My plan for beating winter blues this year...

[DitchPanda]

 So as many of you know I live in the north country which means 3-4 months of ice cover most winters. I do the stuff all you northern guys do read articles ,clean and organize tackle,rods ,reels and order way to much stuff. Also I do ice fish..although I do that less and less every year.

 This year my best buddy really got into bass fishing and a few weeks ago he asks "what are we gonna do all winter?". Then I came up with an idea. Once a month or so we will get together make some good food, drink some beers and watch old tournaments on YouTube. Kinda treat it like a big football game. Hoping this helps us survive our open water lockout.

[Smallies]

Man, I gotta say, I live in Cali and I'm kinda jealous lol...

[DitchPanda]

4 minutes ago, Smallies said:

Man, I gotta say, I live in Cali and I'm kinda jealous lol...

Of what?

 

[Smallies]

Of bein' hunkered down in the snow and watching old fishing tourneys with friends ...sounds kinda fun.  Of course we can fish year round here, so never gonna experience that.  

[DitchPanda]

If your jealous of being trapped in your house cuz of ice and snow don't be...its not that fun.

[TcRoc]

1 hour ago, DitchPanda said:

 So as many of you know I live in the north country which means 3-4 months of ice cover most winters. I do the stuff all you northern guys do read articles ,clean and organize tackle,rods ,reels and order way to much stuff. Also I do ice fish..although I do that less and less every year.

 This year my best buddy really got into bass fishing and a few weeks ago he asks "what are we gonna do all winter?". Then I came up with an idea. Once a month or so we will get together make some good food, drink some beers and watch old tournaments on YouTube. Kinda treat it like a big football game. Hoping this helps us survive our open water lockout.

Good luck with that . Couple weeks here and I’m already in withdrawal.. watching a YouTube video does zero to ease the pain . If I’m not on the water I’m not happy lol.

[GRiver]

I usually take a little break in the colder months here. I know, I know, here in Fl our colder months don’t even compare to you that live up north.

I lived I Nc for a while ( still no comparison to those that live farther up north.) 

But, I pull my boat out, service it, clean it, and fix or add anything that needs it.. Then I start on my gear, take apart and clean reels. Most of the time I re-spool most of my Mono and do the braid as needed. Go through my tackle and all that good stuff.
Sometimes my friends come over and we have a spool party instead of pool party…. I know pretty pathetic, but we drink a lot of beer and talk trash.

But with all that being said, my breaks from fishing are short and voluntary, not because I’m iced out or because it’s just too freezing cold to fish.

 

[Finessegenics]

That sounds like an awesome idea but none of my fishing buddies are into the tournament scene at all. 
 

My plan is to delay organizing my tackle, cleaning my reels/rods and such for as long as possible so I have something to look forward to. 

[Bankbeater]

I hope watching YouTube videos works for you.  It always makes me want to get out and fish.

[scaleface]

When there is snow on the ground , I go on hikes . Carry a big knife , fire starter and flask of whiskey . I like to examine the animal tracks and enjoy the winter quietness . Find a good place to start a fire  and just spend several hours alone in the wilderness . Its therapeutic .

[GRiver]

6 minutes ago, scaleface said:

When there is snow on the ground , I go on hikes . Carry a big knife , fire starter and flask of whiskey . I like to examine the animal tracks and enjoy the winter quietness . Find a good place to start a fire  and just spend several hours alone in the wilderness . Its therapeutic .

I do something like that , but it in the boat….. go up the Ocklawaha, Bear creek or Blue run. There are creeks off the St John’s River..tie off or drift..you see and hear a lot just being quiet. 

[Junk Fisherman]

25 minutes ago, scaleface said:

When there is snow on the ground , I go on hikes . Carry a big knife , fire starter and flask of whiskey . I like to examine the animal tracks and enjoy the winter quietness . Find a good place to start a fire  and just spend several hours alone in the wilderness . Its therapeutic .

I do this as well.  Long hikes, thermos of coffee, sometimes I make a fire, sometimes not- it's something to do outdoors.  Like a couple others on this thread, watching too many videos makes my cabin fever worse.  I'm headed out this Saturday for probably the last time this season for bass. 43 and low winds is good enough for me.   Weather-permitting, I'll fish for Lake Trout on Lake Michigan but I haven't really figured out how to catch those fish.  I'll ice fish if it gets severely cold but I am not really into that.  I probably should start river fishing for winter smallmouth or possibly steelhead.  

[FishinBuck07]

10 hours ago, Smallies said:

Of bein' hunkered down in the snow and watching old fishing tourneys with friends ...sounds kinda fun.  Of course we can fish year round here, so never gonna experience that.  

Why you gotta kick us Northern guys while we are down???

[MN Fisher]

24 minutes ago, FishinBuck07 said:

Why you gotta kick us Northern guys while we are down???

Not only that - they're probably laughing at us while rigging their boats while we stare at snow and ice-covered lakes.

[12poundbass]

This winter we’re going to be preoccupied by finding a house to buy or planning to build, basically making up our mind on what we’re going to do! We’ve looked at 8 houses with none that we absolutely had to have so I’m trying to get the wife fully on board with building. Either way this’ll keep my mind off fishing. 
 

The house we’re renting is a block away from a lake called Muskelunge lake so once there’s ice I might have to go set some tip ups and try and catch my first Muskey. I usually go out ice fishing twice a year to remind myself why I don’t care for ice fishing. 

