Cold, Windy, And Sleeting. What To Do.

[Bradywl03]

Hi, last weekend I fished the South Carolina High School state fishing tournament on Lake Murray and the weather was terrible.

 

It was snowing, sleeting, and raining. The winds were blowing 30mph and it was about 30 degrees. The water temperature was around 66 and it was super foggy. Out of 84 teams only about 20 weighed in. The rest just left. So here is what I want to know. What tips do you have for weather like that. All I know is Friday when we pre-fished they were super shallow on rocks, points and under docks and would hit buzzbaits, shallow cranks, and jigs. Saturday, the day of the tournament and the day the weather was terrible we threw spinnerbaits down rock lines, flipped docks, tried shallow cranks on points and flats, we did almost everthing in the book. Any advice for what I should have done will be helpful.

 

 

 

Thanks,

Brady Leatherwood 

[Sam]

Did a cold front move through the day of your tournament?

 

If so, the bass:

1.  Already at and were not hungry.

2.  Went deep.

 

The bass would move out to hold on drop-offs and in deeper water.

 

However, they would still be in the save area, just off the bank in deeper water.

 

Did you try a Carolina rig"? Dragged slow on the bottom with a lizard or brush hog?

 

Did you throw a jig off the rocky points? 

 

Did you move the boat off the bank at least 100 to 150 feet?

 

When the weather turns on you it can be very difficult to get a strike.

 

And lastly, did you make notes when you got home and added what the three top guys threw and where to do well?

[Oregon Native]

Go a bit deeper and slowwwww down usually will get a bite or two.

[Catt]

Super shallow on rock, points, & under docks

I would move out 1 or 2 breaklines on the rock & points, Pumpkin' Ed & straight tail worm.

The dock fish moved farther under the dock

[WIGuide]

Sound advice being given here.The other thing you may want to do in that situations as Oregon stated is SLOW DOWN. You can try fishing the same water but downsize your presentation, throw a slower moving bait and try crawling it back to the boat. If you don't get any results, then move out to the closest drop and try again.

[Bradywl03]

Thanks guys this really helps. We did fish slow but we never went a little deeper, always stayed shallow.

[Hyrule Bass]

honestly in those conditions i would just go home. doesnt even sound safe to be out there

[mjseverson24]

I agree with everybody except about going home (its a tournament) that being said when the conditions get really tough like that I try and find a wind protected area and throw finesse type presentations like drop shot, shakey heads, flick shake's, split shot rig... you may not get a ton of fish but you should be able to scrape together a limit... I also agree go deeper than you were fishing when the weather was stable... 

 

Mitch

[Bluebasser86]

Back off the areas you were catching them to the first dropoff and I bet you'd find them.

[Bradywl03]

Kicker you are right it was not safe at all, the lake was white-capping. 

[Bradywl03]

We weighed in one fish on a Shakey head.

[Hyrule Bass]

Kicker you are right it was not safe at all, the lake was white-capping. 

my user name is red earth, not kicker lol. thats just the user title lol

 

anyways not worth risking safety and life for a few fish, tournament or not

[Hyrule Bass]

I agree with everybody except about going home (its a tournament) that being said when the conditions get really tough like that I try and find a wind protected area and throw finesse type presentations like drop shot, shakey heads, flick shake's, split shot rig... you may not get a ton of fish but you should be able to scrape together a limit... I also agree go deeper than you were fishing when the weather was stable... 

 

Mitch

so you advocate people risking their safety and lives just to weigh in a few fish at a tournament? im sure many people are glad you arent their personal advisor...just bad advice there

[geo g]

I don't fish tournaments, so in Florida if its sleeting, I open the windows wide, put another quilt on the bed, roll over, and go back to sleep, and it feels so good after six months of 90* weather!

[scfox11]

If the wind was more calm, after a cold front, slowing down and fishing the rocky points always produce for me, using shakey heads or carolina rigs.  I usually do well off goat island and the points from pine island to the water treatment facility.  But with that weather, there would be no way I would be on that lake.  I have been on it in my center console in weather like that and it was sketchy at best.  That lake can get real real nasty.

[mjseverson24]

so you advocate people risking their safety and lives just to weigh in a few fish at a tournament? im sure many people are glad you arent their personal advisor...just bad advice there

If you know how to handle a boat it is not dangerous, it may be uncomfortable weather to fish in but its only dangerous if you are an inexperienced boater(which if you are in a tournament you shouldn't be), or you have a boat not designed for less than ideal conditions. Lake Murray is only 9 miles across (open water) at its widest, it is also very deep for most of that distance, so a 30 MPH wind will not generate overly large waves consistently(less than 4 ft.) throughout the lake, certain areas may be more effected than others, but that is where experience and a proper boat come into play again. Oh and before you make a comment about me not being a personal advisor to somebody maybe you should know just a little about the person you are trying to insult. The reason I did not agree with you was because the OP wanted to know how he could have done better in his tournament given these conditions, everyone else offered up suggestions to do just that. You on the other hand gave him the worst advice possible, advice that would give him zero chance at improving his performance. That is the reason for disagreeing with you. 

 

Mitch

[scrutch]

find the spots out of the wind and focus on finding them there.  In the last tournament i fished in we had similar conditions without the strong winds.  I found some big girls hiding under the thickest slop mats I could find in <5 ft of water.  Everywhere else was mostly unproductive for me. 

[Bradywl03]

Sorry Red Earth I am new to this.

[Hyrule Bass]

If you know how to handle a boat it is not dangerous, it may be uncomfortable weather to fish in but its only dangerous if you are an inexperienced boater(which if you are in a tournament you shouldn't be), or you have a boat not designed for less than ideal conditions. Lake Murray is only 9 miles across (open water) at its widest, it is also very deep for most of that distance, so a 30 MPH wind will not generate overly large waves consistently(less than 4 ft.) throughout the lake, certain areas may be more effected than others, but that is where experience and a proper boat come into play again. Oh and before you make a comment about me not being a personal advisor to somebody maybe you should know just a little about the person you are trying to insult. The reason I did not agree with you was because the OP wanted to know how he could have done better in his tournament given these conditions, everyone else offered up suggestions to do just that. You on the other hand gave him the worst advice possible, advice that would give him zero chance at improving his performance. That is the reason for disagreeing with you. 

 

Mitch

 

even the OP said it was not safe. you can put fish ahead of safety but i wont, nor would i recommend to anyone else that they do either. i wont put safety ahead of improving a technique of any kind either. you say i offered the worst advice, you can have your opinion, but id put safety first over any of the excuses you make above.

[roadwarrior]

Ridiculous...