Super User Goose52 Posted January 13, 2015 Author Super User Posted January 13, 2015 A warm rain system came through last night and all day today and cleared out a lot of ice on the lakes. Drive to Lake A - still mostly iced over but a low-percentage corner was open. Fan-casted around that open water. Nothing. I wasn't surprised. Drive to Lake B, only ice left is in the corners, otherwise all open. Fish this one deep and slow with a plastic craw. Nothing. Drive to Lake C (same lake as all the fish on this thread). Got out the trusty lipless crank rod and started the usual routine - cast out, let it sink to the bottom, pop it up, slow retrieve with pauses. On one cast, I'm counting down the bait and I see the line go slack a couple seconds before I was expecting it to. Reel in the slack real fast, feel the weight, sweep the rod, FISH ON. This little guy hit the bait on the fall at the end of a max cast so it took a while to reel him in. Surface water temp? Just barely under 40 - call it 39.5. AND, another score for the PQ 5-Year Challenge test reel. Not a big bass, but like I've been saying, catching anything in 30'ish water is OK with me... 3 Quote
Super User Darren. Posted January 13, 2015 Super User Posted January 13, 2015 Nice bass! I need to get out soon.... Quote
Turtle135 Posted January 13, 2015 Posted January 13, 2015 Well done again Goose52! Â When I bass fish in cold water (the 38 to 40 degree range) I find it most productive to anchor and work over a spot. Usually I am slowly crawling a jig on the bottom and it is not unusual for me to fish in one spot for 2-3 hours. It is not uncommon for me to be camped on that one spot and then finally get that one bite in hour two or three. Â You are pulling good bass out of cold water with a much more active presentation. How long do you spend in an area before relocating? Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted January 13, 2015 Author Super User Posted January 13, 2015 Well, I'm fishing from the bank so relocating is easy to do - I hop in the car and drive to the next lake... Â (There's not a bass on the planet that's worth, to me, the risk involved in fishing from a boat solo in combined air/water temps of around 60 to 80!) Â I have several lakes that have the potential for "catching" in winter. They are all a bit different in the depth and structure accessible from the bank. In some, I might fish a plastic craw deep and slow if I have something to target (bottom structure/cover, rapid depth changes, etc). Others, like the lake in this thread, have gradual depth changes and essentially no bottom contours or cover so I tend to use the lipless to cover more water since there is nothing to specifically target. Sometimes, depending on the lake, I might do both - one presentation slow on the bottom, and another pass using lipless, spinnerbait, jerkbait, etc. Â If I get a bite on the lipless, I might then re-cover that water with a slower presentation to see if there are any more takers down there. Â Â Time spent depends on the lake, on how much time I have that day, and whether I can still feel my fingers and make a cast without "casting" the rod into the lake... Â Â Anyway, I will usually make one or two passes across the available water and if no bites, it's on to the next lake. Â I figure if I don't come across a fish willing to bite on those two passes then that's it. I could just keep casting and wait for a fish to swim into the target area but who knows how long that would take, if ever. Â Better to just try the next lake. Â This time of year, I would not spend more than an hour at any one lake unless I was catching. Â This is a photo from last year - in these kind of conditions, I might only be on the lake for 30 minutes and decide to call it a day...but at least I "went fishing"...instead of sitting on the sofa watching fishing shows! :lol: Â Well - outside temp is now 29 - about as good as it's going to get today - time to go fishing! Â 2 Quote
Turtle135 Posted January 13, 2015 Posted January 13, 2015 Great photo and good luck today! Â p.s. - I am fishing from a kayak in the winter but I do wear a drysuit and always, always have my PFD on Quote
