Best winter river tactic or bait??

[Johnsfolly]

1 hour ago, snagged in outlet 3 said:

I guess I'll got trout fishing.....

Probably the right idea 😉! 

All these photoless posts are really depressing. How am I to live vicariously through you guys when there aren't any photos🤣

[FishnDave]

This sounds like that other time, when the fishing was so bad, even the LIARS didn't catch anything!

[snagged in outlet 3]

1 hour ago, Johnsfolly said:

Probably the right idea 😉! 

All these photoless posts are really depressing. How am I to live vicariously through you guys when there aren't any photos🤣

You?!?    Think about me😂.   
 
1000 trout per mile or whatever the rate is sounds pretty good right now😁

[Al Agnew]

3 hours ago, Johnsfolly said:

Probably the right idea 😉! 

All these photoless posts are really depressing. How am I to live vicariously through you guys when there aren't any photos🤣

Ask and you shall receive...21.25 incher today.  It was a slow day numbers wise, only 13 smallmouth and a spotted bass.  But all but two were over 15 inches.  Caught a 17, 17.5, 18, and 18.25 in addition to this one.  It's my biggest smallmouth of the year, and probably of the last 10 years.

[Al Agnew]

On 12/26/2021 at 3:41 PM, snagged in outlet 3 said:

That’s what I’ve been throwing.   5 trips without a fish.  I still enjoy going. It was cold and misty today.  Water and air both 47 degrees.   I THINK I’m in the right areas relative to where I’ve caught them in past winters.   But no joy this year.  So far.  

It's been a weird year.  I'm finding fish in some odd spots, and having to use some odd presentations.  The long stretch of dry weather made the water super clear, and that can be really tough in cold weather.  The absolute BEST winter stretch of river I know had plenty of fish, but the fishing was slow overall while the water was so clear.  I tried a different river stretch that is usually pretty mediocre, and caught some little ones.  Then a different stretch yet that is also usually mediocre, and caught a 19.5 incher on my fourth cast of the day (after catching a nice largemouth on the second cast), and ended up with a dozen spotted bass that I kept and several decent smallmouth.  But I had to make long casts with a small jerkbait to catch fish.  Then tried a different river, a stretch I'd never fished, with a friend who knew it well, after one of those warm spells a couple weeks ago, and guess what the only thing that worked was...TOPWATER.  So tried it back on my home river the first cool day after the warm spell...water temps were still pretty high, and it worked again.  Even caught one over 18 inches on it, and had blow-ups from several other big fish.  You would have sworn it was August. 

Then the rain came, and now the rivers are in good shape.  Caught a 20 incher on a crankbait and a couple dozen other fish the other day, and today got my biggest in probably 10 years, a 21.25 incher, on a swimbait.  Weird today...the swimbait was the ONLY thing that was working (except for one 16 incher on a crankbait).

[fishinwrench]

Woah, that's a fine Smallie !   👍

[Al Agnew]

4 minutes ago, fishinwrench said:

Woah, that's a fine Smallie !   👍

Was having a discussion on how much it weighed on "social media".  We did weigh the 20 incher in the above photo...3.5 pounds.  But look at the size of the tail on it compared to the rest of the body.  And look at how much smaller the tail is on the one today.  Geez, if that fish had a tail of the same proportions it would be 23 inches!  I'm guessing it at 5 pounds, maybe a bit over.

[snagged in outlet 3]

12 hours ago, Al Agnew said:

Was having a discussion on how much it weighed on "social media".  We did weigh the 20 incher in the above photo...3.5 pounds.  But look at the size of the tail on it compared to the rest of the body.  And look at how much smaller the tail is on the one today.  Geez, if that fish had a tail of the same proportions it would be 23 inches!  I'm guessing it at 5 pounds, maybe a bit over.

I think I recognize that boat...

[snagged in outlet 3]

That hurts😂

[Cameron Gillespie]

On 12/27/2021 at 9:00 PM, Al Agnew said:

It's been a weird year.  I'm finding fish in some odd spots, and having to use some odd presentations.  The long stretch of dry weather made the water super clear, and that can be really tough in cold weather.  The absolute BEST winter stretch of river I know had plenty of fish, but the fishing was slow overall while the water was so clear.  I tried a different river stretch that is usually pretty mediocre, and caught some little ones.  Then a different stretch yet that is also usually mediocre, and caught a 19.5 incher on my fourth cast of the day (after catching a nice largemouth on the second cast), and ended up with a dozen spotted bass that I kept and several decent smallmouth.  But I had to make long casts with a small jerkbait to catch fish.  Then tried a different river, a stretch I'd never fished, with a friend who knew it well, after one of those warm spells a couple weeks ago, and guess what the only thing that worked was...TOPWATER.  So tried it back on my home river the first cool day after the warm spell...water temps were still pretty high, and it worked again.  Even caught one over 18 inches on it, and had blow-ups from several other big fish.  You would have sworn it was August. 

Then the rain came, and now the rivers are in good shape.  Caught a 20 incher on a crankbait and a couple dozen other fish the other day, and today got my biggest in probably 10 years, a 21.25 incher, on a swimbait.  Weird today...the swimbait was the ONLY thing that was working (except for one 16 incher on a crankbait).

That’s just a beautiful fish. A fine specimen.