Cold Water Fishing
Dateline 01/11/99
Some of the ways that have worked for me in the past should work for you this winter. I learned to fish a jig and pig one Thanksgiving at Clark's Hill. I had read a lot about this bait but did not have enough faith in it to fish it for very long.
The Saturday after Thanksgiving I put up all my rods but one and used a jig and pig all day. About two o'clock I was regretting that decision when I pulled up to a brush pile. I caught three bass over two pounds on consecutive casts. A little later, in another brush pile I caught a 6 3/4 pound bass on the bait. I have had faith in it every since.
I also learned to jig under the boat for bass during the winter. The second or third year I spent Christmas at the lake, I kept seeing something on my depthfinder just off the bottom on this sandbar near my trailer. I tried everything I knew but could not get them to hit. I finally started casting a Little George. Didn't get a strike until I started jigging it up and down right under the boat.
I caught over thirty bass off that sandbar the next three days. I had to go home for Christmas Day and the next day, when I got back to the lake, the fish were gone. I have caught them that way since them, just not quite as many.
Hybrids are called Palmetto Mules in South Carolina because they pull like a mule. They also like cold weather. I don't like them because too many people come to the lake during the winter for them and I don't have it to myself any more. I do like to catch them. The first time I got into them I saw something on my depthfinder and dropped a little George to the bottom. A four pound hybrid hit and almost took the rod away from me.
I caught several dozen from 4 to 7 pounds that Christmas. They were everywhere. You can watch the gulls and find the hybrids that way too. I have done that many times and have learned a trick. While the fish are feeding, the gulls will be flying and you can catch the hybrids on just about anything. When the gulls light on the water, the feeding spree is over. But the hybrids are still there. You can drop a tiny lure like a crappie jig to them and they will hit it when they won't hit anything else.
They are wild on ultralight tackle. I caught a six pounder on a ultralight rod using six pound line. Took over 15 minutes to get it to the boat. My hand was cramping from holding the rod by the time I netted it. Sometimes a striper will hit with the school of hybrids. One year I was catching three and four pound hybrids. I was using a spoon on a heavy casting rod and 17 pound line. The hybrids would hit under the boat in about 15 feet of water and pull like crazy, fighting back and forth. None ever pulled drag.
Suddenly, something hit and took off, running away from the boat. I stripped off about 50 feet of line before I turned it, and it made two more runs like that. It was a ten pound striper. Last Christmas I hooked something on that same outfit. It took off and didn't stop. I felt it go through a tree that was almost 100 yards from me. I pulled against the tree until the line broke.
I have no idea how big it was but the lake record striper at Clark's Hill is 55 pounds! I hope to catch a big striper some day. Live bait is a good way to catch them and I plan to buy some blueback herring and set up for them. I guess I will just have to put up with the little six to eight pound hybrids that hit.
More on cold water fishing:
Beat the Winter
Time Blues
A nine pound bass is better than a trip to Disney World. by Tom
Lee
Christmas Memories
Christmas means fishing at Clark's Hill to me - and I have actually
caught fish!
11/03/97 - Jig and Pig Fishing
A jig and pig is a good bait for big bass. Here are some suggestions for
fishing them.
Jigging
Spoons
From Lurestruly, info on choosing and using spoons in the winter.
Jigging
Spoons
Where to use spoons and tips on using them, from Bassresource.com.
Record Hybrid
from Bull Shoals
Report of Frank Talbert, Jr. catching a Arkansas state record 20
pound hybrid at Bull Shoals lake
Striped
Bass
Everything you ever wanted to know about stripers, from record
size fish to what they eat. Lots of basic info.
Sunshine
Bass
Florida hybirds are called sunshine bass.
Winter Carp Fishing
How to catch carp in cold water, from Carp.net
Winter Bass Patterns
Bass are hard to catch in icewater. Here are some reasons why and some
patterns that work - sometimes!
Got any information about cold water fishing? Tell me about them. If so, you can also post information about it for others on my message board - you must register to post but can read the board as a guest. Also, if you have a story about fishing in cold water, let me know about it at fishing.guide@about.com. for a "Fishtale"or discuss it in the chat room on every night at 8:00 EST. Tell others what you like.
ONE YEAR AGO THIS WEEK - 01/12/98
- Do Fish Scents Make Sense
Does it help to put fish attractants on your lures? I always do and
have faith in them.
Check out Coming Next Week - Next week's column topic, contest prize and new additions to the resources lists.
