Square Bills In Winter

[War Eagle 44]

I was able to get out on the lake for a couple of hours this afternoon. The water has a stain to it right now that isn't normally there due to all the rain the area has received in the last month. I keep a small log of my trips so that I can look back to see what the weather, water, and fishing was like in previous years. As I was looking back today I noticed that it was almost the exact same conditions on this day last year as it was this afternoon. So armed with that knowledge I proceeded to tie on the same lures as last year. The bait that I got the most bites on last year was a KVD 1.5 in chartreuse black back color and it proved to be the only bait I had any bites on today.  

 

I had five total bites in the 2 hours I was out but only managed to catch two. I'm always amazed how hard a fish can hit a lure with a set of treble hooks and not get a single one. As i said the water was stained and 52 degrees today but that didn't stop these nasty spots from pigging out on shad. I sat on one single point for a solid hour and got all 5 of my bites there. There was shad all over it and on both sides, it is a gradual slope from the bank all the way out to 20 plus feet. The shad seemed to stay out over 10 to 15 feet and hold anywhere from 5 to 12 foot.  I got my first bite almost instantly on the 1.5 so I didn't bother to try any other lures, just being lazy.

 

So over the course of that last hour before dark I got 5 bites on the square bill, which looking back on it if I had started at that spot in the first place I may have been able to double my catch. Oh well that's fishing and besides I should just be happy with the two fish I was able to catch. Nothing big, just a nice fat Coosa River spot.

  

[PondBoss]

Nice spot!  I too have been catching fish on square bills or cranks running in that depth zone.  Caught a real nice LM the other day on a Sebile Crankster.

[Shane Procell]

Great fish! Love the square bills

[War Eagle 44]

Thanks! Yeah square bills are pretty fun little baits when the fish want them. They work for most of the year around here, I just stop throwing them sometimes in favor of something else I "think" will work better. Usually doesn't.

 

I'm going to try to get back out Thursday, theres a big cold front coming through tonight and Wednesday so it might be tough sledding. I'll keep you guys posted if they're still chewing. 

[Sam]

War Eagle, I, too, caught two last weekend on a yellow with brown back crankbait (copper perch).

 

They were not hitting anything else in the hour I fished.

 

My crank was flat sided.

 

The shape of my flat sided crank matches the profile of your crank.

 

I guess the bass got the memo to hit yellow with black or brown back cranks this year.

[flyfisher]

I have done pretty well with squarebills this winter too.  Alot of hte lakes i fish are relatively shallow so getting down to the 3'-5' range works pretty well.

 

I was fishing last time throwing a DT10 and caught a couple but i was seeing baitfish on my depth finder in the 4'-7' range so i figured why not throw a square bill.  It turned out to be the ticket and i caught 5 more fish later on that day.

[War Eagle 44]

Sam, hahaha, I guess they did get the memo about those square bills!