Does there come a point in time where it's just over with?

[Gundog]

Its over. Put away the rod and reel and dream about spring when once again the lakes and rivers will be filled with fish. Don't forget to fill up your tackle box with all the lures you are only going to use once then go back to the lures that worked last year. Good luck next year. 

[TnRiver46]

2 hours ago, WRB said:

One of these days you northern bass anglers will take some advice from a warm water bass anglers; use Rapala Ice Jigs in blue back chrome, structure spoons and hair jigs.

Very cold water you need to down size and for whatever reason 1/4 oz black ball head hair jigs with UJ 101 spin frogs will catch LMB and SMB in cold water.

Tom

Spin frogs, you say?

[Deleted account]

33 minutes ago, TnRiver46 said:

Spin frogs, you say?

Baby pork rind. 

[TnRiver46]

28 minutes ago, reason said:

Baby pork rind. 

Ah. Thanks

[pondbassin101]

My season is just getting started 

[J Francho]

I've caught bass through the ice, so it never really quits.  I typically switch to fishing for trout and salmon in tribs for the winter.

[Fried Lemons]

Fishing stays good if you are willing to pursue other species. In my area yellow perch, crappie, walleye, pickerel and blue cats are all very active this time of year.

[Todd2]

I've caught Bass with water temps in the upper 30's. It's slow though, dragging a jig has been my best cold water producer. 

 

 

Sometimes, I'll fish deep on standing timber for Crappie...those will bite all year and it gets me outdoors.

 

 

[Deleted account]

38 minutes ago, Fried Lemons said:

Fishing stays good if you are willing to pursue other species. In my area yellow perch, crappie, walleye, pickerel and blue cats are all very active this time of year.

What, no snagging Gizzards in the Patapsco?...

[scaleface]

Its probably over with for me .When we do have warm weather now its usually pretty windy and I'll be fishing from a jon boat . I'm not fighting it . If I do get a warm , windless day I will go and expect to catch something . They may be deep on a point or shallow , just have to try both .

[Paul Roberts]

16 hours ago, Glaucus said:

I'm a northerner. As such, does there come a point where the bite is just "over with" until the spring? The water isn't hard yet, but it's been 3 weeks and I haven't had so much as a sniff. I have tried: Senkos (Texas and Wacky, weighted and weightless), jerkbaits, lipless crankbaits, spinnerbaits and inline spinners, Texas Rigged worms and lizards, jigs and tubes, shaky head, Ned Rig, and drop shot. I fish a half dozen ponds from shore and it's been the same at each one of them. I fish almost daily, at various times of day. This is the first time I have ever tried bass fishing past the month of October. So far, terrible! I have tried various rates of speed, all the way down to ultra slow, and when I thought I was going ultra slow, I slowed down even more. I have gone down to the lightest line I can get away with and in straight fluorocarbon. I'm not sure there's anything else to do?

Haven't read through other's posts above; Im sure there's good advice there.

 

Here's my suggestion:

 

Winter bass often consolidate in groups at key locations -almost always away from the shallows. Keys tend to be large volumes of water -main body- and cover. So... your first order of business is to find them. This is more important now than at any other time of year. If from shore only, try deeper steeper shorelines. Find cover -even if shallow.

 

Yes, fish slow. Sometimes painfully slow -which can really freak people out when trying to simply find the fish. Depending on water I'd fish something you have confidence in. A jig -like a Ned- is a good bet. Don't worry about changing lures a lot, or colors. Fish, and find them. When you do, you'll be like "Oh! Duh!"

[Smokinal]

On 11/26/2017 at 9:15 PM, WRB said:

One of these days you northern bass anglers will take some advice....

Very cold water you need to down size and for whatever reason 1/4 oz black ball head hair jigs with UJ 101 spin frogs will catch LMB and SMB in cold water.

Tom

Alright Tom, I'm game. Do you have a jig you like? And do I get the 101 in black too I assume?

I'm going out this Sunday; not sure I can put this together before then.

[RichF]

Took my last fishing trip of 2017 when I was in NY for Thanksgiving.  Water temp was 36.  Caught 2 nice smallies first thing but then the wind kicked on and blew us off the lake.  The bass can be caught, it's just not the easiest thing in the world. 

[BassObsessed]

Definitely frustrating but as stated as long as the water isn't hard ( not counting ice fishing) they are still catchable. Locally Iv'e been catching them on small swimbaits and lipless cranks in 42 degree water. Last week was catching smallies over 5lbs in the snow in New York. Don't give up.

[Koz]

The bite has slowed down (understatement) here in the south over the last two or three weeks as well. With that, I find myself fishing less and less. If a warm day pops up and I have some free time I may try some of our narrower lagoons where I can get full cast coverage roaming the banks.

