Help from the pros

[BD]

Hi all.

Ok so I have been fishing since saturday morning, and want to go tomorrow as well, but need some advice, prayers answered, something lol.

Saturday morning here it was raining and we only had a high of 48 degrees. Needless to say, it was freezing, and got no bites, nothing.

Today was very pretty, but very windy, so this ruined the day. I think I might have gotten some hits on worms, but since it was so windy, it may have been the wind blowing my rod around.

I am wanting to go tomorrow, and would like to know what all you would recommend, and what lures you have got fish with in 50 - waters. Tomorrow should be mostly sunny, winds only 5-10 and that's not constantly.

I threw today and yesterday (7am-4pm both days) about everything I have lol. Worms, grubs, rooster tails, rat l traps, jerkbaits, etc. I tried texas rig, and wacky rig. Did not pitch jigs, nor use carolina rig.

Please tell me I can catch bass in 40-50 degree water :'(

Thanks a million

[BD]

Oh I can also tell you how I was fishing each lure too, if this will help.

[Will]

Between the cold water and cold front fish s-l-o-w-l-y. It sounds like you are using the right baits jerkbaits, grubs, and traps.

[Stickling]

In cold water, watermellon seed worms work for me but only on certain ponds. I have begun to understand that certain ponds require certain colors.

[5bass]

I fished last week myself and got bit on a Carolina Rig,a Sutton spoon and a Ledgebuster spinnerbait.All were fished EXTREMELY slow.The Carolina Rig would probably be your best bet.Make sure your bait floats high and when you move your rod,dont move it too much nor too fast.It would also be better to locate a school of fish before fishing this time of year.Check main channel points first and often.If they arent there when you go over one time,it doesnt mean they wont be there later on.

Good luck.Have fun.

[fishinfool]

i went fishin yesterday too and had about the same results as you, it was windy and the water is in the 50's.  i tried cb, t-rig worms and lizards, c-rig tubes....and then i went to a jig and pork, and they turned on, i was flipping under a boat dock in about 10' of clear water and boom, a 4 lber...check the jigs out, just might be the trick for ya.  good luck, let us know how it goes tomorrow.

[Chris]

Everyone is going to have their own idea of what the fish should be doing and what would work and none of them are wrong. The key is that you need to figure out where they are. You can spend hours fishing the right baits and turn up nothing if your not fishing in the right areas. Think about it this way. All winter the bass have been in a deep spot in the lake trying to wait for spring. (they stack up )Spring gets here and now they find routes to the shallow water.(they move up the points or up from the deeper breaks) Along the way they stop and hang out on stuff (they stage) maybe because a front comes through or the temp is colder shallow water and they feel warmer in the deeper stuff. When the temp finally gets warm enough that the baitfish move up then the bass move up with them. Cold front moves though and maybe pushes the bait deep. Fish move with the bait  or becomes inactive and stays shallow. You can spend hours trying to figure out which bait is the bait your not using that you should. Thats not the answer. What is the answer is what bait will work the best at the depth the fish are in. If its a point, mouth of a cove, shallow break, sand bank, channel bank whatever you need to find the right tool for the job that fits the depth your fish are at and the structure. To do that you need to figure out at what stage the bass are in and at what depth. If they are following up a point then you need to figure out where on the point they are at.  Options could be in the deeper stuff carolina rig works, crankbait is another good choice. If they have moved up shallower than a jerkbait would work or a spinnerbait. If they are still in their wintering hole in 20 ft deep then a jigging spoon or heavy spinnerbait would work. My point is that you need to figure out where they are and what tool will work at that depth.

[BD]

All well and valid points guys, thanks!

[Gatorbassman]

Chris, you hit it on the head. Only about 20% of a lake holds 80% of the fish. You just can't catch what isn't there. Spend alot of time looking at a map finding breaks and even more time with your Fish Finder finding break points and it will decrease the time spent trying to find that perfect lure.

[bassinjack]

this is a good time of year to really pick apart the rip raps on the north end of the lake your fishing

rocks conduct heat and that will be the first spot that the craws start to emerge at. a jig or suspending jerkbait fished slow will usually get you some bites or slow rolling a spinner bait.i have had great sucsess in the midday as the water in the shallows warms up on the rip raps. the bass should almost be at that point between now and 3 to 5 weeks depending on what part of the country your at that the bass will really start to feed heavy (pre spawn)and there main diet are those emerging craws

tight line

       Jack

[tie1on]

I carry three to four rods and reels when I go in my boat I always have some sort of soft plastic tied on and something that I can get a reaction strike on also.Fish the soft plastic bait slow then find a bait that you can fish fast and have confidence in.The fast lure will sometimes make a fish strike even if he doesnt want too.BASS ARE PREDATORS!!!!!!!!!

[BD]

Jack, I went to spavinaw creek this weekend, and also up the street to grand (below the dam)

Spavinaw was pretty and clear, but the drive up wasn't to appealing lol. I had quite a bit of hits below grand at the dam, but spavinaw I think was to shallow.

So this upcoming weekend, it's also going to be around the same above conditions. Any more suggestions?

Thanks again

[BD]

I may just want to wait till the water is warmer.