Cold Weather Fishing

I never thought much about cold weather fishing.

It is not the same as fishing cold fronts. Cold fronts come and go. Cold weather stays around for a while.

Many years ago I was off work during Christmas. It was half time during a football game.

I was bored and it was just above freezing outside.

I went outside and saw my rod and reel hanging on a rack on the porch and it hit me to do something weird.

I went down to our pond behind the house as it started to snow.

A spinnerbait was still on the line from the last fishing I had done.

I cast into deep water along the dam and caught a 2 pound bass on my first try.

I was shocked! Two or three more casts and I caught another one.

How could this be? I thought the bass were...I don’t know...sleeping.

Maybe not sleeping but they sure are sluggish when it’s cold.

Cold weather fishing is a state of mind.

You have to keep your mind and senses alert to what you are doing.

Freezing weather causes everything around you to change.

While out on the water think about every action you take.

Dress in layers and wear your battery heated socks and underwear. Does anyone really make those?

Ok, where did the bass go and why did they go there?

In the fall they ate up all the bait fish, and the remaining bait fish died when the weather got colder.

So then the bass went to sit around in the deep cold water with all his buddies.

There they are, a group of them sitting around a tree top on the bottom of the lake.

In a hazy state of mind, a few of them bragging about how many lines they broke in the past year.

Some of the younger bass are rolling their eyes and snickering. And some are in awe with wide eyes and open mouth. One big belly says he is kinda hungry but too lazy to go look for anything to eat.

Then he catches a small movement in front of him.

It looks good and big enough to eat. And it’s moving slow.

Big belly sucks that thing in before it gets away.

Now his buddies watch as big belly wrestles with his lunch and heads to the surface for some air.

Cold weather fishing is NOT like a woman.

Learning how to catch fish in cold weather ain't hard to figure out.

Use a big lure. Fish deep. Go slow. Hmmm…..maybe it IS like a woman!

Fish around deep structure, deep creek beds and deep points off flats.

Ten to fifteen feet is deep enough most of the time.

Use bigger lures because the bass want to eat something big if they have to move much to get it.

I have heard and read about using larger or smaller lures.

I am going with the big stuff myself. Experiment and see what works for you. Good cold weather lures are jigs, spinnerbaits, and deep diving crankbaits.

Try different lipless crankbaits. You might even want to try that big ugly thing you bought last spring.

Move slow. Be patient. Keep warm and dry.

If you start shivering and cannot get warm, take your boat in.

Cold weather fishing just got too cold. Try it again another day.

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