very cold. I mean, the fish are very slow because it's just in that weird phase and it's super cold out here today. I mean, the high today, I believe is gonna be 30. So it's just in one of those weird days where it is freezing outside. So what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna rig up a few rods. We're gonna go out on this pond today. This is gonna be more faded towards pond fishermen. But don't take that in the wrong way because anyone who's gonna be fishing in the river systems or lakes, you can still take value out of this video and go apply it towards wherever you're fishing. So don't click off this video just because you're not all-in-all pond fishermen. But I know a majority of you guys are pond fishermen, so that's why I'm doing this today. So we're gonna go out on the pond today and really figure out these fish. And I'm gonna tell you guys, you know, what's going on in my head, why I'm throwing this, why I think these baits are gonna work. And I'm gonna catch some fish on it. And you know, the baits that I wanna tie on are pretty much baits that I think are gonna work very, very well at these ponds right now because these fish are super slow. So like, as lethargic as the fish will get, I believe they will bite these baits and I just tear them up. So we're gonna go around the pond today. We're gonna actually try to catch some fish. It's gonna be a little bit different than the other two videos because we're actually gonna focus on, you know, catching fish and throwing the right baits to catch those fish. So let's go ahead and start rigging up my rods and let's get this started, baby. All right, so I have pretty much two baits that I really wanna tie on that I'm thinking about, which is gonna be, you know, the weightless Sanko. I think that's gonna be really good. So that's all I'm gonna tie on and have my box right here. As you guys know in the last episode, I gave my mom $50 to go to the tackle shop and buy some gear. And we're at Oakwood bait and tackle. We did buy some drop shot stuff. So I have some stuff to rig up a drop shot. I do wanna tie that on as well because I just believe that you cannot go wrong with the drop shot and I believe we can really go catch some fish on this today. So that's all I'm gonna rig up. We're gonna have one rod with the drop shot on, everything for a drop shot right here. And then I have this box right here with my Sankos. I'm just gonna tie on a simple weightless Sankos. Just got a simple little four eye EWG hook. I'll tie a standard uni knot. As you guys know, I think that's the best, most first little knot out there, in my opinion. That's what I tie on everything. I actually have a video on it now. I'll link it up top right here. You guys can go check that out if you wanna tie the knot. It's very quick, simple, easy to tie. It's actually stronger than the polymer knot. That's a fact. I suggest you go give it a try, especially if you tie a polymer knot. As in for the worm, it's not like a dirty pond. This isn't really like, if it was like a muddy water, I'd use something more like this, which is like a black with a red flake Sanko, or like a jumbug, kind of like this. And there's dirty water, that's what I would throw. It's really not dirty out here. So I'm gonna go with this green pumpkin blue flake right here, Sanko, bring that right up. We have no weight, just running this thing weightless. Just like that. Got you an old weightless Sanko. Just got a little Texas rig right there with no weight. And that is simple as it gets and it will catch a lot of fish. For the old worm, we're just using this Robo worm watermelon magic. If you guys wanna go watch that video, I'm telling you, I'll link it right here. It's a pretty cool video. It's something unique, something different. It looks like we're going to be teaching my mom how to fish for the outcome of that episode. Here we go. Have a little drop shot as well. That's our second rig. Got a weightless Sanko and then an old drop shot. So we are ready to go fish and see if we can figure out these fish and catch them when they're very tough like this. So I'm actually gonna start off with this drop shot. And the reason why I tied this on today is because some people wouldn't throw this year round. I believe this is a bait that you can just throw year round and catch a lot of fish on it. I don't care if it's during the summer, if it's right now during the winter, if it's in the fall, if it's in the spring. I believe you'll catch bass on a drop shot year round. It's such a good bait for slow, when fish are super slow and lethargic. People throw a drop shot in the summer because it's so hot outside that this fish are a little bit slower, especially on days where it's like bluebirds, guys, this fish aren't moving around too much. It's a super hot summer day. People whip out this drop shot to help them get more bites. Well, right now these fish are really slow. I mean, we're in the winter time right now and these fish are super lethargic, at least what I've seen in the past couple of days. And it's had a full moon, it's been kind of weird. It's actually bluebirds guys today. And we're gonna slow down with a drop shot here in the winter. And I promise you, we're still gonna catch a lot of bass on it. And that's kind of what I wanna show you guys today. But the main keyword for today's video is slow down. That is such, that is something that