The solution to best winter bass baits is species and conditions specific same as any other fishing enigma. When fishing for Chinook the optimal baits change depending on which river mile and depth one is fishing. It could be trolled herring at 30 feet, bottom plunking with kwikfish at 25, or jigging at 60 feet. For silvers the optimal baits will be different in those same locations under similar conditions, and so on. The same applies to bass. Are you fishing for small mouth or largemouth, rivers or lakes, from the bank or from a boat? What is the water temp right now where you want to fish? The answers I have seen posted are all great advice, but will still be hit or miss based on the above. I used to fish in amateur tournaments year round, so I would read every article and try every technique I could find. Example of one I read about and it became a go-to technique for me. My experience with largemouth when lake fishing from a a boat or float tube when the water temp is <50F the fish tend to school up in deep water and they feed very infrequently. My go to baits then are jig and pig, or drop shot with a 3-4" plastic worm. I fish the jig and pig right on the bottom in 50ish feet of water on low stretch line so the subtlest nudge can be detected. I crawl this one around structure at a snail's pace and leave it sitting still for long periods of time The bite is gentle and light, so I suspect that I feel half or less of the takes that actually happen. I have caught some really big bass this way even when there is skim ice around the edges of the lakes. The drop shot is probably the deadliest winter bass method ever developed, and is effective for small, large, spots, all of them. Again, fish it in deep water with the weight resting on the bottom, then hook 1-4 feet up the line, and maybe 1/2" slack in the line to allow the worm to wave and flutter gently. Locating schools with a fish finder is the most efficient method for this bait, but I have done it from a float tube by probing different depths until one bites. Then focus on that depth. It can be tricky because winter bass do not always school on the bottom. Just as often they are suspended in deep water, so without a fishfinder suspended schools can be nearly impossible to find. Just focus on deep structure if you do not have a fishfinder, still.a shotgun approach, but much less so. Schools are hard to find, but when you do and they are biting it can be amazing. If you find them they can be super productive. Just suspend a drop shot right in the middle of the school and twitch the tip of your rod a teeny tiny bit every 10 to 15 seconds. Vary the twitch rate, change colors, and reduce bait size until bites start to come. If suspended schools are getting hungry enough to feed the bite can get really crazy. However, it will slow and then shut down after releasing several fish It is not all the fighting and activity that shuts them down. When you release a bass it immediately returns to the school and exudes the scent of the stress and fight you just put it through The more fish you release, the stronger the impact it has on the school and they just top biting Give them a rest for 30 minutes while fishing other schools. Then come back and do it all over again. I have also caught really nice bass incidentally when ice fishing for trout and perch with micro jigs tipped with wax worms, or a tiny bit of night crawler. Catching high numbers in winter conditions happens much less frequently than in warmer conditions and requires a more subtle and technical method, but when you do take the challenge and crack the code even a few fish can be more fun and rewarding than a regular fair weather fishing day. It is tacky, but it simply feels good to be the guy on the water who is catching them when others are not. Booyah! Haha.