On Cedar Creek, I primarily fish for sand bass using the Mepps. However, you have to be able to cast in order to utilize this technique. Sometimes I get people in the boat who have limited skills when it comes to fishing. I know guides deal with this all the time. At certain times a year, trolling will allow everyone to catch fish. I would like to know what other techniques I can use to help people catch fish at certain times of the year. What works for the novice fisherman in late fall or winter?

Dead sticking is about as easy as it gets

If you have some wind to work with, you can place a bait X amount of feet down and tie a balloon to the line.
Let the wind blow the balloon out and then take turns working the bait back towards the boat and then let up and the wind take it back out.
Pet spoon, mepps bait, tail spinner, rattle trap might be some baits to try with this.

I'll do this but with live bait often.

Does anyone vertical jig a slab or slab/jig combo with any success in the late fall/winter?

When I fished fresh water a lot I used jigging spoons frequently, and usually successfully, in the winter. Mostly whites, with occasional largemouths, crappie, catfish, and of course those pesky yellow bass. Look for structure at the right depth, and if bait’s present give it a go. Don’t overwork the spoon when the water’s cold; short hops are usually more productive. Good luck!

Zebco. I learned how to cast on one.

RoadRunner, here is an excerpt from a Killeen Daily Herald article I authored in September of 2020. Since you are already accustomed to using the Mepps/MAL lure, you already have half the battle won. This method relies on Spot-Locking directly on top of fish you've found with sonar, typically in 18+ feet of water. I use spinning gear, but many anglers do quite well with casting gear...

Here's the excerpt:

1. Smoking - smoking simply consists of dropping your lure to the bottom and quickly retrieving it back toward the surface. Although you can smoke "blind", I never do, nor would I recommend it. Instead, save the smoking until you see fish holding beneath your boat, either on bottom (best) or suspended. I like to find fish by downrigging, and then capitalize on what I have found by Spot-Locking atop the fish I've just located, and then working them over with a smoking tactic until they quit.

I use the smoking tactic in combination with either well-tuned 2D sonar or Garmin LiveScope. I want to see the fish, my MAL Lure, and the fishes' response to what I do. I always use this tactic with my boat in a steady hover atop the fish I am fishing for, using Spot-Lock.

No matter where the fish are, I want to make sure my smoking retrieve gives them a minimum of 6-8 feet of "chase distance" upwards toward the surface from the depth they are holding in the water column. For example, if I see fish holding at 24 feet over a 30 foot bottom, I will drop the MAL to the bottom and reel up to around the 16-18 foot mark so the fish not only see the bait, but also have a chance to start after it, overtake it, and eat it.

The cadence is quick -- a bit more than one reel handle revolution per second. Avoid a hard hookset, especially when using braided line.

When the fish disappear from sonar, it is time to look for more fish. I suggest not sitting in one spot "hoping" the fish will come back. Once the fish go more than 3-4 minutes off of sonar, move!

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Find Mepps MAL Lure here: LURES

Thanks for everyone's comments. This all came about last Friday when I was asked to take a couple of guys out for sand bass. I found a 20 yard long concentration of fish in 15 FOW. I set 3 buoys to mark the line. I threw at the farthest buoy and told the 2 guys to throw at the closer buoys. They threw the Mepps and jigging spoons. Between them they caught 5 fish and I caught 30. I constantly reminded them of their technique but that did not help. That's what got me to thinking about a much simpler vertical approach for some people rather than casting. I could have very easily spot locked on this group of fish since the school was so large.

Absolutely, vertical jigging with slabs or sassy shads works well at this time of year. As the temps cool, you have to slow down the jig.

Teach your clients that are cast deficient to dock shoot with small slabs . It won't go far , but it will work.

See my post today for CC. I have been fishing vertically with Mepps 4 for several years. You can do it two ways: 1. Point the rod down toward the line and reel it up about 6 times, then drop back down to bottom and repeat. You can add a couple of jerks before you reel it up. 2. Let the Mepps down to the bottom and do combinations of jerks and lifts - lifting it with the rod fast enough to make the spinner spin. You can add pulling to the left and right with the rod - on the bottom of course. This is how I winter-fish, as opposed to deadsticking.

Thanks Dennis!

I have used a vertical presentation with slabs while anchored for many years during winter months. I normally spot lock now instead of using my anchor since I have it available. Find fish on your sonar. Usually from 20 ft to 45 ft suspended close to an ambush area. Start thumping and drop a variety of different colored slabs to the depth the fish are at. Jiggle it some. Jerk it straight up about 1 ft and follow it down on a snug line. Jerk it straight up as high as you can reach and follow the lure down on a snug line. Try different distances jerking the lure up until you find what the fish respond to best. Thump about 60 to 90 thumps per minute with a thumper or a boat oar on the floor of your boat. I’ve fished one spot for 4 or 5 hrs while thumping and jigging slabs. Any one can learn this method with a little practice. It isn’t deadsticking or power reeling. But keeps them busy and very successful catching fish. I’ve had days of 200 fish in 4 hrs with 2 people using this method many times through the years. This is my go to technique in winter months for sandbass and hybrids. Stripers also but they sometimes want a drifting bait or deadsticking a bait. Always thump year round no matter what presentation.

Here's two of my specialized techniques for clients and friends that don't cast.