you really need to be thinking about when coming out here fishing this time of year is slow down. These fish, it's just like us. This is what I kinda like to relate it to. In the winter, like right now, it's super cold. I feel like you guys are watching a lot more videos right now. You're not outside fishing as much. You're more of watching videos because it's cold outside. It makes you more lethargic. I like to relate that towards the fish. And they're kind of like that in the same way. Especially when you hit big cold spikes like this where it goes from being super hot to super cold in a heartbeat. That's really gonna affect this fish just like it affects us. So I'm gonna start off with this drop shot. Work this thing very, very slow. Soak this thing on the bottom and see if we can catch some fish today. This side of the pond where I usually start the videos. And right here, there's a little bit of submerged trees and stumps. I'm kind of just flipping this drop shot right next to him. I wanna see if I can get a bite. Usually lay downs and stuff in the water. Year round, bass, especially largemouth, really relates that cover as in wood. Largemouth love wood. So anytime, especially when I'm fishing these ponds, if I see any trees, lay downs, whatever it is, I'm always gonna throw. I don't care what time of the year it is. I'm just gonna pitch around some of this stuff and see if I can get a bite and then we're gonna move around the pond. Outside of this cover right here, it's just like a big flat right here. And there's usually some grass up on that side. It's super shallow. There is a lot of fish that usually hang out right here and it drops off slightly out there in the middle, just slightly. So we're just gonna fancast here a little bit, fish around some of these trees and then we're probably gonna move on to the other side of the pond, which I'll explain why because there is a reason. See if we can catch some fish over there. Here right there. I don't know why I didn't pick it up. I just had a fish slamming. There's actually a little submerged stuff way out here. I had one just slamming. I was bringing this drop shot or I'd buy it and he just went, pop, pop. He has never ate it, which is really not a good sign when we're fishing a drop shot and one wants to short strike it. That was weird. I mean, he absolutely crushed me though, that's for sure. I don't know why he didn't wanna eat it. There he is right there. Oh, that's two times, two times. The fish picked it up. Now he's brought me behind a tree. All right, let me move on. There they have this thing rigged up. I'm not a circle hook. So I can get through all this stuff. It's not working in my favor in this 20 degree weather right now. Well, I just had to break the drop shot off. I have some more so I'm not really worried about that. There's a little submerged dump in the water and I had that thing rigged to where I shouldn't get hung up that much. We're gonna throw this tanker around a bit because I do have that tied on. See if we can catch a few fish. I didn't wanna throw it over here. It's a little bit deeper. I'm gonna move over to this little bit of shallow water. There's a little bit of wind pushing up on this bank. I think we should get a bite over here. Oh, there he is. Yes, we got him. Not a bad fish, not too bad. I'll take him. He actually hit that quite aggressive. Very aggressive. You guys can tell. I mean, he's got it. All he did was stop that thing once. I actually walked over here by this tree and it's super windy. That's kind of one thing that I just keyed in on to catch this fish is there's a bunch of wind pushing right towards the bank I was fishing. So I took this Sanko right over here, started throwing along this bank. Got the first fish, it's nothing big. That fish is cold. I don't know if it's because it's 20 degrees out right now or if he's just really that cold, but this wind is pushing up against the bank and I came along with that Sanko. It was one hard thump, that's all it was. You know, it wasn't nothing much. He didn't sit there and nibble at it. He actually ate it, which is surprising for how this two fish ate the drop shot. One hard thump, he had it. Beautiful little bass. We're gonna continue down this bank. I know there's more. Where there's one fish, there's more fish, so I'm gonna throw this baby back in the water. What in the world? Bro, you're supposed to go back in the water, not the land, man. All right, there we go. All right, everybody. There's a lot of wind pushing back up into this corner right here. I mean, there's a lot of wind today. I'm trying my best at this audio. A lot of wind pushing back in this corner. There's not really any corners on this pond. It's more of a square and it backs into this corner. Well, this wind is pushing perfect today where it's going right back into here. So that is a prime indicator that there is fish in this area. You know, wherever that wind's pushing in, especially when you find like little pockets like this, where there's ponds, wherever it's at, pushing a lot of water back in this corner. There's going to be fish sitting back in here. I promise you, and now I'm about to go try to catch a few. Do that right there, you guys. That is a ice over. Look at that, literally ice. Are you kidding me, dude? Oh, oh my gosh. Can actually see where he had the bait on the Sanko. Like he didn't have the bait in his mouth