Cold Weather Bassin

[Walcrabass]

OKay here is the fishing report from the crazy guy. Launched at about 9:15. 22 degrees and wind howling. Fished by myself. Jerkbaits both shallow and Deep for 2 1/2 hours with nothing. Found fish on secondary points in ten foot of water. Ice on rod. Ice in reels. Line shaving and breaking. Stand up Jigs in 3/8 oz. were not enough for the wind. Went to 1/2 oz. Caught fish on gravel points with scattered chunk rock. Normally caught one fish per point.Gave two guys that were Jerkbait fishing a couple of Jigs and I hope they used them and caught them like I did. Bluegill Bandit and Dirty Pumpkin were the fishes favorites today. Bluegill Bandit was top dog. Used Big Zoom Craws and Paca CHunks with Crawdad Oil. Fish would not bite a Stand Up Head with a craw and no skirt. Line sail was terrible and lost several fish because my arms are not 16 feet long so I could take out the slack and set the hook. Caught 14 -15 fish and had 7 that were keeper length.Only one "Keeper" fish was 15". All others were 16 to 18". No fish under 14" all day.Quit at 4:30. I would like to see some comments from other Jig fishermen about Winter Jig Fishing. As you all know it is one of my favorite ways to catch them. ALso I would like to say that I believe I have enough experience and thus proof that Jigs consistently take bigger Bass. Agree/Disagree???

See ya,

WALCRABASS

[straw hat]

Crazy? Well if you are crazy, I guess I am too!! It is a great time of year for those jigs and bass. It sounds like the weather was a pain but you did well. I use to do a lot of bass fihing this time of year with either jigs or drop shot rigs with live minnows. From the first of the year to mid-March I would try to find isolated dark horizontal logs or rocks, 10 to 20 ft deep, on south facing shores and just go real slow. I guess those bass would set along that cover trying to warm up. It always seemed like I did better when the wind wasn't blowing. I don't know if it was because the sun warmed the water more or if they were simply holding tighter to the cover without the wind. It sure was a good way to catch some nice 2 to 4 lb fish.

[Walcrabass]

Straw Hat,

I appreciate your reply. I know that you are one of the "Older" Fishermen like myself and therefore remember the days of Bucktail Jigs, Pork Trailers, and Jig fishing because we didn't have the "Perfect" crankbait for all situations. Some of the greatest Bass Fishermen that have ever lived were Big Time Jig Fishermen like Denny Brauer and Hank Parker. I have noticed that there over 260 viewings of the post I made on Winter Jig Fishing. There is only one reply and that is yours. I truly hope that our fishermen are not going the same way as the rest of our society in that they just need to "Push a Button" to get what they want. In other words "The Crankbaits, Jerkbaits, Spinnerbaits, etc." I think the marketing theme behind them is " If you have the right Crankbait you can just use your electronics to find the fish and throw it in to catch a boat load." I hope that we are still practicing the "Art of Fishing" in that we rely on our ability to "Make a lure come to life" instead of relying on the factory that produced it to do it for us. Jig Fishermen??????.......Please reply.

[fishingherb]

Hello Walcrabass,

Thanks for the fishing report. Sounds like you had a good day. Think I will give it a try today, not into gig fishing that much. I will have to learn, was always pretty good with plastic worms. Sounds like it's going to be a nice day and my catching day may not be that good but it will be nice to get out. Fishing changes from one day to the next so I will see what happens today.

Thanks again Herb

[Ham]

I'm glad you managed a good trip out of tough conditions. I love fishing football jigs this time of year. The colder water really helps me simplify my offerings.

Try a Zoom Super Chunk Jr as a trailer sometime. I really like it as a cold water jig trailer.

I do not agree with your blanket statement of that jigs catch bigger fish, but I'm not going to try to change your mind.

Be extra careful fishing alone in these cold weather/water conditions. No fish is worth dying for.

[Walcrabass]

Ham,

Thanks for the input. That is how we all get to be better fishermen. I do fish with the Super chunks and smaller ones too. Also use Paca Craws and Bass Pro Crack Craws. I modify all of these with scissors for more /less flap. I am also a huge believer in Crawdad Oil. I have seen it make a difference in the bite and also holding on to the bait. Believe me if the water is too rough I am getting out of there. I already had one relative drown at Stockton in the winter. I keep my Life Jacket on the entire day. Good Luck.

[Guest csfishinfool]

Winter jig fishing is a great way to catch them. I was at table rock last monday and had a decent day with five

keepers maybe going ten pounds total. The bite was almost nothing. They would eat it and literally sit there and

not move an inch. The high wind made feeling the bite really tough. Short cast and patience paid off. These fish

were in 25-40 feet of water. I was using a 3/8 oz jig. They wanted it barely moving. In the winter time I like a

small profile jig and a twin tail trailer. A lot of the crayfish in these lakes become very lethargic and move slow

in cold water. Keep that in mind on days when the fishing is tough.

[Walcrabass]

Winter jig fishing is a great way to catch them. I was at table rock last monday and had a decent day with five

keepers maybe going ten pounds total. The bite was almost nothing. They would eat it and literally sit there and

not move an inch. The high wind made feeling the bite really tough. Short cast and patience paid off. These fish

were in 25-40 feet of water. I was using a 3/8 oz jig. They wanted it barely moving. In the winter time I like a

small profile jig and a twin tail trailer. A lot of the crayfish in these lakes become very lethargic and move slow

in cold water. Keep that in mind on days when the fishing is tough.

[Walcrabass]

That "No Tap Bite" in the winter is so common. And you are right when you say the wind keeps you from feeling it. Sometimes I just reel up line as tight as I dare to keep them from spitting it out and set the Hook. That is one of the instances where I believe the Crawdad Oil helps them to hang on. That barely moving on the bottom retrieve is the only way to get them to take sometimes unfortunately but it gets difficult 25 feet deep. Do you ever increase your Jig size when fishing deep or trying to keep contact with the bottom??? I personally like the heaviest Jig they will bite on a given day.

[FishinCricket]

I am a jig fisherman but I don't fish this lake, sorry I didn't reply.