i think its a ghost town now!

[fishing man]

ok so the lakes just unfroze (and i have been waiting for it) about 3 days ago, and every day i am out fishing, but it seems like it is a ghost town, i cant get a hit for anything, i have been using jigs, shaky heads, carolina rigs, and even tried some rattle traps (i heard the tight wobble will work). i have been mainly fishing the deepest part of the lake, can anyone help me with winter fishing, i am not good at it.

thanks,

fishingman

[5bass]

Whats the water temp? If you're looking at mid-high 30's, you're best bet would probably be looking for shad first, then when you locate some shad on your graph, drop a jigging spoon down. Bass in the winter time and in cold water temps especially will hang tight around the larger groups of shad. The jigging spoon is probably the most dependable way to get them now, especially if they're down more than 20 ft. and the water is < 40 degrees.

Whatever you do, just remember SHAD.....find some shad! I dont think water temps play a big part in a basses life until it reaches 44 or so, any less than that, I'm using a jigging spoon regardless. If you can graph some fish that are holding shallow enough, you may be able to get 'em with a suspending deep crank or deep diving suspending jerkbait.

Find the bait, the bass will be there.  

[detroit1]

What if the lake doesn't have shad?  :-?

[5bass]

What if the lake doesn't have shad? :-?

Use your electronics and locate what you can. You just need to find out what they eat and is the main forage of the lake. Once you find some fish, a bait that can be fished in their face would be the best choice because bass generally don't/won't move very far to eat in the cold water. If the fish are hugging the bottom, a dropshot would be a good choice. Suspended? Jigging spoon all the way.

[Low_Budget_Hooker]

This is our exact situation.  Ice out, no shad in this lake.

Couldn't find any largies today (short trip) but the ones we have been getting are being found on the deep side off the flats.  They are staying in the deep water but have been found right at the break.  We are finding them on 1 flat in particular, it's the one between the deeper water and the very shallow back coves.  we think they are using the deep edge of the flat to hold on as they wait for temps to come up.  When they do, they make the next move (daily) into those coves where the waters will be a few degrees warmer than the main lake.

We've been getting them on 12-15 ft cranks worked slower than slow.

[dmoney]

try fishing shallower. I was out the other day and it was pretty cold out(had 2 jackets on ) and the fish were jumping at dingers ripped across the surface. The deep bite produced nothing, but buzz something through the shallows produced every time...

[Terry_]

Water clarity? I'm not a northern water angler, but a lot of those guys praise jerkbaits in cold clear water. I read alot about jigging spoons as well. Most important listen to Five.Bass.limit and LBH, these two guys always offer up some sound information.

[fishizzle]

I think try shallower too

spinnerbaits in coves around last years weeds on sunny days

Any Rocks?  Try them or brush

You are on the right track though

fast and slow presentations

[.dsaavedra.]

based on your first post you have been repeating the same unsuccessful tactic over and over: fishing stuff on the bottom.

maybe the fish are suspended!

i was out the other day and i figured i'd go to deep water and fish the bottom with worms and stuff. i go to the deep part of the lake and whaddya know...theres quite a few fish, but the finder shows them suspended about 6 feet deep in 12 feet of water. so what did i do? tied on a rapala DT6 of course! caught a few that day!

so in summary, just try different tactics if the same ole' isnt workin.

good luck