hoosierbass07 Posted January 13, 2015 Posted January 13, 2015 Â Wow, cool stuff! Â How do you keep your lip-less crank from getting snagged on the bottom when you let it sink all the way down? Â What kind of line are you using? Â Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted January 13, 2015 Author Super User Posted January 13, 2015 Â Wow, cool stuff! Â How do you keep your lip-less crank from getting snagged on the bottom when you let it sink all the way down? Â What kind of line are you using? Â Â Well, you have to "know" your water. Â I would guess I've now lost about 35-40 lipless cranks over the past 5 seasons to submerged stumps, logs, laydowns, etc when fishing from the bank.. BUT, those are high-percentage spots - once you know where those places are, you're trying to run the bait over them...but not into them... Â In the case of the lake in this thread, I've only lost 3 lipless cranks in thousands of casts. Â Two of them probably hit single logs on the bottom - one was lost just last month on a cast that was aimed to miss, but must have hit, the lake draw down pipe in 35 fow. Â Otherwise, the bottom of this lake is mostly muck and decomposing leaves - nothing to hang up on. Shallower than 15 feet there are still some weeds but I can rip out of those. I know the depths where I'm tossing the bait and I could just count-down the bait and start the retrieve a couple feet above bottom, but I've been bit before just as the bait reaches bottom...and I've gotten bit at the point when you "pop" the bait off the bottom. So, if I know the bottom well enough, I always wait for the bait to land before popping up and starting the retrieve. Â The fish in this thread were caught on 15lb Big Game (the round reel) and on 10lb Yo-Zuri Ultrasoft (the PQ reel). Quote
Super User senile1 Posted January 14, 2015 Super User Posted January 14, 2015 You're a great inspiration, Goose. You always have some nice fish to post up in the winter. Work has slowed since Christmas and air temperatures will hit the upper 40s to possibly 50 this weekend for me, though my water will still be in the low to mid-thirties. I'll be dunking a line. Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted January 14, 2015 Author Super User Posted January 14, 2015 You're a great inspiration, Goose. You always have some nice fish to post up in the winter. Work has slowed since Christmas and air temperatures will hit the upper 40s to possibly 50 this weekend for me, though my water will still be in the low to mid-thirties. I'll be dunking a line.  Go get 'em!   Similar temps coming up here - forecast is for 46 on Friday, 48 on Saturday, but back down to a high of 38 on Sunday.  I might see the water temp get into the low 40s here in the next few days. Not sure it will improve the bite much...but it will be much more pleasant standing on the bank fishing than the 24 degree day that started this thread!  Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted January 17, 2015 Author Super User Posted January 17, 2015 As predicted, warmer air temps are here - a nice sunny day and a whopping 45 degrees when I headed out to fish. However, temps at night are still below freezing so the pesky skim ice keeps coming back. Drive to one lake - skim ice all around the access point. Drive to the next lake - skim ice covering entire lake. Drive to the 3rd lake - skim ice in the corners but mostly all open water along the dam - open the trunk and grab a rod.  I start tossing a Berkley Chigger Craw right next to the edge of the skim ice and begin to work my way down the dam. Just a couple casts later, I toss out the bait, let it sink and soak for a bit in about 10-12 fow, drag it a couple times...and then a BIG bump.  Reel in the slack, sweep the rod - I've got a fish on.  Drag pulled a couple times - I've got a NICE fish on.  22"+ / 5.8 pounds  Drop the alcohol thermometer in the water - 39 degrees.   4 Quote
Super User deep Posted January 17, 2015 Super User Posted January 17, 2015 Goose, either you're very lucky, or just very good. I suspect it's the latter. Thanks for the inspiration. Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted January 18, 2015 Author Super User Posted January 18, 2015 Goose, either you're very lucky, or just very good. I suspect it's the latter. Thanks for the inspiration. I would sum it up as a little bit lucky, not very good, but VERY persistent... 2 Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted January 18, 2015 Author Super User Posted January 18, 2015 Sunday morning. It was a chilly night but now a sunny day when I leave around 8am to hit a couple lakes; air temp is already up to 39/40. Drive to first lake, no skim ice (first time in a week)...but no fish either... Â Drive to next lake - the one where I got the 5.8 yesterday. No takers along the dam. Â Walk through the trees to get to a small spot where you have JUST enough room to make a cast. This is an interesting spot. Â From the bank you have a mildly sloping drop-off for about 20 feet, then a ledge and a steep drop-off to 18 fow. Â That ledge is so steep that you can practically vertically jig over it. Â On about the 5th cast, after one of those jigging motions, I feel a tug. Sinker bounce I'm thinking. Then another tug. Duh. Hookset. Â Not much of a fight on this little guy BUT, as I've said, I'll take anything in cold water. Â Â Only 13" - smallest bass I've caught this year. Â BUT, the story of this thread is not the size of the fish...it's fishing in cold water. For those of you with cabin fever, but also some soft water...give it a try! Â Â Â Drop the thermometer in the lake. Surface water temp was: Â Quote
