I'm Struggling To Catch Bass In Winter

[Green Trout]

I can't seem to catch the numbers of fish in the winter. I'm went out yesterday and really struggled. My place doesn't have insane numbers of bass, but on a good day, I can catch 5-8. So do you guys think it will get better in the spring? My water temp is 49 degrees which is about the coldest it ever gets. By the way, I'm on a river system.

[HoosierHawgs]

Fish slowly.. 49 isn't that cold, but if you get below 40, then you may have problems..

[Green Trout]

Fish slowly.. 49 isn't that cold, but if you get below 40, then you may have problems..

I've been throwing jigs, t rigs and slow rolling chatterbaits. The average temp yesterday was 50 and even found a 6 foot flat off the main river in a pocket holding 59 degree water. They just were not there.

[OntarioFishingGuy]

Nobody can tell you where the fish are, you need to find the fish, find what they want to eat, and find how fast/slow they want it. That is when you will start catching.

[Bluebasser86]

5-8 fish in a day during the middle of winter isn't a bad day at all in my book, especially if a few of those fish are quality fish. 

[Green Trout]

5-8 fish in a day during the middle of winter isn't a bad day at all in my book, especially if a few of those fish are quality fish.

I meant 5-8 in the Spring- Fall

[senile1]

Where are you located, Green Trout?  And is the water a riverine lake or an actual river?  Tell us a little more about where you are fishing, the forage, the predator species, the condition of the bass population, and the vegetation in your body of water if you can.  I think we can put our heads together and figure out some way to catch a few bass in 49 degree water with current.

[Penguino]

In the winter, bass just slow down a lot. Even though the water temperature might be higher than usual, the sunlight and dead foliage all affect the bass's lethargy. Even when the lakes are not iced up, in winter, I usually catch no bass.

[Joedodge]

It's the same here man. I can see the bass thick as can be in the mid day sun. But they just don't wana feed they can be tempted with a dinger or trick worm, today I had a few hits on a frog. But by no means are they feeding heavy. A lil frustrating lol since I dropped salt water fishing for bass in the winter it's a learning curve lol

[RSM789]

We had a thread about this back in December.  Myself & a few others who keep fish catch logs all had a catch rate in winter of about 20%-25% of other months.  However, it doesn't take much of a water temp increase to get the fish moving.

 

At the beginning of the month, my lake was at its coldest, 54 degrees.  The fish were sluggish, most that I caught were deep on a dropshot and when they were hooked, they fought kind of halfhearted.  Now I know 54 degrees isn't cold for many of you, but these So Cal bass are as thin skinned as the anglers fishing for them.

 

Today, the water temp was 61 when I started, 62 by the end of the day.  Most of the bass were on the first break line from their deep haunts and a few moved all the way up under docks to feed as the day wore on.  These fish wanted nothing to do with a dropshot, they were chasing down Roboworms on a Texas rig on the break line and Senko's skipped under the docks.  Best of all, they were in a fighting mood.  Nearly every fish fought as if they were 50% larger than they actually were, I even had a chubby 2 lb. female strip some drag on my 10lb test setup.  Nearly all were acrobats and about half did a little "FU" jump after being released.

 

I sure love when winter is over...