Is Bass Fishing a Seasonal Sport?

[Captain Phil]

I've noticed the fishing talk on this forum has changed lately.  I would guess to many of you bass fishing is a seasonal sport?  It's got to be difficult to launch your boat when the lake is iced over.   I have lived in Florida all my life where it is possible to fish 365 days a year.  Sometimes you wish you had stayed home, but it's possible.  In Florida, the winter is the best time to fish.  The summers are so hot, only the young and strong can make it out past 9 AM.  Our spawning season starts around Christmas.  I have seen bass on beds in June.   Dodging cold fronts is the main problem in winter.  Our bass don't like cold water.  Our fish really turn on when we have stable warm periods in winter.  Our best fishing month is April.  Fall is great too.  What do you guys do in the winter months?

 

 

[Teal]

I fish probably up till late december. Typically january is month that I'll skip, I'll start back in February if weather permits.

[FishinBuck07]

Yeah it is for me, mainly because I don't have a choice in the weather around here!!  haha!  Some day I hope to not have to worry about putting the boat away!!

[moguy1973]

There are a lot of power plant lakes that do really well in the winter months around here.  It's just so darn cold air temperature wise it's not all that fun to be out in a boat.

[MN Fisher]

Hard to fish a crankbait when there's 'hard water'.

 

For me, season ends when it's just too cold to take the canoe out. Season starts when it's legal to catch bass again - from the end of February to the 2nd Saturday in May, it's illegal to target bass here.

50 minutes ago, Captain Phil said:

What do you guys do in the winter months?

Organize my tackle, watch vids on how to fish certain techniques, hang around here.

[Spankey]

1 hour ago, Captain Phil said:

I've noticed the fishing talk on this forum has changed lately.  I would guess to many of you bass fishing is a seasonal sport?  It's got to be difficult to launch your boat when the lake is iced over.   I have lived in Florida all my life where it is possible to fish 365 days a year.  Sometimes you wish you had stayed home, but it's possible.  In Florida, the winter is the best time to fish.  The summers are so hot, only the young and strong can make it out past 9 AM.  Our spawning season starts around Christmas.  I have seen bass on beds in June.   Dodging cold fronts is the main problem in winter.  Our bass don't like cold water.  Our fish really turn on when we have stable warm periods in winter.  Our best fishing month is April.  Fall is great too.  What do you guys do in the winter months?

 

 

Well I guess you are one of the lucky one if you can go at it 365. Up here in the North East eventually you have to pull the plug at a certain point. And restarting is dependent on ice out. Some springs start earlier than others. This year spring did start on the early side but COVID had some ramps and state parks closed. 
 

In my case I just switch gear. I enjoy stream trout fishing with a fly rod and UL spinning outfits. I’ll trout fish up until the bass start calling my name. I deer, duck and turkey hunt. I have people ask me for squirrels once and awhile and I love shooting them late season with a .22.

 

But in all honesty there ain’t enough days in a year for me. I have to work and I have things I have to do at home also. Believe me everyday is not an outdoor adventure. Maybe when I retire. If I live that long. I have that obstacle to deal with also. 

[TnRiver46]

1 hour ago, Captain Phil said:

 What do you guys do in the winter months?

 

 

Go to FLA! 
 

 

fishing is better in winter where I live but it gets dark at 6 so by the time you get off work it’s all over 

[.ghoti.]

I build rods all year, but do more in the winter than summer. Fishing is absolutely a seasonal thing here. I service all my reels during the hard water times, and sometimes attempt to organize my tackle bags and boxes. 