all the way. I tried to give him a second. Gosh, can't believe how slowly these fish are. I don't blame them because it's 20 degrees. It's freaking cold. Are you kidding me, dude? That is ridiculous. And he bit my whole Sanko. See how they're short striking this thing right here? They're not eating it all the way. I mean, he just took the whole Sanko. There's three bites I've had. I've only caught one. Ridiculous, look at that. Oh, he's got it. There he is. Oh, yeah, baby. Very slow. That's the second fish right there. Barely hooked that time. I mean, he's barely hooked, look at that. Just barely. They've been short striking this bait a lot. And gosh, that's a small fish, but look how fat he is. He's not like fat, he's just thick. That's crazy. Just a little beautiful bass. Little tiny small guy. Get him back in the water. It's just so crazy how slow these fish really are. I was really having to milk this bait and this is why I brought this Sanko out here. So let me show you what I'm working with right here. So I just have this little EWG hook and I just have a Sanko on there. No weight, no nothing, no peg. Nothing at all for the weight. I mean, there's zero weight. See what I'm saying, just straight weightless. My whole thought on this was to come out here and just sink this bait. I mean, when you throw it out there, this bait is so subtle. Like it's just falling and it's just really, really slow. And it's a super light bait. I usually catch a lot of fish on this and that's why I brought it out today. You know, a lot of fish love this bait. It's really easy for them to eat. And especially when it was cold out today, you know, my whole thing was to throw it out there, just let it sit on the bottom, barely jerk that rod up. What's gonna happen is that bait's gonna come up. So right when I lift my rod, so this bait's laying on the bottom. This bait'll come up like this and then it's gonna slowly dive back down like this, but it's gonna be laying flat like this and it's gonna sink right back to the bottom. Then I move my rod, pulls it up a little bit. Then it comes like this right back down and it just floats. It's just such a subtle presentation for these basses, especially when it's super cold out here. And it works perfect for these ponds because the majority of the time, you know, you're fishing very shallow water and this is a bait that I would throw in shallow water. So go ahead and go give this a try this winter and see if it's gonna help you catch some more fish. We're gonna continue to throw this out here and then I might switch back over to the drop shot and see if we can catch some bass on that. All right, so I just got to a different location. We came to a different pond. That pond's just been fishing really rough lately. Had around, I wanna say, three or four extra bites besides the two fish I caught. They're just really short-striking it. We're gonna start off with this drop shot here. See if we can catch a few. We're gonna see if this fish is a little bit better over here. This pond fish has been really rough lately. I really wanna get out in Lake Lanier. That's what I really wanna do. That's my main thing. A pond fish seems like it's been horrible. I'm really curious to see, you know, what the water temp really is because it's been like in the 20s and the 30s. I mean, it's been cold. It's been really tough. But let's see if we can catch a few here, see if we can get some more quality ones. The fish are a little bit bigger in this pond. So maybe we'll luck up and catch us a giant. There we go, baby. That is not a bad one at all. That is a fat fish right there, baby. Look at that one. That is the kind of like right down in that tree. That was on the Sanco, not on the drop shot. That is a beautiful bass. Just look at that thing. I do not mind catching those. Look at that stomach on that guy. That's awesome right there. So slow, guys. So, so, so, I pitched my Sanco right up in there, let it sink by the tree and just let it sit. And, you know, I kind of watched my line and kind of started to take off. I've lifted up on it. He was just right there pulling back, but that pretty little bass right there, pretty markings of cold winter fish. Just get them back in the water. I really can't address how much, especially right now, how important it is to slow down, guys. And when you think you're just going too slow, you're not. I promise you you're just not. And I've caught myself multiple times lately. This is something to think about, is, you know, when you're working that bait, you're gonna, you're super cold, you know? The fish are cold, too. And you gotta understand that. Those fish, you know, you're gonna be popping your rod, you're gonna be doing your thing because you're cold. And you know, you're doing your thing and you're just kind of getting in the zone and you're shivering and you're popping your rod. But you gotta understand that you just gotta slow down. Think for a second and just let that fish eat it and just know that the, that a fish is there and just really slow down. That's so important. That's probably the most important tip that I can give you for fishing this winter, especially in these ponds where the water temps, you know, super, super cold. Small bodies of water, you know, they're gonna get colder, they're gonna get hotter. Just so important to slow down. So as you guys can tell, you know, we got this tree right here