Let me start by saying that I am not a particularly good fisherman, but not for lack of trying. I've been fishing for about a year now. I fish from the bank, at least until I can get a boat situation figured out, and I have spent some long, cold weekends over the past few months trying to catch a LMB. I have fished public ponds, community ponds, small lakes, big lakes, at basically any spot I could find with enough room to cast. I have used jigs (of all shapes and colors and sizes), shaky heads, slow-rolled spinnerbaits, mojo rigs, senkos, swimbaits, chatterbaits, you name it, and my last LMB caught was December 5th. I caught a couple of 2-lbers within about 5 minutes on a green pumpkin/purple flake senko. I hooked one on a spinnerbait Jan. 3rd, but it threw the hook before I could reel it in. I have generally stayed away from big lakes, cause I figure the fish are deep in the cold weather, but I can't help thinking that at small fishbowl ponds, I could get deep enough from the bank to pull SOMETHING out of there. At this point, it's almost spawn, and I'm distracted with sandies and crappie anyway, but it will be winter again in no time. So, moving forward...thoughts on winter LMBs, anyone? Advice? Constructive criticism? Maybe just find another hobby for December-March?

It is still very possible to find and catch bass in the middle of winter. They didn't go anywhere but their metabolism has slowed way down so they do not need/want to feed as much. During the winter months I fish way slower than I normally would. I use lots of Jigs with trailers and soft plastics. Maybe throw a crankbait from time to time or a suspending jerkbait. The key is slow.
For ponds I'll down size my tackle. What I mean by this is if I would normally thrown a 1/2oz jig at a local lake, in a pond I will throw a 1/4oz. The bass will need to tell you if you need a trailer or not. I sometimes catch throw a jog without a trailer 50 times and not a single bump. Add a trailer and I catch a few. The biggest key is to find a color pattern. Find their main source of forage and match the color as much as possible.
I will also throw a small swimbait in the 3-4 inch range, slow rolling it. I can usually gets some hits on those.

Hope this helps.

Thanks for the input BB. The search continues!