Super User kickerfish1 Posted January 18, 2015 Super User Posted January 18, 2015 Nice few days at the local lakes! The combo looks great as well. Did you try yo-yo"ing" the lipless crank that worked on the previous trips? Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted January 18, 2015 Author Super User Posted January 18, 2015 Nice few days at the local lakes! The combo looks great as well. Did you try yo-yo"ing" the lipless crank that worked on the previous trips  Thanks!  I fished the lipless crank on the first lake this morning.  On that lake, with a max cast, you can reach 10 fow.  You can yo-yo there for only about the first 20 % of the retrieve, after that the bottom shoals up pretty fast so when you get to that point it's rod tip up, burn the bait a bit to get it above the ledge, then a moderate speed retrieve with brief pauses. Do it right, and you might get a fish...do it wrong, and you'll lose the lipless on a log, laydown, stump, wood pallet, rock ledge, etc. Today - no fish but I kept the bait...  No lipless at the second lake this morning - just the Chigger Craw. Quote
Super User kickerfish1 Posted January 18, 2015 Super User Posted January 18, 2015 Makes perfect sense. Thanks for the reply, and hopefully you can continue to find some fishable soft water in the future! Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted January 18, 2015 Author Super User Posted January 18, 2015 Makes perfect sense. Thanks for the reply, and hopefully you can continue to find some fishable soft water in the future! Â Not gonna be a problem - water temps should be in the 40s for at least the next 10 days... Â ----------------------------------------------------- Â Last catch of this thread since it looks like my 30-degree water is gone as of this afternoon. Â Same lake as this morning - 17" / 2.5 pounds. Surface water temp - JUST made it to 40 degrees. Â Looks like it will be regular 'ole 40-degree fishing for the near future - nothin' special to talk about... Â Quote
Super User kickerfish1 Posted January 19, 2015 Super User Posted January 19, 2015 Nice green addition to the 2015 catch totals. I have enjoyed following this post for a few reasons. You write like an author, the pictures are great, and since all out lakes are locked up it is helping me get through the winter. I recall a similar effort for me several years back. Wanted to focus on fine tuning my drop shot fishing. Was too cold and dangerous for the boat so fished a few area lakes from the shore. Had days where I would manage 5-10 fish and blanked quite often too. Average a fish or two an outing. They were usually an hour to 3 hours tops. Generally dealing with iced guides and cold fingers made it challenging. Water temps were high 30s to low 40s. Best part was having the entire lake to myself and really slowing down. Some casts seemed like a 5 minute process and almost torture but that is what it took some days to get bit. Sorry for the ramblings but this series of reports reminded me of something similar to what I went through a few years back. Keep em coming! Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted January 20, 2015 Author Super User Posted January 20, 2015 Nice green addition to the 2015 catch totals. I have enjoyed following this post for a few reasons. You write like an author, the pictures are great, and since all out lakes are locked up it is helping me get through the winter. I recall a similar effort for me several years back. Wanted to focus on fine tuning my drop shot fishing. Was too cold and dangerous for the boat so fished a few area lakes from the shore. Had days where I would manage 5-10 fish and blanked quite often too. Average a fish or two an outing. They were usually an hour to 3 hours tops. Generally dealing with iced guides and cold fingers made it challenging. Water temps were high 30s to low 40s. Best part was having the entire lake to myself and really slowing down. Some casts seemed like a 5 minute process and almost torture but that is what it took some days to get bit. Sorry for the ramblings but this series of reports reminded me of something similar to what I went through a few years back. Keep em coming! Â Thanks! Â Part of the reason I go into detail on the fishing report posts is some folks seem to get a kick out of it. Â As you know, I love having photos in threads. Most folks have digital cameras or photo-capable phones so it's easy to grab pics while fishing (not like the film days!). Â I like seeing fish pictures and I like seeing reels with line on them, mounted on rods, and slimed up a bit...instead of sitting on top of their box... Â Fished today - surface water temps up to 43/44. No fish caught unfortunately. Â I really need a nasty front to come in to pick up the fishing again... Quote