[scaleface]

One of the stupid memes I made for the meme thread .

[Junk Fisherman]

This is why when I retire I plan to take a 2-week trip to Texas or somewhere south for a couple weeks every February.  We have a fantastic cooling lake that opens March 1st so that helps shorten the winter.  

[Boomstick]

Lately as the daily high is about 40 degrees and the ice is coming, I've been focusing on my other hobby, guitar. In the summer and spring, it's all about fishing.

[TnRiver46]

8 hours ago, GRiver said:

I usually take a little break in the colder months here. I know, I know, here in Fl our colder months don’t even compare to you that live up north.

I lived I Nc for a while ( still no comparison to those that live farther up north.) 

But, I pull my boat out, service it, clean it, and fix or add anything that needs it.. Then I start on my gear, take apart and clean reels. Most of the time I re-spool most of my Mono and do the braid as needed. Go through my tackle and all that good stuff.
Sometimes my friends come over and we have a spool party instead of pool party…. I know pretty pathetic, but we drink a lot of beer and talk trash.

But with all that being said, my breaks from fishing are short and voluntary, not because I’m iced out or because it’s just too freezing cold to fish.

 

There’s a few parts of Carolina that are as cold as you want it to be! Luckily we get bathed in the afternoon sun on this side of the Appalachians. There’s a reason they named it Cold Mountain NC! 

[throttleplate]

I dont mind that winter is here in minn to give me a 4 1/2 month break.

If i wanted to i coud go to the big dam throughout winter and walleye fish but i dont enjoy fishing in windy freezing temps.  I am just hoping we get alot of snow.

 

I just finished cleaning my reels yesterday. Next i will put new braid on all the reels.

I will make alot of snelled stupid tube jigs with tube on and ready to snap on my line and throw.

Will make up about 15 of them to start out with using various jig weights and tube colors.

Also this winter i will drive about 1 to 1 1/2 hrs to check out all the dams i have loaded onto my gps to put my eyes on the surroundings.

I checked a couple out tuesday when we went fishing and all are know for smallmouth along with walleye.

I am looking ahead to next spring as i am planning to fish dams for smallmouth because i want a challenge away from largemouth in the lakes.

This fish i caught in a sandy rocky culvert under the highway is what turned me on to seeking out brownies.

 

[Gera]

9 hours ago, GRiver said:

I usually take a little break in the colder months here. I know, I know, here in Fl our colder months don’t even compare to you that live up north.

I lived I Nc for a while ( still no comparison to those that live farther up north.) 

But, I pull my boat out, service it, clean it, and fix or add anything that needs it.. Then I start on my gear, take apart and clean reels. Most of the time I re-spool most of my Mono and do the braid as needed. Go through my tackle and all that good stuff.
Sometimes my friends come over and we have a spool party instead of pool party…. I know pretty pathetic, but we drink a lot of beer and talk trash.

But with all that being said, my breaks from fishing are short and voluntary, not because I’m iced out or because it’s just too freezing cold to fish.

 

I was reading your post and tough “spool party” that is so sad, then I read that you drink a lot of beer and I wished to be invited ?

 

So no fishing for us northerners but there is one thing that you south guys are missing. Snowmobiles!

[Tennessee Boy]

11 minutes ago, Gera said:

So no fishing for us northerners but there is one thing that you south guys are missing. Snowmobiles!

We have our own wild winter adventures in the south.   It’s call driving when there’s a 1/4 inch of snow on the road.

[A-Jay]

This goes on all year,

but the hard water season allows me

a perfect opportunity and plenty of time to 'ramp it up a bit'.

A-Jay

[TnRiver46]

I’m lucky to live in the midst of something called “Knoxville’s urban wilderness.” It’s 50+ miles of multi use trails and over 500 acres of wild lands. The trails are mostly used for mountain biking but I’m way too chicken for that. Knoxville won a large amount of grant money years ago through AMBC (Appalachian mount bike club) and the urban wilderness has really took off since then. I like to walk or jog on the trails and sometimes take a dog or two back in there. There’s also a big rock wall that people use for climbing that’s only a couple hundred yards from my front door. It’s funny because I only bought my house based on proximity to the river, had no clue about any of this. It’s pretty awesome for several reasons, included skyrocketing property values. Also there’s a rock quarry inside the wilderness area that has bass and crappie to catch, it’s only about a mile from home. I’ve only started fishing it this summer, it’s pretty fun. 
 

Our weather is not too cold to fish, the problem i encounter is darkness. If I get home from work at 5, it’s kind of a wash hooking up the boat and going to the river because you can’t see to cast after about 5:45. Sometimes if I’ve got a boating itch I’ll sneak home from work a little early and try to get 2 hours in but my boat is typically only used on weekends after the time change. Darn you daylight savings time!!!! 

[T-Billy]

1 hour ago, Tennessee Boy said:

We have our own wild winter adventures in the south.   It’s call driving when there’s a 1/4 inch of snow on the road.

When y'all get that game mastered, you should come up and play it in the WV panhandle on 18 wheels with 13 gears, and 8000 gallons of crude in the tank. Whole new level of pucker factor!!! Nothing like having your trailer trying to pass you down a 20% grade to keep you on your toes. Thankfully we usually only have a handfull of those rodeo days a year.