smallmouth question

[phiendWMD]

I was under the impression they stopped biting under 40 degrees. Icyguides has a report saying he was catching them today in water that was freezing up with 18 degree air temps. Is it a total waste of time to try in mid 30 degree water? His report seems to indicate its not, but maybe it was just something weird? I don't really care if I don't catch any if I at least have a chance. If I'm just going to freeze without a hope I can find something better to do.

Would you try it?

 

[Fishidiot]

phiendWMD wrote:
Would you try it?

Yes, I'd try it. Personally, I don't usually target bass when there is slush ice in the river, but sometimes it can be productive. I've had big river smallies demolish muskie plugs in the dead of winter with ice in the river.

Water temps in the Susky are indeed in the 30s but they have been in the forties until just recently and will likely continue to rise back up for the foreseeable future. Also, the river is currently still quite low and wadeable and if you can work a big streamer very slowly in deeper, slackwater areas, the fish will indeed eat in these cold temps. Late November and early December have often produced some of my biggest bass. The larger fish seem to be more aggressive in the colder temps. Usually, by about mid December, I think the fishing really turns off. However, even in the dead of winter, bass will eat and can still be caught if you know where to look for them.

 

[poopdeck]

They still eat, just not as much. Personally I won't fish in ice water but I do catch them during the winter months but all of my cold winter fishing for smallmouth is with spinning gear. The key is patience and lots of it since the key is to fish slower then slow.

 

[icyguides]

My report may have been a little misleading as there are a few important variables left out. Where we hunted in the morning is a large Impoundment, so the water is deeper and still, which makes it more prone to icing. Even there, the ice was virtually gone by 10 or 11am.

Where i fished in the afternoon is upriver and is more riverine- shallower, rockier, more current. One other important thing is that where i was fishing is influenced by a warm water discharge upstream. The water on that side is always at least a few degrees warmer than the other side.

By the afternoon the air temp was somewhere in the 40's. The day before i fished the water was at 37 degrees where i fished, so my guess is it was probably somewhere close to 40.

It can certainly be worth fishing in the winter if you can find the right mix of conditions. If you know a good spot in winter and conditions are right you can have some great fishing.

 

[phiendWMD]

Thanks for the info everyone. Icy, I almost posted in your thread but decided against dragging it off topic.
Air tell should be 70s by afternoon today. Water temp is 41 now. We had a little rain last night so the water should be just a bit off. I think I'm going to throw some streamers at them today. I have trouble with the slow part but everything else seems good.

 

[afishinado]

phiendWMD wrote:
Thanks for the info everyone. Icy, I almost posted in your thread but decided against dragging it off topic.
Air tell should be 70s by afternoon today. Water temp is 41 now. We had a little rain last night so the water should be just a bit off. I think I'm going to throw some streamers at them today. I have trouble with the slow part but everything else seems good.[

Definitely give it a try during this warm spell. The bass may turn on.

Try dead drifting or tightlining a fly (a weighted bugger works well) quartering upstream and following it down during the drift. You can let it swing and strip slowly at the end, but many times your hits will happen on the drift. Hits are most often very subtle so try to stay tight to your fly. Use weighted flies to get down and/or use a sink-tip line or sinking line, if you have one. Fish low and slow, like Poop mentioned.

This time of year it's usually better to focus more on the slower and deeper sections and save the faster riffs and runs for the warm water season. Have fun.

 

[Night_Stalker]

two years ago I caught a 21" smallmouth on a freak 60 degree day (I think there was a thunder storm) in January while fishing for trout. Hummm it is in the upper 60s today...

 

[wgmiller]

The warmwater fish still eat in the winter; it's just that they don't eat as much or are willing to move as far for the food. The fat bellies you see on many of the fall smallies are in preparation for the reduced metabolic needs of "wintering over". A properly presented and placed fly can land warmwater fish in the dead of winter. Just don't expect the same aggressive takes or follows you see in the middle of summer. An ambient warm spell may turn them on, but there are a lot of variables (water temp, ice, etc.).

 

[jifigz]

I fish for smallmouth all year long. They never stop biting and the winter is the best time to nab big fish. You just have to know how to fish for them in winter. It takes some learning.

 

[melvinp]

Not a bad idea to ware PFD this time of year in the big girl one slip and your are swimming with those wool underpants you have under your waders.

 

[jwb123]

On the pfd note, I'll add that they are mandatory in canoes, kayaks and boats this time of the year per pfbc regulations. Still a smart idea to wear one while wading though.

 

[jifigz]

Here is proof why fishing for "warmwater" species can be a great choice in cold weather. The air temperature today was about 35 F when I caught this fish and I literally only fished the Juniata for about 10 minutes before catching it. I was fishing a trout streams lower reaches and doing okay with zebra midges but decided to walk down to the river and see if I could locate any new wintering water. I found some water that looks to be tremendous wintering water and I will go back and cover it thoroughly a few times this cold water season. The water temperature for moving water smallmouth fishing from here until spring is basically not important at all. The bass will not stray far from their wintering sites until March. You do need to know how to find and identify a wintering site for smallmouth bass, however. This fish was hefty and these are the size of fish that can often be found in the winter.

 

[jwb123]

Nice fish! But he'd look better laying somewhere other than the dirt. Not hating, just saying.

 

[jifigz]

jwb123 wrote:
Nice fish! But he'd look better laying somewhere other than the dirt. Not hating, just saying.

I fully agree....I was trying to get the rod in to show the size.....maybe I could have placed the rod over the net? I am all about treating the fish with the utmost care and handling them as little as possible and giving a quick release. It can be hard to get a photo when your alone and its frigid and my numb fingers may drop my phone in the water, however.

 

[GenCon]

That is a really nice fish. Nice job.

GenCon

 

[Fishidiot]

Yeah, that's a beauty - some good cold weather bass fishin.