Winter Fishing-----a little bit different

[Wizard]

For anglers fortunate to enjoy snow but the lakes are unfrozen, you can fish year around. The lakes in mid Missouri are lakes with these conditions and some years the southern boundary lakes also meet them.
In the mid 1970's most winter tournaments were won using a Rouge, grub or jig. The baits were fished mostly in water up to eight feet. I had fished a tournament the previous month where an ice storm drove me from the lake. I put my rods and gear in boat storage and headed back to St. Louis. At the next tournament, the rods were still in the box. I pulled them out, laughed, and put them on deck. One rod had a Spook and the other a Bagley "Dredge" crank. It had been sunny before takeoff but clouds were coming in. By the time I made a 30 mile run, light snow was falling. It was going to be hard to retie new lures in the wind so I picked up the Dredge. The "Dredge" was unique. The bill was designed so the lure dived STRAIGHT to the bottom. I cast it to shore and heard a splash 20 yrds to the front. A good bass was eating something. I put the rod down and picked up the Spook. Before I could work the lure, a bass sucked it down. No splash or explosion, it just disappeared. So, what took place, Air temp: 30 degrees; water temp: 40 degrees; cloudy and snowing; wind 15-20 mph. Conclusion: the forage had been very shallow seeking heat from the rocks while sunny and bass had followed. The rocks were still warm and the forage hadn't had time to return to deeper water. Bass were looking towards the surface, saw the Spook as a dying shad and ate what it thought was an easy meal. This out of season top water bite has worked many times since that discovery. All simple fishing: FIND THE FORAGE, PLACE AN EASY MEAL IN FRONT OF THE BASS AND LET NATURE DO THE REST.
After that bass went into the live well I picked the rod with the Dredge to crank it back. First turn of the handle and the Dredge disappeared. A bass had been under the lure watching for it to move. First twitch of the lure and the bass slurped it down.

Wizard

[Lipripper]

Thanks for the story Wizard and fishing in the snow and cold can be an adventure. I can remember breaking ice with John's old Aluminum boat to get out to our Crappie fishing hole. I also have made some Steelhead fishing trips up to the St. John's river in the dead of winter.

[Oldfart9999]

My hands won't let me fish that cold anymore. Here we looked for the greenest grass we could find find and fished the edges with plastics and hair.
Rodney

[Mike Cork]

Winter fishing can be quite strange. One angler spooning bass in 40 ft of water an another catching them on the surface. Both groups of bass have one thing in common... they found food.

Thank you for the reminder and insight.