Getting my butt kicked by winter

[DFWbassin]

Ever since late November the fishing has completely gone dry for me, way worse than years past, bites are few and far between. I live in texas any advice is helpful 

[roadwarrior]

Maybe you need so find some new water. The fall fishing in Texas is generally pretty good

and it's been great here in Tennessee. This morning I caught a "Walmart Girl".

 

[Ihateworms]

I live in North TX not too far from you.  This fall into Dec. has been odd water temperature-wise and the bass never fit into a specific pattern (at least the lakes east of Dallas) or didn't hold it for very long.  They rarely (almost never) schooled up at our lake here in Athens .  Even the tournament out at Lake Fork in Nov. the weights seemed well down overall (aside from the winner).  

 

I believe the water has been continually turning over b/c of the unseasonably high temperatures - every time I think the turnover is just about done in Oct/Nov. I'd see the coffee water on our lake in Athens pop up in certain spots. 

 

That said, I think you can now rely on specific late fall/winter patterns and target bass shallow in the afternoon on sunny days when the wind is out of the South., find the remaining vegetation, etc, and then deeper water near timber - traditional winter(ish) stuff.

 

Good luck!

[Bluebasser86]

I have no experience in Texas, but I'm just guessing from what we're experiencing several hours north with the water temps just now getting into the low 40's in NE KS, you're probably still dealing with that late fall funk. They're transitioning between fall and winter patterns, scattered out, and just not really easy to find or catch.

 

Just a guess, and I know Table Rock is just starting to get into colder water fishing (below low 50's), so I'd assume you're still seeing low 60's when they usually seem to get in that funk.

[txchaser]

In north texas, the last two weekends the water has been 50 and 55 degrees respectively. Different lakes, but we had some sunny days in between. Lots of grass still alive.

 

Fish were mostly biting moving baits, and some jigs when it was 50. I kept thinking to slow down because the water temps dropped 10 degrees really fast. I was wrong.

Edge went to reaction baits. Chatterbait, lipless, squarebills. Bottom bite almost nonexistent; when it was 60 it was the best bite. Sometimes a keitech with an underspin is working too.

 

If you are on smaller water like me, the back third has been totally unproductive. Fish it last. If you are on bigger water, go look around 15-20, but still near a shallow spot with a ledge, and see if you see bait there. Esp go look if there's some wood.

 

Most fish across the last month have been at the intersection of deeper water and shallow-ish feeding areas - 4-7ft. Creek channel mouth, around the edges if it is well defined. Ledges near shore, etc. Sometimes up on the flat but near the edge, sometimes in the deeper water but near the ledge/rise/whatever. Find that intersection, and try mid-column fast/slow, and bottom slow, and I bet you'll get on some fish. Try shallow casting out, deep casting in and see what they want.

 

Offshore/deep fish doing different stuff altogether, and when I could find them they would bite a jig.

 

Last thing - getting locked on a spot for an hour that 'should' have them has been totally unproductive. Covering lots of water and not stopping more that 10-15 minutes has been a win.

[DFWbassin]

On 12/15/2020 at 12:00 AM, txchaser said:

In north texas, the last two weekends the water has been 50 and 55 degrees respectively. Different lakes, but we had some sunny days in between. Lots of grass still alive.

 

Fish were mostly biting moving baits, and some jigs when it was 50. I kept thinking to slow down because the water temps dropped 10 degrees really fast. I was wrong.

Edge went to reaction baits. Chatterbait, lipless, squarebills. Bottom bite almost nonexistent; when it was 60 it was the best bite. Sometimes a keitech with an underspin is working too.

 

If you are on smaller water like me, the back third has been totally unproductive. Fish it last. If you are on bigger water, go look around 15-20, but still near a shallow spot with a ledge, and see if you see bait there. Esp go look if there's some wood.

 

Most fish across the last month have been at the intersection of deeper water and shallow-ish feeding areas - 4-7ft. Creek channel mouth, around the edges if it is well defined. Ledges near shore, etc. Sometimes up on the flat but near the edge, sometimes in the deeper water but near the ledge/rise/whatever. Find that intersection, and try mid-column fast/slow, and bottom slow, and I bet you'll get on some fish. Try shallow casting out, deep casting in and see what they want.

 

Offshore/deep fish doing different stuff altogether, and when I could find them they would bite a jig.

 

Last thing - getting locked on a spot for an hour that 'should' have them has been totally unproductive. Covering lots of water and not stopping more that 10-15 minutes has been a win.

Thanks i got on a few today twitching a weightless Keitech along the edge of some mid depth brush, you’re  definitely right about the moving bite still being better than the bottom bite.