WINTER FISHING
With the coming of winter months, a lot of changes are noticed by the fisherman, the most notable being less fishing pressure on the lake (since hunting season is in and it's too cold for jet skis and such). Other changes include colder days and nights, shorter days and less time during the day with direct sunlight to warm the water. All of these scenarios have an affect on fishing and the bait needed to catch a bass.
The metabolism of a bass slows down in the winter months as they are cold-blooded creatures. Bass will move around less as their body temperature lowers to match that of their surroundings and they are not as likely to be agressive to chase after a fast moving bait. You need to fish slower ("slower" is not slow enough) and make your presentation closer to the cover or structure where the bass are lurking. Because bass feed less often in winder (as little as once in three days) and take smaller bites when they do feed, this explains why they will bypass a large lizzard shad and feed on smaller, more easily digested prey such as threadfin minnows or crayfish.
Locating bass in winter months (due to shorter days) will require the angler to do his homework prior to launching his/her boat. Review a topo map to determine areas you can get to quickly and also have the depths necessary to hold concentrations of fish. Watch the weather reports to know if weather fronts are going to impact your fishing, the amount of wind to expect and the direction from which the wind will be blowing. Also, keep in mind whether the day will be sunny or cloudy. Each of these conditions will affect your decisions.
Using a topo map and your depth finder, you can locate fast-sloping points or sloping banks with a 45' slope (or steeper) that can fall off quickly into deep water. Bass will suspend and just move up and down in the water column without having to travel far to feed. I would make two different presentations to try to determine a pattern.
First presentation: I would sit in deep water and fan cast the point with a crawfish colored crankbait, hitting all aspects of the point being fished. Cast into the shallow area and crank it slowly back to the boat. By cranking the bait slowly, you will send the bait to its maximum depth and allow it to dredge as long as it can. Being erratic gives the bait vibration and can cause a reaction strike. Working the bait with different retrieves will allow you to know what the fish wants.
Second presentation: I would position my boat shallow and cast a jig/pig out into the deeper end of the point and, instead of hopping the bait back to the boat, crank or sweep it back slowly, often pausing for a few seconds. Fishing a jig/pig will allow you to fish a bait that is "meaty" or a bait that the fish will hold on to a bit longer. The plastic or pork trailer also adds bouyancy to the bait. That lets the bait fall slowly throughout the strike zone, which may be from the deepest point to a foot deep. This bait allows you to fish dense cover or isolated cover as thin as your little finger. Tip: In winter months, I will often use a small jig head (determined by depth and wind), trim the brush guard and skirt, and go with a smaller trailer. I will use a plastic trailer if the water temperature is above 40' and a pork trailer if the temperature is less than 40'. I often have a fish pick up the bait as it lays motionless. It is key for you to watch your line!
Bluff banks and vertical ledges allow bass to hold tight to these stair-stepping structures. Vertical jigging these areas with either a blade bait (Silver Buddy) or a spoon bait (Shorty Hopkins). These baits tend to flutter down more slowly than larger jigs, putting off flash and allowing you to fish a precise depth. If you are working the bait up and down in a yo-yo fashion, it is best to let the bait flutter on a slack line. If your line jumps on the fall, set the hook and hold on. Tip: If fishing the spoon bait in heavy cover (submerged trees, stumps, or grass), remove the treble hook and replace with a single hook, tipping with a small grub lining the hook point in the skin of the grub, making it weedless as well. If you want to change the appearance of your bait, place the spoon inside a tube bait.
Bass will often suspend on the deep side of a hump and then move up to the top to search for food when they are hungry. Isolated cover such as a stump or weed patch always enhance a hump's attraction to a bass as well as their forage. Fishing these humps can be done effectively with a Carolina Rig using finese baits such as 4" to 5" worms or lizards. Leader length and bait color is determined by water clarity.
Remember, no other season is more challenging to fish. To succeed, you must understand cold water affects, adjust your fishing targets, lures and presentations accordingly. Regardless of how many bass you catch or how big they are, the absence of jet skis, pleasure boats, and other fishermen make the solitude of every outing memorable. Dress for the occasion and take along a thermos or two of hot soup and/or coffee. Once the bass start biting, you will forget the cold.
Have a good day on the water!!!
Appreciate the trip, soak up the peace and beauty around you... catching a fish is a bonus.
