There's Always Time To Fish
Winter fun time
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| They're still biting |
For the average bass fisherman winter is the hardest season
of the year to be successful. Depending on where you live in the Mid-Atlantic
States the water ranges from cold to solid. While I have very little experience
with ice, except to stay off of it, I do fish all winter in very cold water in
Western North Carolina. Because we tend to shift our focus from Bass to Trout
in WNC as Christmas rolls around, it doesn’t mean Bass can’t still be caught.
Winter fishing here can be very good in fact, and depending on the weather can
be fantastic until very late winter.
The way I determine where I’m going to fish is based on
three major factors. Water temperature and bottom make-up are most important
with water clarity rounding out the equation. Water temperature drives every
aquatic ecosystem and is the most important consideration for winter fishing.
The water temperature determines the activity level of the Bass, but just as
importantly the forage. The makeup of the bottom is also very important. Does
the pond have weeds or rock, does the lake have wood or weeds? Rock and wood
hold heat longer, but live weeds provide oxygen and cover. Water clarity also
plays a huge part in where the fish will hold and if they bite. Clear, cold
water is preferred, slightly stained is ok, but the heavier the stain the worse
the fishing will be. Run like the wind when you see muddy, cold water.
In WNC right now we have had a few day of serious winter
weather and the rest of the season has been mild. My local lake was 50.4
degrees on Christmas Eve and fell to 50.1 on New Year’s Eve. Since that time
the surface temperature has fallen to around 43 degrees. 50 degree water is
closer to fall conditions than winter and therefore fishes more like fall than
winter. You can still fish reaction baits and find a few fish shallow enough to
pitch to them. Jerkbaits, flat-sided crankbaits, rattle baits and even
spinnerbaits work quite well right now. When you need to slow down, nothing
beats finesse and hair jigs with a pork trailer. Drop shots, shaky heads and
straight-tailed worms Texas rigged all fish very well during winter.
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| Typical bluff on southeastern lakes and rivers |
Just remember, colder and clearer equals deeper and slower.
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| Typical underwater point |
As the water cools the fish tend to follow the closest
structural change to deep water. If you are catching fish on top of a long
point, then simply follow it out to keep up with the fish. If the point has
good cover, even better, that will give the fish something to relate to as
winter progresses. You are looking for sharp breaks and nearby deep water. If
your lake or pond is a big bowl, like many farm ponds, then finding an abrupt
structural change is key. If your lake has no real drop offs or breaks, then
deep cover is the key. The fish want to relate to something. If they have
nothing they tend to suspend at a comfortable depth and follow the forage.
I prefer to begin looking in areas that offer quick access
to deep water. Personally, I like points and rip rap banks because I feel they
allow fish to move shallow when the water warms and quickly return to deep
water when the weather changes. The absolute best structure on the lake or pond
for these quick depth changes are bluffs. I learned to fish bluffs in Oklahoma,
but have very few to fish on my home waters. Bluffs, both true and artificial,
are simply vertical rock faces that fall into deep water. They are often found
in very close proximity to channel bends resulting in good current and forage
movement. Fake bluffs are sea walls, bridge pylons, dam faces and the like and
fish remarkably similar to a true bluff. All bluffs develop deep cover in the
form of wood that washes in, and rocks that fall or are placed deep. These are
great places to look during the coldest portion of the winter because the fish
can move up and down in the water column from deep to shallow quickly, and
current washes forges to them.
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| Bluff bank marked on Topo map |
If I fish a lake or pond that predominately has wood cover,
I look for the most vertical wood I can find as close to deep water as I can
get. If you can locate wood cover in the
form of brush piles or isolated stumps along a channel bend that is also a good
place to fish. I avoid shallow wood and laydowns if I can. If I have to fish
laydowns I look for ones that are on or close to the lake bottom, not the
floating types. Bass will use standing timber or deep laydowns much like a
bluff bank to travel from deep to shallow. If your lake is absolutely full of
wood and you can find deep rock or a small bluff, even if it’s a clay bank you
can bet there will be bass on it.
Weeds are fine if they are deep. When your lake has an
abundance of weeds, either submerged or emergent, it makes locating the depth
changes difficult. Once those important depth changes are located then you can
begin to fish around the weeds. Either rattle baits ripped through the tips or
jerkbaits just over the tops. Slower baits will work around the outside edges,
especially along the drip off or the point where the weeds end and the hard
bottom begins. Weeds also play a part in the only time I’ll fish a muck bottom.
Some shallow bays that have a lot of emergent weeds during the warmer months
have black mucky bottoms during late fall through very early spring. These
areas, especially on the northern banks, warm faster on sunny days. This can draw
both forage and bass shallow and they will be positioned on the hardest bottom in
the bay, on depth changes and on any rock. In the late winter to early spring
when the weeds begin to emerge fish will also move up and hold on deep weed edges. While I avoid weeds in the winter I flock to them in the warmer month, more on that later.
Remember, the harder the bottom the better.
During winter, Bass want to eat and spawn. This drives fish
to set up on areas that allows them both easy access to forage and close
proximity to spawning areas. When you find these areas you’re in business and
can load the boat. Start with reaction baits and work toward slow, slender
finesse style techniques and jigs. Next time we’ll talk about the baits and
where to fish them.
If want to fish and need some advice or a guide then contact my good buddy Austin Neary. He is a serious stick on Glenville Lake and all WNC Mountain lakes. Austin fishes the BASS College Series, and after a third place finish at the Eastern Regional at Watts Bar, Tennessee he competed in the National Championship Tournament on Lake Chatuge. Reach him at Dream Catcher Guides
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