For most bass fishermen, the rules for finding fish change during the cold water months. Because bass are not as active and don’t chase lures as much, it’s more difficult to determine if you’re even around fish, much less if you’re using the correct lure and presentation.

Brent Ehrler, winner of the 2006 FLW Forrest Wood Cup and a veteran Yamamoto Pro Staff member, uses an easy and efficient three-step approach to reading winter water that erases many of the questions about lethargic largemouths and puts the odds of finding them highly in his favor. It’s a system he’s developed over years of top level tournament competition across the United States, and it’s a system any angler can adapt to his own fishing style, regardless of where he fishes.