With the holidays coming to a close, we just wanted to wish all y’all a very Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Hopefully you got everything that you wished for and then some including all those new lures, rods, reels and terminal tackle items that you were looking for. With that in mind, we have one question for you. Why are you going to wait for warm weather to arrive before you get back out on the water and put it to good use?
Why would you want to go fishing in this cold?
There are several reasons we pose this question. To begin with, cold water months can be some of the most productive months for fishing during the course of the year. One of the main reasons this tends to hold true is that so many recreational anglers don’t venture out when old Jack Frost start making the rounds. This means a lot less angling pressure put on those fish at your favorite fishin’ hole.
Another reason is that tactics for fishing in the cold are less talked about than during warmer months. Let’s face it, there aren’t any Elite Series tournaments being held nor is the FLW in full swing. Consequently, folks are talking less about fishing.
One of the cool things about living in So-Cal is that this time of year offers some opportunities that aren’t around all year long and fortunately are commonplace in a lot of regions in the country. Namely, you can catch several species of fish in the same day on the same body of water simply by planning ahead a little bit.
We always enjoy going out for a day on the lake with the intent of targeting trout, crappie and bass on the same trip.
What types of lures do we use in cold weather?
There are a number of lures that have become mainstays in our tackle box specifically for the next few months. We always have a suspending jerkbait, a jig, a spoon, a lipless crankbait and a spinnerbait tied on for bassin’.
There were a bunch of new lures introduced at ICAST this year that are made just for this season. Hang in there, ‘cause we’ve been fishing them and will post our full reviews in the coming weeks. Without spilling the beans, there are a few that are downright awesome! So hang in there, we’ll be giving you the entire scoop in the coming weeks.
Switching gears, for trout and other panfish, we always have a spoon, in-line spinnerbait and mini-jig rigged and ready. Here again, we’ve gotten our hands on some new products that we’ve been using and we will be doing full reviews on these as well.
A handy little tip
We’re going to give y’all one little technique that we have used for a lot of years that has produced some mighty big bass for us that you may not have been exposed to.
If you live by a lake that regularly stocks trout in the winter months and can find out the specific day the truck is going to pull up to drop those fish in the water, you have a great opportunity to catch a pig!
All you have to do is have a lure that accurately represents a stocked trout. This could be a large swimbait, hard or soft plastic will do nicely, and start casting beyond the school of bows. Big bass do get conditioned to this food source as it is an easy meal, particularly when those fish first get planted.
Once the feeding begins, it can last for a good little while as the bass are moving in to gorge on the unsuspecting trout. You should have fairly stout equipment as well as strong line to handle big baits and big fish!
While this is just one strategy for a very specific set of circumstances, there are plenty of others for these cold months that involve other lures and techniques. We’ll be talking about each of them soon as we review the new baits that are designed for this awesome, untapped time of the year.
A wonderful memory
Just a little side note. This is a great time of year for introducing new people to the wonderful world of fishin’! I’ll never forget one trip in particular when my youngest son was about 6 years old. He had been fishing with me several times and done well with bluegill and crappie. He announced that he was ready to fish for trout all by himself without my helping in any way.
I watched as he picked out a lure. If memory serves me, it was a soft plastic grasshopper looking thing, rigged it by himself and made a cast with it. It went all of about thirty feet. He counted it down about 3 seconds before he started a slow yo-yo retrieve.
All of the sudden his rod just about doubled over with the weight of a fish. I watched as he struggled with that fish, alternating between reeling and stepping back, all the while chattering loudly about how he was okay and he was gonna’ whip that fish! He did get the fish in so that I would net it. That trout weighed 3 pounds 15 ounces. Just shy of 4 pounds. We still relive that day all these years later, especially when we take someone new fishing.
After all, isn’t that one of the main reasons we do this?
See ya’ on the water …