[A-Jay]

2 hours ago, Captain Phil said:

I've noticed the fishing talk on this forum has changed lately.  I would guess to many of you bass fishing is a seasonal sport?  It's got to be difficult to launch your boat when the lake is iced over.   I have lived in Florida all my life where it is possible to fish 365 days a year.  Sometimes you wish you had stayed home, but it's possible.  In Florida, the winter is the best time to fish.  The summers are so hot, only the young and strong can make it out past 9 AM.  Our spawning season starts around Christmas.  I have seen bass on beds in June.   Dodging cold fronts is the main problem in winter.  Our bass don't like cold water.  Our fish really turn on when we have stable warm periods in winter.  Our best fishing month is April.  Fall is great too.  What do you guys do in the winter months?

 

 

Seems there are some seasonal challenges for all basshead regardless of ones location.

Here in northern Michigan, (the entire state is C&R open all season) where my local angling exploits routinely focus around Big Brown Bass, presents similar challenges plus of course a fairly prolonged hard water season; at least 4 months but often 5.  Typically, early season can be very productive for trophy fish.  For safety reasons, I need to pick my spots, I'll be fishing in cold wind & some very sporty waves and I may only get two or three bites a day.  But odd are good, they will be the right ones.  These trips are physically demanding, unlike picking fish off beds in May (which I do not participate in), so there's rarely another basshead on the water; which always sort of surprises me considering the class of Smallmouth that lives in these places. Despite the 'hardships endured' I'll be out there every chance I get.  As summer comes on, the biggest brown bass become very scares. Figures Right ? Weather is super nice - big brown bass are gone.  Super early and late in the day & night trips often are the best producers for plus size brown bass but the real giants are very good at staying mostly unavailable; at least to this guy. Late summer and into fall is often Banner for me.  Topwater & horizontal moving baits get crushed, often offering some of the best size & numbers trips of the whole season.  With the shorter days of later in the fall season, comes many of the same challenges that the super early season presents plus the brown bass can be very tricky to locate.  Usually deeper is more reliable as fish set up on their open water wintering holes.  Safe access becomes an issue again.    

 So then we come to the matter at hand - hard water.

IMO, it's both a blessing and a curse.

The curse aspect in easy to understand, can't cast to fish; and I don't do the ice fishing thing.

The flip side of it is that an entire smallmouth bass population on every lake goes virtually unmolested for almost half the year.  Add in that the Bass fishing pressure up this way is not exactly high, and there's 'several' super fertile, deep clear and only lightly built on lakes to choose from. 

 So I plan on being the first one on the very best lakes, the very minute there's open water, giving me the first shot at whatever early season hungry mutant might wander by.  Keeps me up a few nights especially as the spring time ice begins to turn black.

In the mean time, I work at keeping myself lean, mean, strong & balanced so I can be as ready as I can be. 

That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

A-Jay

 

[gim]

Honestly, I don't think I would want to bass fish all year round even if I was able to.  I have other things to do like hunt deer, pheasants, and turkeys.  Would I like to be able to fish more often?  Surely yes.  But I'm not moving to Florida or somewhere else down south to live in the sweltering heat/humidity for 5 months, not to mention 2 months of potential hurricanes ready to destroy my house.  As others have mentioned, cold and ice inhibits my ability to bass fish once November rolls around and its often lasts until mid April.  Our legal bass season doesn't open until May either.  I know that Wisconsin and Michigan have a year round C & R bass season so that could be coming down the pipe here in MN too.

 

My season ended on Oct 10 and it will hopefully resume again next spring, God willing.

 

 

[MN Fisher]

Just now, gimruis said:

Our legal bass season doesn't open until May either.  I know that Wisconsin and Michigan have a year round C & R bass season so that could be coming down the pipe here in MN too.

Just remember - it wasn't all that long ago that bass didn't open at all until the end of May. Took some fighting with the DNR to open it for C&R when walleye/pike season opened.

[J._Bricker]

I noticed in your original post @Captain Phil you mentioned 9 AM and summertime fishing in the Sunshine State. That got me thinking late Fall and Winter in my part of the Left Coast, 0900hrs is about the time I’ll go hook up the boat. Nothing like scratching that itch to fish from 1000-1400hrs as I look forward to the pre-spawn and Spring....