and that's pretty much why I brought this Sanko over here. I started off with the drop shot and the drop shot, you can, I mean, you can pitch around this tree with the drop shot, especially with how I have it rigged and still catch a lot of fish. But what the Sanko allows, you know, is so weedless right there that I can just flip it up in that tree. And that's exactly what I did is I got as close as I can to that cover. You know, this thing was literally laying on that cover when I flipped it in there. And what had happened was I let the bait sink. You know, this thing's just so slow right down that cover right there. And that's when you whacked it. And that's why I brought this Sanko over here. I just thought I would talk about that is, you know, that drop shot I really couldn't get around that. So I decided to switch to this. And that's why those baits are both really good baits, especially when it's, you know, super tough out like right now because they both do different things. You know, they both had their job and that drop shot to be a little bit better for some of that deeper water. And the Sanko is perfect for that super shallow water, especially those ponds that you're going to. Since the Sanko has kind of been, you know, the best bait today, you know, I picked between the Sanko and the drop shot kind of experimented with both. It seems as if the Sankos had the most bites and also the most fish, obviously. So I'm going to teach you guys a little bit how I'm throwing it. So that's, that's very important because I realized as I've switched it up throughout the day and I'm getting more bites when I'm doing it this way. So as you guys can tell, I had that lay down in the water right up on it just like that. Pull out a little bit of line like that thing sinks. The thing is weightless. I'm just going to take it a second to get down there. What I usually do is I throw right out there. So I'm right next to that lay down. I just let my bait sink. All right, I just kind of let it chill for a few minutes, especially right now with it being so, so cold. Just kind of let it soak there. And now, and I just lift up just slightly. So that bait's just going to kind of pop up and just dive back down. All right. I'm just going to kind of let it soak there for another, you know, five to 10 seconds. I'm going to pick up my line again, just move it slightly and just let it soak. That has been the biggest thing today is really letting that bait soak and giving it a lot of time to sit in the same spot. This fish aren't really wanting to move much. So that's been a very, very big key to every single bite I've had just about today. I haven't got any bites just kind of popping my rod. And that's kind of what I was talking about earlier, is just kind of getting in the moment and just kind of like moving your bait and like trying to cover a lot of water. I mean, that's just going to be hard to do this time of year. Not like, you know, there's some of the summer videos I made. It's going to be a lot harder. So it's just very important to soak that bait. So when you throw it out there, just let it sit for a minute. And most of the time you're going to actually have those bites just right when you throw out there and have that bait sit in there. So go take these tips and, you know, go apply it to wherever you're fishing, you know, whatever pond, lake that you're going to and just the biggest tip I want you guys to take out of this video is slow down. That is very important. It's going to help you guys catch so many more bass, you know, this winter and when it's cold outside. I mean, it is freezing out here. It's there's ice on some of the parts of the pond, you know, it's cold. It's a very windy day. It's a very awkward day to be out here fishing. So take some of these tips I gave you guys today. Slow down, slow down, take that one. Weightless Sanko, if you're fishing some shallow ponds and you have some cover you want to throw out as well. I think that's very important to always hit. Fish will always be on that year round. Some parts of the years are going to be on it even better, but there's going to always be fish, especially in ponds on some cover like this because there's usually not much cover in the pond in general. So always fish that stuff. What else? Try that drop shot. If it's a little bit deeper water, that's an amazing bait. Slow down with that thing. What I really like about the drop shot is you can throw it out there and keep it in one spot and just barely shake it and still have that bait down there wherever those fish are. And that's a very great bait as well for slow fishing and obviously in the cold and in the winter. But if you guys took some value out of this video, be sure to pepper that like button up. Also, if you guys are new to the channel, I'm Noah. Be sure to click that subscribe button. Also the little post notification bell right next to the subscribe button. And also I want you guys to leave a comment below on how to fish video or what tip video you'd like to see next because I would like to do some more winter ones. I have some big videos, a big series coming up very, very soon. And that's going to be involved with Lake Lanier on the first episode. So we're going to get out there and do that hopefully catch some big bass. But thank you guys so much for the support. I love you guys so much and I'll catch you guys in the next video.