 

But this slowdown does get me excited for February / March fishing when things really pick up around here. This year I discovered a lot more productive, low pressure lagoons to fish in my area. I now know which lagoons consistently produce the bigger bass and which are chock full of dinks (that I hope grow big in the next few years).

 

The slowdown now only whets my appetite for a banner spring fishing season!

[WRB]

3 hours ago, Smokinal said:

Alright Tom, I'm game. Do you have a jig you like? And do I get the 101 in black too I assume?

I'm going out this Sunday; not sure I can put this together before then.

Punisher 1/4-3/8 oz black or black-blue hair jig with black UJ* 101 fog, #11 alternate.

*Uncle Josh pork rinds are no longer in production, you can find them in mom & pop tackle stores or eBay. SuperPork Tadpole is a better choice harder to find! You can dye any color pork rind black using Rite liquid dye over night.

Good luck.

Tom

[RHuff]

Do blue craws work best in cold water because real crawfish turn blue? Just asking... I've always been told they are black/blue as small craws in early spring cold water. As the water warms into the 40s-60s they turn green and then in warm water 75+ they turn red. I know they turn red when cooked. I've always used this to try to match my soft plastic colors when I am trying to mimic a crawfish. 

 

At the same time, I have also been told that crawfish are olive and dark when low light conditions and turn brown and red in bright light conditions or direct sunlight. 

[Bankbeater]

As long as I can take the cold air temps, and the water is not frozen, I will be fishing.  Over the past three or four years I have started using finesse baits more and more in the cold weather.  I have seen a lot of 5+ pound bass caught on crappie baits in the winter.

[WRB]

18 minutes ago, RHuff said:

Do blue craws work best in cold water because real crawfish turn blue? Just asking... I've always been told they are black/blue as small craws in early spring cold water. As the water warms into the 40s-60s they turn green and then in warm water 75+ they turn red. I know they turn red when cooked. I've always used this to try to match my soft plastic colors when I am trying to mimic a crawfish. 

Not true, color depends on the specie.

There are hundreds of crayfish  (crawdads) species in this country with a wide variety of coloration from black to white and every color inbetween. Crawdads change colors as the grow and molt thier shells and tend to match whatever the bottom colors like or vegetation they may live in. Crawdads don't hibernate, they do burrow into mud and become very inactive or dormate in cold water.

Look up crayfish species up and study them.

Tom

[Sam]

What is the water temperature?

 

Red Eyed Shad in Sexy shad, red Rat-L-Traps, white spinnerbaits, crawfish jig & pig, and shad crankbaits may be the answer.

 

Or, if you can stand it, dead stick a finesse worm.

 

Get back to us with the water temperature and we can probably give you some additional suggestions.

14 minutes ago, WRB said:

Not true, color depends on the specie.

There are hundreds of crayfish  (crawdads) species in this country with a wide variety of coloration from black to white and every color inbetween. Crawdads change colors as the grow and molt thier shells and tend to match whatever the bottom colors like or vegetation they may live in. Crawdads don't hibernate, they do burrow into mud and become very inactive or dormate in cold water.

Look up crayfish species up and study them.

Tom

Tom, don't forget that the mudbugs change to a beautiful red color when cooked for a crawfish boil!!!!

[Scarborough817]

water temp here is 35^o and definitely not easy to access the deep parts from the bank but if you can do that and stand to fish slow enough you can get bit

[lo n slo]

i usually shut her down after Christmas. will be taking the jon boat out of the water and back to the house for the winter. new trailer tires and a Garmin for the Javelin. plus the usual pm for both. rest my shoulder too.

[WRB]

California had an opening day and closing day for both trout and bass fishing for a long time. The eastern Sierra's still has a trout opening day May 1st to Nov 1st. The bass opening day was June 1st, closing Nov 1st until around 1965.

I believe a few states still have opening and closing bass seasons.

Tom

[Bluebasser86]

Location is very important when the water gets cold. So much water will have no fish or very few fish, but then small areas will have large concentrations. I fished for 3 hours yesterday morning without a bite, then caught 23 in the next hour and a half from a small area and missed several more. I've had great days fishing ponds and lakes that were partially frozen, even from shore. 

[Oregon Native]

All I can say is wow.......would like to wish an early spring for you all but that may put the world in even more disorder..

Sometimes when the water gets in the low 40's down here I've used the floating fly very successfully and also just taking the fly 1/16 casting it out...counting down a certain depth and slowly bring it in....it almost suspends and you will feel a tic.....kind of eye opening when a drum gets on that 6#....but it's fun.  It gets really tuff when the guides freeze up a lot....BUT....one must push on!