It”s surprising how many fishermen put the boat in winter storage and sit at home watching the TV fishing shows. Instead, they should be out on the lake enjoying some of the best action of the year.
Actually, the winter months can be ideal for fishing. The power boaters or jet skiers won”t harass you and there are also fewer fishermen on the lake. In fact, in recent weeks the lake has been absent of fishermen. The best part is that larger fish are normally caught during the winter months.
Fishing for bass is a different ballgame when the water temperature hovers around 50 degrees. The bass are schooled and you have to cover a lot of water to find fish. When you do locate a school of bass, you can usually catch several and they will be quality fish.
There are a lot of myths about bass behavior during the winter months. One misconception is bass always seek deep water during the winter. Not true. Most largemouth bass are caught in less than 20 feet of water in summer or winter. In Clear Lake, most of the bass are caught in less than 5 feet of water. In fact, many of the guides report catching their fish in 2-4 feet of water.
Another myth is that bass won”t aggressively chase a lure during the winter. This is also not true. On Clear Lake, ripping a jerkbait or yo-yoing a lipless crankbait takes many of the larger bass. Although it is true that, at times, a slow retrieve will result in more strikes. However, fast retrieves will often trigger a strike.
Another big myth is that bass don”t feed when the water temperature drops below 48 degrees. A bass is classed as a “ectotherm,” which means it adjusts its body temperature to its environment. The metabolism of a bass goes up and down with the water temperature. When the water temperature drops, the fish will require less food. But bass still feed some during the winter months. In fact, bass are often caught through the ice in northern states when the water temperature is only 34 degrees. Plenty of bass are caught at Clear Lake on live jumbo minnows even during the coldest days.
Since a bass” metabolism is lower in the winter and the fish move less, only a small portion will strike a lure at any given time. This is where using a crankbait or jerkbait is effective. You”re covering a lot of water and placing your lure in front of a lot of fish to find one that will bite.
During the winter a bass will often take a long look at a lure before striking. This was graphically illustrated to me a few years ago. It was during January and the water was exceptionally clear and I located a large school of about 50 bass holding beneath a dock near Nice. I would cast a jig to the bass and just let it rest on the bottom. On every cast, four or five bass would slowly cruise up to the jig and inspect it. In fact, they would even nose it, but still not bite it. But about every 10th cast, a bass would slowly swim over to the jig and gently pick it up. Since I was prefishing for a tournament I didn”t set the hook and after a second or two the fish would spit out the lure.
There is no question that winter is the prime time of the year to catch trophy bass. The results of the some of the bass tournaments held in February are a perfect example. The average weight per fish during these tournaments just about always exceeds 3 pounds and the winning team usually has at least a 5-pound average per fish.
In the past, most of the fish that topped 10 pounds were caught during the cold winter months, including the current lake record bass of 17.52 pounds. It was caught in February in less than 3 feet of water.
Why large bass are active during the winter months is unknown. It could be they need more food to sustain themselves or they could be biting because there is less competition for food from other fish.
One thing is certain, those fishermen who put up their boats and stow their fishing gear for the winter are making a big mistake. And it sure beats watching the television personalities reel in the same fish over and over again.
