Winter advice

[jklym]

(located in ct)I have a spot I typically do very well in during the spring and summer months but have struggled to get as much as a bite in the winter months its a large reservoir has shad although not a huge population and the reservoir typically drops about 10 feet in the winter. bottom is very muddy with isolated tree stumps and rock spread out no major structure just that and the occasional sand bar/ peninsula. have a major rain storm coming in unsure of how this will affect the bite don't typically spend much time winter bass fishing 

[Pat Brown]

I think the absolute biggest mistake folks make fishing in the winter is slowing down.

 

I actually generally speed up when it gets cold and fish things like lipless crankbaits and Jerkbaits and heavier jigs and things like that.

 

In the winter I'm trying to make a fish react and bite and I'm looking for large concentrations of baitfish near main lake structure.

 

In winter I prefer a warm low pressure rainy front or a calm bluebird sky day with very little wind.  Things that get bait fish up in the water column a bit and feeding tend to also get the bass active and feeding.

 

If you're going to be throwing your bait up to the bank and feeling for bites, I like very tight contour lines and I like to fish rock and wood on tight contour lines, usually just outside of the creek or on the point or just inside of the creek. Depending on what kind of mood the bait fish is in and sometimes right in the center of the ditch can be the deal.

[senile1]

@Pat Brown Good advice, especially when the water temperature is in the 40s to 50s.  I suspect this is as cold as the water gets in North Carolina where you are, but correct me if I am wrong.  Further north, the water gets colder and when it reaches 39.2 degrees its density reaches the highest point.  For any readers who aren't aware, as the water temperature continues to cool this 39.2 degree water sinks to the bottom and the cooler water between 32 and 39 degrees is above it.  At this point, many baitfish prefer that warmer water near the bottom and this is the point where fishing on the bottom is probably your most high percentage location.  I catch almost all of my big fish in the winter either in the deepest basins used by the bass or on the edges of those basins or underwater creeks per Pat's post.  The biggest issue on a huge lake of a few thousand or tens of thousands of acres is finding the basins and creeks where the bass are congregated.  It is easier to find them in small lakes that haven't frozen over.  

 

Having said that, I only have an idea of how cold the water gets in Connecticut since it is on the coast.  If it never goes below the low 40s, fish the underwater channel banks or steep drops.  Of course, no rule of thumb ever works 100 or even 75 percent of the time.  I have caught a few good fish in basins and dragging a jig up the side of a drop into a basin when water temps were 40 to 43 degrees.  

[Pat Brown]

Yeah - @senile1 - absolutely.

 

It's very rare that it gets below 48° for very long on the surface here BUT we did have a hard freeze on ponds and lakes two years in a row - but it only lasted about a week and then it went straight into the spring transition.

 

I caught the 9.3 that I caught this past January 5 days after the pond was covered in ice paralleling the rip rap with a red eye shad 1/2 oz model.  Water was real cold and real muddy but I was fishing a steeper drop with some rock.

 

I think you're right though.

 

When it's sustained cold front conditions or the surface temps dip into the mid to low 40s for a day or two - best to fish deeper areas slower with subtler baits.

 

I might still use a heavier jig and pop it up hard to try to make them react - but you can bet that I'll also be crawling it around and dead sticking it too.

 

All of this sort of comes back to fishing the conditions - the fish are gonna eat no matter what when it's super cold but what's been happening the past week?  What's happening now?  What's about to happen?  These questions are important to answer when trying to locate winter bass for sure - and when you're trying to dial in your presentation for them!

[softwateronly]

Slow-ish horizontally, but quick and erratic vertically is my coldest water success plan.  Still hunting the reaction bite but giving them the time to meander over to it.  Yo-yoing Blade bait(lipless), jerk bait, & spoons have done really well for me.  Cranking a deep-diver with many starts/stops, straight copying Matt Allen, has also given me surprising frozen finger success.  I still will drag a jig or underspin too after I worked an area quicker.  Hoping shaking a minnow this winter will add to this list.  

The hardest part for me is finding them...I'm not set up to locate bait electronically, so on my lake any green veggies 15'+ is a definite key for me and then I like the areas that have deep water, sharp breaks, and soft/subtle breaks near any ledges/flats in the 5-10' range all within 20-25yds of each other.  This way I can figure out which type they're on early and push that location to less optimal areas.  

 

scott

[TnRiver46]

Winter in Connecticut? I can’t help ya there 

[bowhunter63]

Lunkers love night crawlers,Somebody wrote a book about that once . They love chewin worms when it’s cold 

[Team9nine]

 Coming from Indiana, I’ve spent a lot of time chasing and catching bass from partially frozen waters, including reservoirs. Even in winter, the most active and catchable bass tend to be shallower, especially if you have rain/stained water. However, these shallower bass are still often immediately adjacent to the deepest water in the area. So I usually focus on steep banks (>45 deg.) that fall off into the river or creek channel (bluff-like); main lake or secondary points that have deep water off to one side; boat docks over deeper water; etc. Keep in mind, deep water will be relative.

 

The type of reservoir can make a difference. If you have deeper highland type lakes, a certain population of the bass will stay deeper, though that is often spots and smallies, not necessarily largemouth. The same would happen if you were primarily a threadfin shad base. Shallower flatland or river run type lakes are often largemouth dominated, and I would expect active fish to be shallower. Same in gizzard shad fisheries, which are usually found shallower than threadfins.