Mid Lake - Jan 25 - swimbait bite still strong

[Dock-in-it]

I fished this morning and found a real good deep water swimbait bite. After this last cold snap the WT has dropped to 45.8 and the fish still seem to prefer the SB. I kept the boat in 40 to 70 FOW and the bass were steadily moving throughout the entire water column.  Fish in the 1-10ft range were fairly easy to catch, but the deeper fish have a mind of their own. 

Lots of trees in the area but the fish swim right by the trees and keep on moving. I caught a fair amount of LM, but mostly K's and just a few SM.

I rountinely had fish on my graph from 7 to 8:30AM then they started to disappear. For me, scouting an area after 8:30 can be very misleading. I looked at two other area's after 9AM and caught a few more keepers but at daylight tomorrow morning these same area's could hold lots of fish. 

I used a 5/8 jig head with 3" SB 90% of the time and I did catch some on a Damiki rig.

These deep fish like to posture underneath the back of the boat so I often throw my SB about 10ft behind the boat and reel it thru the suspended fish (normally about 25-35ft down).

[Quillback]

Nice ones!  I might get out Tuesday, haven't been out in my boat since January 2.  

[edwin]

Fantastic effort as always!

[Macsimus]

Other than when targeting the fish behind your boat, are you fishing vertically with the SB or are you casting with a swimming retrieve? 5/8 seems quite heavy to me and would have a 3" SB moving rapidly during a swimming retrieve? 

[Dock-in-it]

I am swimming the 5/8 SB at a very slow retrieve 95% of the time. I will try a vertical presentation when a large group (more than 5) appears deep under the trolling motor.

The 5/8 allows you to make long casts and get the bait down quickly to the target. The drop speed really triggers their interest. These winter fish are constantly swimming during their feeding periods. 

I use FFS to look for the best opportunity for my next cast.

#1 a fish that breaks the surface (most days rare)

#2 a group of fish closest to the surface

#3 the largest group of fish regardless of depth

#4 what ever is available...groups are more competitive 

I use 10# line on a baitcaster and normally use a 5/8 Big Bite baits TRU-X Wally jig (blue ice). It has a 3/0 hook but has a short length. Their 3/0 has the same length as a Gamakatsu 2/0. 

One picture is Big Bite and Queen tackle 5/8 heads with same length 3/0 hooks.

Other picture shows hook length of 3/0 Big Bite and 2/0 Gamakatsu. 

 

[Macsimus]

Dock-in-it, thanks very much!!