Winter Fishing

[Mike Worley]

I've been going stir crazy at home, so I finally got down there this weekend and went bass fishing. I spend most of my time in the Theodosia arm. Just when I start to gain just a little confidence, bam, it's gone. I fished from 7am to 5pm and caught ZIP! I tried jigs, jerkbaits, wiggle warts, and finesse, but no luck. I finally managed two shorts while fishing for a few hours on Sunday. I tried to fish slow. I thought the wind on Saturday would help. I mainly bluff ends and channel swings and tried to keep the boat in 30 feet of water. The wind made it tough to fish on the bottom.

Is it better to stay out of the wind this time of year?

Is it worth throwing a jerkbait when it's dead calm like it was Sunday?

Is it worth going to the back of the creeks?

You are fishing way too deep. Keep your boat in less than 20 fow, 10-15 is even better. Stay in the back end of the creek arms. On the gravel flats across from the creek channel. Bottom contact is a must, fish a deep diving crankbait (trolled or cast) across the flat gravel points. Water temps are still pretty low so just enough speed to make your crankbait bang the bottom. For bass jigs and tube jigs dragged at the same speeds will produce also. Believed it or not the fish (bass & walleyes) are keyed in more on crawfish than they are the shad right now. After you catch some bass check the stomach contents and see what you find, I did and it was crawfish.

[abbfish]

You are fishing way too deep. Keep your boat in less than 20 fow, 10-15 is even better. Stay in the back end of the creek arms. On the gravel flats across from the creek channel. Bottom contact is a must, fish a deep diving crankbait (trolled or cast) across the flat gravel points. Water temps are still pretty low so just enough speed to make your crankbait bang the bottom. For bass jigs and tube jigs dragged at the same speeds will produce also. Believed it or not the fish (bass & walleyes) are keyed in more on crawfish than they are the shad right now. After you catch some bass check the stomach contents and see what you find, I did and it was crawfish.

Thanks, I appreciate the advice. I'll give that a try next time I get down there. Hopefully that'll be mid March.