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A Word About Conditions
This article is being
written from my perspective considering the 30 or so years I have sought the black bass as my only serious hobby. This time
has been spent mostly fishing East Texas lakes, the past several years principally on Lake Fork. Although I have not personally
applied the tactics in other locales, I see no reason why the application would not be appropriate elsewhere, given similar
conditions.
Our winters are not usually terribly severe, consequently
lake surface temperatures usually fall to the mid to high 40’s by late December and remain in that range until late
February or early March when the weather and the water temperatures slowly begin to rise. If your winters are appreciably
colder and your lake routinely temperatures drop into the 30’s or freeze up, I suspect the tactics I will discuss will
still have application, but it may be a bit later in the year!
You Have Cabin Fever Bad And Must Have a
Fishing Fix!
It is late January or early February and you have
a serious case of cabin fever. The last couple of days have been sunny with temperatures in the 50’s and the weather
man is forecasting more of the same for today, so you’re going to the lake to cure that cabin fever problem!
What’s
Your Strategy?
You arrive at the lake about 8:00 AM and put your boat in the water where
your surface temperature gauge tells you the water temperature is 45 degrees. What’s your strategy of choice? You say:
"Find a well defined creek with some standing brush or trees and break out the jig and pig!"
That’s a good choice and is exactly what I did for many years. As a matter of fact, that is probably still a reasonable
tactic until about 11:00 AM or so.
Now the Different Strategy!
Over the past several years, I’ve come to realize that bass don’t necessarily remain dormant
in these cold water temperatures. Given a few days of moderate temperatures (50’s or more), with lots of sunshine, the
shallow flats begin to warm a little, even if only a degree or two. Bass which have been relatively dormant for a while, seek
out these places of warmer water and actively cruise them. Some folks believe this is driven by early spawning urges, others
believe it is just a feeding behavior. Regardless the reason, bass on these shallow flats will hit a lure with gusto.
Areas
to Target!
Look for shallow flats with deeper water close by.
The flat should be exposed to the afternoon sun. I’ve had my best success by targeting those places that I know supported
good weed growths during the summer months. Though the weeds have died back and may no longer be visible from the surface,
underwater patches usually remain. If you can find them, target them, fishing the 1 ft. to 6 ft. range.
Bait Choices!
Absolutely
my favorite bait for this application is a white ½ oz. spinner bait with a single #5 or #6 Colorado blade. I also use a trailer
on the spinner bait to provide more bulk and which I believe enables me to work the bait a bit slower. My trailer of choice
is the Stanley Pro Trailer which is made of a tough, flexible plastic with two arms that flutter out from the sides of the
spinner bait body rather than trailing behind. It also has holes for insertion of a rattle, but I don’t add that. Unfortunately
this line of trailers was discontinued a couple of years ago, so probably the only ones available are someone’s old
stock. Actually, I’m not sure the trailer type is terribly significant, but do believe one is a benefit.
I have also had success with the same spinner bait, but in red or orange. I prefer the
white and will use that unless the water is somewhat off-color, then I’ll go to the red, with gold blades.
The spinner bait should be fished very slowly, reeling just fast enough to feel the big
Colorado blade thump. If you find a patch of submerged weeds, try to bring the bait back at a speed that just ticks the top
of the weeds.
A secondary choice is a ½ to ¾ oz. Rattletrap, with
a pattern that is predominately red. As with the spinnerbait, retrieve the Rattletrap just fast enough to tick the top of
the submerged weeds.
A Final Word!
As with most winter fishing, you will rarely encounter large numbers
of active fish! Rather, my experience has been that they will be somewhat isolated (e.g., where there’s one doesn’t
necessarily mean there are others there at that time). You probably will have to fish hard and hit lots of places. Don’t
be afraid to come back to a place you’ve already hit later on in the day; the fish do move in and out of these flats
during the afternoon. On the up side, if my experience holds, the fish you catch will probably be good ones. In the years I have used this tactic at Fork, I’ve rarely caught a fish
under 4 lb. Most every year there are some really big fish reported to have been caught at Lake Fork using this tactic. I
don’t know whether just the larger fish are cruising the shallows or if the rather large baits I prefer are deterring
smaller ones.
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