hoosierbass07 Posted January 20, 2015 Posted January 20, 2015 Â Man, you should be on Lunkerville. Â You should call that show up and plan on recording this next winter for the 207 TV season. Â lol. Â Quote
Super User kickerfish1 Posted January 20, 2015 Super User Posted January 20, 2015 I agree about the ease of photos compared to "back in the day". No longer need to bring a long a sketch artist. I need to do a better job of taking photos then what I do. Typically get caught up in the moment of wanting to get the fish back in the water quickly and return to fishing, that I often forget to "capture the moment" with a picture. Â Sadly a change in weather for the worse or better can turn on/off the fish. Hopefully the right switch will be flipped and you can follow the skunking with a day of catching! Quote
Zach Dunham Posted January 20, 2015 Posted January 20, 2015 Nothing warms up the hands like the adrenaline of pulling a bass that nice out in it! Quote
Super User Goose52 Posted March 8, 2015 Author Super User Posted March 8, 2015 It's been a long time since the last post in January but I thought I would close out this thread since the winter is winding down.  In late January, surface water temps reached the low 40s and the bass I caught were outside the scope of this thread (which is bass caught in 30s water temps).  In mid-February, we started having ice storms and the lakes froze over so no fishing until March 4th when we started having ice-out.  Over the past couple days, I've caught some bass in low 40s temps but I caught three bass (two of which were the same fish) in 30s temps.  The first pic below (with the snow) shows the first capture of this fish, caught on a plastic craw in 38 degree water. This fish was caught in one of the lakes where I will be tagging fish starting this season so immediately after taking the photo, I tagged the fish (tag 003) and released it.  The next day (yesterday), the cove where I caught this fish iced-over with skim ice so I couldn't fish there. This morning, the skim ice was gone and it was a nice sunny day with the surface water temp up to 39 degrees. I caught two bass, one of which was the second capture of tag 003.  Same cove, same bait.    Here's the same fish on the second capture. It's hard to see but there is a yellow ID tag in the fish; the red arrow indicates the insertion spot, above that you can see the yellow tag.    I'm hoping I don't have any more 30-degree water this season.  Didn't catch any real big fish in 30s water temps this season, but the fish I did catch were nice enough to make it all worthwhile.  It sure beats having cabin fever and complaining about the weather...  See you next winter. Quote
Fin Stalker Posted March 9, 2015 Posted March 9, 2015 Pretty cool catching the same fish twice. Nice work. Quote
Weld's Largemouth Posted March 9, 2015 Posted March 9, 2015 It's been a long time since the last post in January but I thought I would close out this thread since the winter is winding down.  In late January, surface water temps reached the low 40s and the bass I caught were outside the scope of this thread (which is bass caught in 30s water temps).  In mid-February, we started having ice storms and the lakes froze over so no fishing until March 4th when we started having ice-out.  Over the past couple days, I've caught some bass in low 40s temps but I caught three bass (two of which were the same fish) in 30s temps.  The first pic below (with the snow) shows the first capture of this fish, caught on a plastic craw in 38 degree water. This fish was caught in one of the lakes where I will be tagging fish starting this season so immediately after taking the photo, I tagged the fish (tag 003) and released it.  The next day (yesterday), the cove where I caught this fish iced-over with skim ice so I couldn't fish there. This morning, the skim ice was gone and it was a nice sunny day with the surface water temp up to 39 degrees. I caught two bass, one of which was the second capture of tag 003.  Same cove, same bait.    Here's the same fish on the second capture. It's hard to see but there is a yellow ID tag in the fish; the red arrow indicates the insertion spot, above that you can see the yellow tag.    I'm hoping I don't have any more 30-degree water this season.  Didn't catch any real big fish in 30s water temps this season, but the fish I did catch were nice enough to make it all worthwhile.  It sure beats having cabin fever and complaining about the weather...  See you next winter. What rod, reel and line is that? Quote
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