Small Mouth Bass Fishing In 36-38 Degree Water Is It Worth It

[JustinPlog]

i've been thinking of going down to the fox river and fish from shore. i want to know if it will be worth my time. the water is 36-38 degrees and it is very muddy. any tips for what lures to use.

thanks for your help!

[smalljaw67]

Fishing from the shore in cold muddy water is difficult because the fish in a river are in deeper wintering holoes that ae typically far from normal casting distance. If you can access a lot of open bank you may be able to find a deeper slack water area that may hold fish but it is tough in muddy water. My suggestion is to wait until the water clears up or the temp rises to the mid to upper 40's. This will start to get fish moving and suspending in the water so you will have a beeter chance of reaching them and it also opens up more areas that will hold fish, that is when you can incorpoate lipless cranks and jerkbaits and have a good chance of hooking up.

[JustinPlog]

thanks for the help! guess i'll wait untill the water warms up then. cant wait to get out and fish!

[smalljaw67]

thanks for the help! guess i'll wait untill the water warms up then. cant wait to get out and fish!

No harm in giving it a try, you can use it to work on casting or trying a new bait or lure and you even get a fish, it is hard to say. If it isn't far you can go check it out and may be even discover a new way to catch fish in those conditions but if it requires anything other than normal travel or driving distance then you are probably better off waiting.

[ww2farmer]

Cold and muddy sucks. The last two years right after ice out my home lake has been cold and muddy...fishing sucked. Three years ago, the water, still cold, but clear, I caught fish. Dirty water does warm up faster though.

[Kelly J]

justin im south of you in appleton and this weeks temps should get the fish moving. we are only 38 in the river here but its slowly coming up. cant hurt to try