Ozark_Basser

It matters, but it isn't a question with just one answer. There are a lot more factors involved than "which side of the river". Do yourself a favor and do a whole lot more research on winter fishing in rivers.

I would just focus on the side opposite of the channel which most of the time is the inside turn. Unless you have a lot of ice on top of the water, I don't think oxygen is a big concern. The areas with no current will also hold more bait.

I use red label all the time. Pulled about a two pound smallmouth out of a SERIOUS laydown yesterday with 15# Seaguar red label as a leader on braid. It's as good as it gets for the cheaper fluoro.

Like bluebasser said, if there is a good bit of current there, that could be your problem. Current in winter is not a good thing.

I like the hollow body frogs. They float and you can walk them. The ones that float can be kept in the strike zone longer.

I might be wrong, but fed ex always seems more expensive than ups. I would call and ask. You can also look it up online if my memory serves me correct.

It's an awesome technique. I like the fact it can be completely weedless. I can't think of a better technique to cover ground in heavy cover in clear water. Easy bait to skip too. Also the belly weight on the hook shaft rather than at the eye allows you to throw lighter weights than your rod recommends. I throw 3/16 oz belly weighted hooks on a 7' mh with ease. I generally use a 4/0 belly weighted hook with 4" -4.5" inch swimbaits. Any longer gets 5/0. Any shorter gets a 3/0. Brand is subjective. Find something that appeals to you and where you fish.

Welcome to the forum. That's a good idea, but unfortunately it's already been thought of. Take a stroll through the fishing tackle forum and you will see lots of opinions on what is "best".

Just sitting on a dock and casting around is probably not going to be your best bet in winter. If you usually catch a lot of fish there, then your presentation is probably off. It's hard to give a specific answer to a question without a lot of detail. Be more specific. Structure? Cover? Water clarity? What river? The more specific the better.

Pepper custom baits fred roumbanis boom boom plus swim jig in white. The one in my profile pic.

Skinny bear's the grizz flipping jig is a good one. Also I would assume siebert's mata jigs would have a good slow fall.

Haha I see what you did there. Jokes aside. I think it matters to certain degree. If the rod is pretty tip heavy, like some rods I've owned, then it definitely is a less of a joy to fish with compared to one that isn't. Also it depends on the technique intended for the rod. I guess I will just have to build one and see how it balances out.

That question is not easy to answer without seeing the exact spot where you are wanting to fish and knowing what's underwater. I can tell you that bluffs are good all year round. If one side of the lake is bluff walls and the other side is flat, the channel probably swings right up against the bluff wall. If there is a flat adjacent to the end or beginning of the bluff wall, then that spot is probably going to be money in the winter, especially if the bluffs have deep water below them. The main thing about oxbows and oxbow lakes that appeals to winter bass is the lack of current. Not only that, but they often times have spots that provide refuge from current no matter how high the water gets. Bass don't like current so much in cold water, they don't want to expend that kind of energy.Think about it like this. Let's pretend that a river just zig zags from north to south all the way from the beginning to the end. No islands, etc, or any other irregularities. The straight stretches will have a channel running through the middle. In periods of high water that channel will extend from one side of the bank to the other if it already doesn't. If you were a bass in cold water trying to expend as little energy as possible, would you want to spend the majority of your time there? Probably not. When the river makes that u shaped turn from north to south things change. The channel will swing to the outside. In periods of high water these are the areas that change the most. Trees, gravel, and whatever else get washed in creating contour changes and providing cover. When the water level recedes, so does the current leaving washed out areas with cover, sharp contour changes, and no current. In other words, good wintering holes for bass. Over time these areas can form oxbow lakes, but you don't have to go around just fishing oxbow lakes in the winter. Just try to find areas with no current, access to deep water, and a good amount of structure and cover. If you find an area with all of these you've hit the jackpot, and it will probably hold fish all year round, but they will stack up there in the winter.

Why would you say that?

Well at least they are getting bigger. Caught a lot more fish today as well. There was snow on the get ground yesterday and today it was in the low 70's. That's Arkansas for ya. Probably caught around a dozen with none being below the legal length limit which is only twelve inches, but it was still fun none the less. Lost an absolute TOAD. When I set the hook the rod just about came out of my hands. She pulled drag then came off about halfway through the fight. Sounds about right. Could have been the 4 lb smallie I was looking for, but was probably a good size largemouth or spot seeing as how I caught the spot in the picture right afterwards. All of my fish came on a black, green pumpkin, dark green pumpkin, rootbeer, and tan colored football jig I made myself with a green pumpkin beaver trailer. Conditions were bluebird skies and windy. The smallie in pic was caught out of a laydown I was pitching to in about 6 ft of water. The spot was caught on a rocky flat located on the outside of a channel swing in about 8 ft of water. The hole I was fishing was the same as last week. Just a deep hole located on a 90 degree turn in the river with distinct contour changes, boulders, and some large trees that have fell in the shallower part of the hole. Still no giants landed but at least they are getting a little bigger. Here are the biggest two landed. The smallie pic wouldnt enlarge, but you get it.

There are definitely no spots like that here. There are only two or three deep holes (~10 ft) every five miles around where I live which is the upper half of the Buffalo River and Crooked Creek. They both flow parallel to one another until they flow into the White River. This is where everyone usually fishes in the winter for trout due to the constant water temperature in the low fiftees coming out of the dam from Bull Shoals. Im not much on trout fishing and I usually have a boat so I usually just hit Bull Shoals or Table Rock, but this will be okay for now I guess not to mention it's much cheaper.

Forget the flat line rubber. Get some bio silk from lure parts online. It is just like silicon with the buoyancy of rubber.

I used to own the 6'6" medium for creek fishing. Good rod for shakey heads. Kinda stiff for treble hooks. Maybe the 7' has a little more give to it.

The only hooks I really bomb are football heads which generally come with lighter wire hooks. Pretty much every other head is more close range target fishing so I don't really need a lighter wire, but I would recommend checking out that owner hook or perhaps making your own.

Then that jig is ideal. I would just fish it TIGHT to cover if that is where they are holding. If you fish a lot of ponds, that and a bladed jig would be my go to lures for the bigger fish. Learn to pitch. Learn to skip. That head is not the easiest to skip, but it will, especially with that trailer, a lot of big flappy craw trailers don't skip as good as twin tails. There is no wrong way to fish a jig, but some are slightly better than others for certain situations. It just depends on the head. I've caught tons of nice fish swimming football heads when it was all I had. Also, in ponds, I find I catch more fish swimming or pumping a jig than just hopping or slowly pulling it across the bottom. May just be me, but it probably depends on the conditions as well.

I agree that is what an oxbow lake is.

Just googled oxbow. It is just a u shape bend in a river. I find this true in periods of warmer water but not so much in the winter unless the current breaks are large like wing dams. ???? Do you have oxbow lakes where you fish? I would just focus on places that have no current and have access to deeper water. Flats adjacent to deep water are always good asnwell during the winter.

So who designed this rod? Shimano?

In cold water, bass don't like fighting current. They will seek out deep water and places where they can seek refuge from current no matter how high the water gets. Oxbows and places where the river makes a sharp turn tend to be good places to find both of these.

I personally never mess with the weedguard. That is a brush jig. Its made for wood, but you can throw it anywhere. It would probably not be the best option for rock. Flipping/brush heads like that tend to get lost in the rocks, but you can still fish it there if you want. Its green pumpkin which is probably the most versatile color. If your water is really stained up, I'd get some in black and blue as well. The only two colors I really use are black and blue and some variation of green pumpkin.