Cold water piggies

[Jetfisherjohn]

Since its that time of the year where everything it's getting cold, and it's officially winter time in some parts of the country, lows in the teens here in Indiana, I thought I'd throw this question out there.

 

Fishing strictly in cooler water, fall, winter, spring time, tell us a little story of some success you've had while fishing cold water, whether it's been number days or a time when you have caught a giant. Talk about Water temps, lure(s) used, weather conditions. And maybe even post a picture to go along with it so we know it's not a fishermans wise tale 😉

 

I'm still looking for my first winter swimbait fish so hearing ya'lls stories will motivate me to put in that much more time to go try!

[northeast_trev]

We usually don't have a ton of time here between when the temps bottom out and when the ice takes over. This year had been a bit different with many ponds still wide open even though it's been getting into the 20s at night. Basically it seems like if you can stand the cold, you may be able to catch a fish. I know Jesse had some good luck up until he was snowblind so the same theory applies.

 

Big baits, worked sloooow. One or two real turns, pause, repeat. Even a lathargic fish is gonna have a hard time passing up an easy meal. I'd say wait for a front to be moving in, put your gloves on, and go chuck a Hudd in your usual spots. You can try the bottom bounce/drag method or try baits with different ROFs so you can work them slow in different parts of the water column. Patience is gonna be the key

 

This is just from what I've gathered from reading all the other posts/topics about winter fish on SU. Like I said I don't usually have much time to try them out. So take my advice however you will haha

[mcaetano2905]

Here in Portugal (specially in the south) the climate is similar to California. The lakes don't freeze (but some very shallow areas may get some ice on top of the water in some cold nights). I've caught most of my swimbait fish (6" baits) in winter, but it's usually from the second week of February until mid March. I've caught my biggest swimbait fish on a 168 S-Waver in mid July on a hot day.

[Top Ramen]

When the water is cold, I use ROF5 Hudds a lot and retrieve them very slowly. I also throw big wakes if the sun comes out and starts warming up boulders or flats. Work them painfully slow with lots of pauses. We have underground rivers and springs here so I also fish anyplace they empty into a lake since they tend to be the coldest water in summer and the warmest in winter. One of my favorites stays 64 degrees all year. The fish will stack up in it at night for the warmth.

 

The most important thing is the lure speed. It's hard for me to slow down enough so in the winter I swap my Lexas for 5:1 Snakehead Customs. The thing I love about cold water fish is how healthy they look.

 

 

 

[SWIMBO]

What's cold ?

[SPEEDBEAD]

What's cold ?

 

Show 'em the Heisman.....

[Nolan Aker]

lures are bouncing here in mn, made it to -6 with windchill today.

[got2be5]

Last winter while ice fishing saw the largest bass ive ever seen or caught on my

home water.We were sitting in about 15 ' of water close to a drop off that probably went to 50-60' when the screen on the camera blacked out i thought i stepped on the cord or something.When the screen was returning to normal (the fish had blacked it out) a giant was eyeballing my buddies ice fly.

The fish slowly swam off, the fact that it was out cruising kind of caught me off guard.See a lot smaller fish thru the camera but nothing over 5# ever.It was cruising in 15' of water looking for a easy meal im sure.

Needless to say, fished that area in the spring after ice off caught several in the 5-61/2# range.The biggest ive caught is just under 8# this fish was in a different class altogether.

[Top Ramen]

I should add one more thing -- they will still come up fairly shallow in winter. People get this idea in their head that the fish go deep and sulk in the winter and it's just not true. Big fish will go shallow but it has to be near deep water. I especially like to fish shallow in the afternoon when the sun has warmed up the big rocks, the bluff walls or the flats. They will happily move to be even a few degrees warmer. Even a big dark patch of grass/weeds will hold enough heat to pull some bass over to it.

[got2be5]

I should add one more thing -- they will still come up fairly shallow in winter. People get this idea in their head that the fish go deep and sulk in the winter and it's just not true. Big fish will go shallow but it has to be near deep water. I especially like to fish shallow in the afternoon when the sun has warmed up the big rocks, the bluff walls or the flats. They will happily move to be even a few degrees warmer. Even a big dark patch of grass/weeds will hold enough heat to pull some bass over to it.

^^^^^Yep^^^^^ Ive kept a fishing log book for close to 20 yrs.Here the bigger fish move up and feed between 12:00pm and 4:00pm.

At least thats when the majority of my big fish have been caught.They may or not be up at other times,between those hrs is when they chew.No longer does the talk of bass staying deep in the mud ring true here.

[MA Frog Man]

I should add one more thing -- they will still come up fairly shallow in winter. People get this idea in their head that the fish go deep and sulk in the winter and it's just not true. Big fish will go shallow but it has to be near deep water. I especially like to fish shallow in the afternoon when the sun has warmed up the big rocks, the bluff walls or the flats. They will happily move to be even a few degrees warmer. Even a big dark patch of grass/weeds will hold enough heat to pull some bass over to it.

People look at me like I'm crazy when I tell them I throw topwater in the winter. And have caught some big fish doing so. An almost overlooked part of the winter arsenal. Especially if the places you're fishing aren't super deep and even more so around submerged brush. Go bigger and slower

[SWIMBO]

I think they move in winter a lot more than people think,that being said words like "winter fishing" and "cold water fishing" depend on where you live I guess here in Colorado our fish will spawn in 55 degree water so some places winter temps are our spring temps.

But just try to key in on certain places during winter like southern facing banks with rock shallow creeks that dump into larger bodies of water and pay special attention to the warmest parts of the day if you can find an isolated rock pile near deep water that can be $$$

 

Sometimes you have to make them eat you have to make them make a decision quickly one of my favorite things to do is throw a 7" mission fish and rip it off the bottom watch the line as soon as you see it hit the bottom rip it up again usually they hit it right after it hits the bottom you will be amazed at how many you can catch once you fire them up and the best part is they are hard to spook when you can get them deep like that.

[MA Frog Man]

I think they move in winter a lot more than people think,that being said words like "winter fishing" and "cold water fishing" depend on where you live I guess here in Colorado our fish will spawn in 55 degree water so some places winter temps are our spring temps.

But just try to key in on certain places during winter like southern facing banks with rock shallow creeks that dump into larger bodies of water and pay special attention to the warmest parts of the day if you can find an isolated rock pile near deep water that can be $$$

Sometimes you have to make them eat you have to make them make a decision quickly one of my favorite things to do is throw a 7" mission fish and rip it off the bottom watch the line as soon as you see it hit the bottom rip it up again usually they hit it right after it hits the bottom you will be amazed at how many you can catch once you fire them up and the best part is they are hard to spook when you can get them deep like that.

Especially in colder water those fish trend to school up in specific spots and bouncing something off the bottom can produce fish on consecutive casts. Winter is the time to focus on a spot on a spot for a big fish though

[SWIMBO]

I agree 100%

[wallyc]

Last winter while ice fishing saw the largest bass ive ever seen or caught on my

home water.We were sitting in about 15 ' of water close to a drop off that probably went to 50-60' when the screen on the camera blacked out i thought i stepped on the cord or something.When the screen was returning to normal (the fish had blacked it out) a giant was eyeballing my buddies ice fly.

The fish slowly swam off, the fact that it was out cruising kind of caught me off guard.See a lot smaller fish thru the camera but nothing over 5# ever.It was cruising in 15' of water looking for a easy meal im sure.

Needless to say, fished that area in the spring after ice off caught several in the 5-61/2# range.The biggest ive caught is just under 8# this fish was in a different class altogether.

WOW....you sure it wasn't a Russian submarine ? What state you in ?