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When I was growing up and getting my introduction to the outdoors, there were two seasons of the year – hunting season, and fishing season. From early spring until October when cool weather hit, we fished. Once squirrel season opened, we hunted until spring came and it was time to fish again.
We never mixed the two, probably because we mistakenly thought that fish migrated like ducks and geese once the weather became cold. How wrong we were. Some of the year’s best bites take place at the same time you run the risk of encountering another bite….”frost bite”.
Recently, I ran across some excellent advice and tips from a couple of pro bass fishermen to help you catch more bass when the weather is cold and nasty. Some professional anglers actually like it when the weather and water turn cold and the bass turn off. Like the top tier of professionals in any competition, they are practitioners of the philosophy expressed by the old saying, “When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” But that’s not the only thing that separates winners from losers.
Winners know that in decent weather anybody could get lucky and win. But in nasty weather, especially the bitter, cold kind, most competitors lose focus and, losing focus, they lose tournaments. This process of self-elimination narrows the field of competitors and tilts the odds toward the diehards.
“When someone tells you the bass won’t bite because the water’s too cold, just ignore them,” said Woo Daves, Spring Grove, Va., winner of the 2000 BASS Masters Classic. A bundled-up Daves won that Classic by facing down a very cold, rough and windy Lake Michigan during a three-day northeaster. Daves and other cream-of-the-crop anglers, can testify to this from their trophies, cash, prizes and experience that bass do bite in cold water. They all agree; you just need to apply a little finesse.
Daves volunteers these cold water bass tips: “On rivers, fish backwaters and reverse currents where the water is warmer and the bass don’t have to fight the current. In deeper water, run to long flat points or channel bends. Cruise around and watch your depth finder for signs of baitfish. “Find the bait; find the bass,” said Daves, who has two favorite presentations. One is a ¾-ounce spoon, jigged vertically. The other is a dropshot rig, a ½-ounce weight on the bottom and a dropper hook about 12 to 18 inches up the line. Daves dresses it with a short, plastic worm and fishes it slowly.
Mark Raveling, pro angler of Spring Park, MN, preaches slow fishing, slow to the point of no rod movement at all. Dead sticking, it’s called. His favorite pattern is a steep drop-off close to a feeding area. He’ll fish a plastic worm with a jig head or, he’ll switch to either a Rapala jerk bait or to a Shad Rap or a Storm Wiggle Wart.
“These baits crank down to a certain depth and remain at that depth until the angler winds them back to the rod. Here’s the drill: Crank it down. Wait. Wait some more. If you get a fish, stay put. There are more fish where that one came from and they’re suspended at the same depth,” said Raveling.
The advice of these and other bass fishing professionals can be summed up in two basic concepts for fishing cold weather bass. Downsize your lure, and slow down your retrieve. Give these techniques a try this winter for what could bring you some HOT cold weather bassin’.
