Winter fly fishing

[Dave_W]

Beefheart wrote:
How do you do for numbers in the winter? Do you manage to hook into a good number of fish ranging in sizes or is winter smallmouth fishing more of a search for that one or two willing big ones?

Winter isn't really my bass fishing season as I mostly switch to trout or other species sometime in Nov. However, during periods of relatively warm weather such as we're experiencing now, I'll hit some river bass spots. Like the pre-spawn, I regard cold weather bass fishing as an opportunity to get big fish rather than numbers. Honestly, I'm happy to get any bass in wintertime.

River smallies migrate into areas called winter hybernacula (usually deep slow water in a river or prevalent bottom structure in lakes) and don't feed as much as walleyes, muskies, or panfish. They're often grouped by size and there's a theory that the bigger fish are easier to catch due to the need for females to obtain more calories for egg growth. If there is a warming trend, they can become catchable. Ice fishermen have known this for years.

I'll certainly target winter bass if I can find them... but be aware that there is some ethical debate in bass circles over the issue of catching stacked up winter bass. In recent years with new submersible camera technology more and more bass anglers are finding these winter hybernacula and catching the fish can be like shooting ducks in a barrel. There is some concern that catching big winter females might stress them during egg development and pulling lake bass up from their winter depths can cause barotrauma (obviously not an issue for those of us who fish shallow rivers).

Again, I'm all for winter bass fishing. Focus on low and slow presentations in deeper, slower water close to shore and go fishing during warming trends such as we're currently experiencing. I don't bother with bass (or much of anything else) when there is slush ice on the rivers.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Dave,
Nice fish!
Very cool and I appreciate the informational post.
I may get out for some river fishing if these warming trends continue.

 

[Beefheart]

Thanks for the details on winter fishing for smallies, Dave. That gives me a lot to think about, especially the ethical issues related to fishing winter smallmouth. I certainly won't be dropping any underwater cameras anytime soon! But I would like to a catch a couple big ones during the winter months!

I didn't fish the river on Sunday, but I did go and take a look at it on Saturday. The place I was thinking of going on Sunday, near Marietta, really surprised me. The water was much higher than I had expected. It really threw me for a loop regarding figuring out where I could actually safely access and fish the river. I think I'd better go out there with somebody else while I figure it out since a lot of the really large rocks that I walked past on my way to the river are now underwater. It seems like it'd be easier to inadvertently take a swim now than it was in the summer.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

IMO Marietta is poor for wade fishing.

Harrisburg is better but dang that water is up now