Ask any bass fisherman which
season necessitates the most unique approach to locating bass and invariably the
solution will be winter. Winter bass fishing is challenging on many fronts.
Anglers must cope with often bitter cold temperatures, frozen-over creeks and
far lower fish metabolisms. So with all of these obstacles, what can an angler
do in order to improve their chances of hooking up during the cold
months?
Since largemouth bass are cold-blooded animals, their metabolism far less in colder water. Metabolism is related to digestion. This means bass consume less food, thus making the fishing harder. It is much easier to coax a hungry fish into biting lures.
The whole food chain is struggling with lethargy this time of year, because of depleted energy stores. Remember that many of the largemouth's essential forage is within hibernation, most notably, crayfish. Animal life is not moving quickly this time of year, either. Both predator and prey succumb for their metabolism and anglers often forget their lures and bait must match the overall mood of their environment. Work your lures too rapidly and you'll be setting off red flags.
Slow down
As the weather cools, striped bass become less active. When fishing for cold temperature largemouth, you need to slow your presentation to permit the fish more time to respond to your lures. You do not have to exclusively use plastic worms along with other slowly fished lures, just reduce the retrieve of whatever you use. Along with presenting the lure slowly, it's also wise to slowdown your hook set. Waiting too much time can mean a missed fish, just pause as it were after feeling the bass hit the lure before setting the hook.
Change Sizes
Winter striped bass can be picky about what they strike. There's two theories about winter lure selection: go big or go small. The idea behind larger lures is the fact that winter bass won’t waste energy attempting to eat small fish. Conversely, the ones that support small lures state that bass strike small fish because it takes little energy to trap and swallow the small fish. A great rule of thumb is to simply change between small and big lures when winter striped bass fishing and see which works best. Winter water is usually clear, so regardless of size you need to use lures in natural colors with realistic patterns.
Move
One benefit of fishing in the winter months is that there is generally hardly any fishing pressure. As the cold temperature keeps most fishermen in your own home, bass lakes are generally available. This allows you to move around from place to place to locate where the bass are located. However, you have to spend enough time at each destination to give any bass present the chance to strike, as winter bass will rarely move long distances. But when you aren’t having any luck proceed to the next area and see if the fishing is much better.
Find Warm Water
Another winter bass fishing strategy is to look for any sources of tepid to warm water. Warm water can be found in shallow areas warmed through the sun, areas where small streams enter a lake or large river and near power plant discharges on many large rivers. When the water is icing over, outdoors areas of water will indicate in which the water is warmer, fish areas away from the ice. Keep an eye out for baitfish too. If you find baitfish in a particular area it's a sign that water is warmer. The baitfish will even draw the largemouth to the area.
Try Bait
Though many fishermen don't like using bait, bait can change a slow bass fishing day right into a productive day. Minnows and night crawlers will act as well for catching bass during the cold months as in the spring. Keep the bait warm and lively before use. It's also wise to switch your bait as frequently as possible as the cold water can make the bait less lively.
Since largemouth bass are cold-blooded animals, their metabolism far less in colder water. Metabolism is related to digestion. This means bass consume less food, thus making the fishing harder. It is much easier to coax a hungry fish into biting lures.
The whole food chain is struggling with lethargy this time of year, because of depleted energy stores. Remember that many of the largemouth's essential forage is within hibernation, most notably, crayfish. Animal life is not moving quickly this time of year, either. Both predator and prey succumb for their metabolism and anglers often forget their lures and bait must match the overall mood of their environment. Work your lures too rapidly and you'll be setting off red flags.
Slow down
As the weather cools, striped bass become less active. When fishing for cold temperature largemouth, you need to slow your presentation to permit the fish more time to respond to your lures. You do not have to exclusively use plastic worms along with other slowly fished lures, just reduce the retrieve of whatever you use. Along with presenting the lure slowly, it's also wise to slowdown your hook set. Waiting too much time can mean a missed fish, just pause as it were after feeling the bass hit the lure before setting the hook.
Change Sizes
Winter striped bass can be picky about what they strike. There's two theories about winter lure selection: go big or go small. The idea behind larger lures is the fact that winter bass won’t waste energy attempting to eat small fish. Conversely, the ones that support small lures state that bass strike small fish because it takes little energy to trap and swallow the small fish. A great rule of thumb is to simply change between small and big lures when winter striped bass fishing and see which works best. Winter water is usually clear, so regardless of size you need to use lures in natural colors with realistic patterns.
Move
One benefit of fishing in the winter months is that there is generally hardly any fishing pressure. As the cold temperature keeps most fishermen in your own home, bass lakes are generally available. This allows you to move around from place to place to locate where the bass are located. However, you have to spend enough time at each destination to give any bass present the chance to strike, as winter bass will rarely move long distances. But when you aren’t having any luck proceed to the next area and see if the fishing is much better.
Find Warm Water
Another winter bass fishing strategy is to look for any sources of tepid to warm water. Warm water can be found in shallow areas warmed through the sun, areas where small streams enter a lake or large river and near power plant discharges on many large rivers. When the water is icing over, outdoors areas of water will indicate in which the water is warmer, fish areas away from the ice. Keep an eye out for baitfish too. If you find baitfish in a particular area it's a sign that water is warmer. The baitfish will even draw the largemouth to the area.
Try Bait
Though many fishermen don't like using bait, bait can change a slow bass fishing day right into a productive day. Minnows and night crawlers will act as well for catching bass during the cold months as in the spring. Keep the bait warm and lively before use. It's also wise to switch your bait as frequently as possible as the cold water can make the bait less lively.
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