[Spankey]

16 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

Just remember - it wasn't all that long ago that bass didn't open at all until the end of May. Took some fighting with the DNR to open it for C&R when walleye/pike season opened.

Here in PA it’s a bit gray area. Or to me it’s a bit gray. Yes there is a true open date. Roughly 15th of June. Catching a bass prior is to be immediately released. But I start mine on the opening of walleye season the beginning of May. I fish for Walleye the same as I fish bass and I bass fish the same as for walleyes. Harvesting fish out of season is a different story. I’m not an outlaw.  I C&R all my bass and walleye, “so, that’s all I’m got to say about that”.

[keagbassr]

Winter? Usually I'm either resting in anticipating shoveling, shoveling or recuperating from shoveling. And in between all that work. And  If not then I'll throw together some spinnerbaits, buzzbaits and skirts.

[roadwarrior]

2 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

...from the end of February to the 2nd Saturday in May, it's illegal to target bass here.

 No big deal I guess...If you spend the winter in Florida.

 

[Paul Roberts]

When I lived in NY, we had some serious ice most winters, although that's changed some over the decades. Now in CO, we might have a month or two of ice, but often ice-out comes in February. So, I have nearly year round open water opportunities here. And, yes, the bass can be caught all year long, with adjustments in expectations.

[MN Fisher]

1 minute ago, roadwarrior said:

 No big deal I guess...If you spend the winter in Florida.

 

Dude, I don't even have enough money to spend the winter in Iowa.

 

My fishing purchases are all because of gift-money given by relatives...if it wasn't for that, I'd have NO gear.

[TnRiver46]

6 minutes ago, MN Fisher said:

Dude, I don't even have enough money to spend the winter in Iowa.

.

Haha!!! You and me both. Winter in Iowa, that one got me good!!! When I go to Florida, it’s because my mother insists we take a trip down there every now and again (and she pays for the lodging and let’s me put a canoe on her car haha). When me and the fiancé go to the ocean, we camp in a tent with the ticks and mosquitos.........

[Michigander]

I fish until the lakes freeze over. Then I build/organize tackle and work on my boat until it thaws. My Triton's 21st birthday is coming up and she's getting a full rewire as her gift this year. Last year it was a new trailer. Would love to have the means to have a new boat worth more than my house but the one I have is a fine vessel, just takes a lot of work to keep her running, safe, and happy.

[MassYak85]

The only time I'm not bass fishing is the couple weeks when there's 0-2.5 inches of ice. 

[ironbjorn]

It's basically April-October where I'm from. March and November can be doable but also outright miserable.

[Catt]

There was a time I hunted everything that was legal, I even worked for the American Sportsman Club.

 

Once I figured out how good bass fishing was during winter i quit hunting. My personal best of 12.5# was caught during late winter-early pre-spawn.

[Fallser]

For me it's seasonal.  By choice.   Being a fly fisherman has a bit to do with it.   Generally, my bass season runs from May to early to mid-October.   Mid-October through November, depending on the ocean water temperature and the weather I focus on salt water fishing hoping there's a fall run of stripers and bluefish.  November through March is down time.  Tying flies, fixing or building rods, sorting through flies and lures.  If I get a warm day, mid-forties or higher, I'll chase trout.  Late March through April is trout season.

[Shimano_1]

4 hours ago, Teal said:

I fish probably up till late december. Typically january is month that I'll skip, I'll start back in February if weather permits.

X2 this is usually how my season goes. Usually don't have frozen lakes but January is usually a cold all month deal. Honestly wouldn't trade our weather for Florida's.  You can have that summer heat. Older I get the more I prefer cold weather over hot weather. 

[Steveo-1969]

I fish a river year round but only catch smallmouth from about April-November. I don’t know where their wintering holes are and couldn’t reach them without a boat anyway. The rest of the year I target walleyes below a dam on the river.