by Tim Tucker

"I'm not surprised," he says in reference to a hot morning of fishing on this bitter late February day. "Just because it's cold doesn't mean the fish will quit biting completely. There's actually some real good bass fishing to be had, but the problem is that most people don't want to have to fight off the cold to experience it."

Guido Hibdon, the consummate light tackle bass pro, takes some of his biggest fish of the year on small plastics in late winter.

The colder water temperatures of late winter and early spring certainly aren’t the most comfortable in which to fish. But knowledgeable anglers know that the bass are still around and will even cooperate when presented with the right lures and techniques.

Here are four techniques and situations that can help thaw out of cold-water fishing.

Jig-And-Pig For Inactive Bass

During the late winter/early spring months in his corner of northeast Texas, Michael Dyess knows well that just running a boat can be a masochistic experience. He also realizes how productive the coldest days of the year can be.

"The coldest time of the year can be the best jig fishing of the year," claims the accomplished Texas pro. "Although it's too cold for most fishermen to go out, a few determined fishermen are catching some of the biggest bass of the year."

"It is the greatest jig time there is because during the coldest times the bass are staged on cover, whether it be grass or wood. Instead of being suspended, you will find them related to structure that is obvious. You can then work that piece of structure completely and if you are slow and precise enough, you can catch some big fish without a lot of finesse."

Dyess has experienced tournament days so cold that the guides on his rod accumulated ice, yet his catch had a 4-pound average. The secret during this time of year, he says, is loading the jig with a pair of No. 11 Uncle Josh pork chunks to slow its descent as much as possible. An agonizingly slow fall is the secret with the jig-and-pig in the coldest times. Dyess also fans out the bristles on the jig's weedguard to get more resistance and slow the fall even more.

His main weapon is a 3/8-ounce black Stanley Jig tied to 14- to 20-pound test line.

"I look for cold-water fish in textbook areas—sloughs where they can move up as the water warms, creek channels and along the edges of deeper points," Dyess adds. "They aren't hard to locate."

Alabama pro Tim Horton with a big largemouth and smallmouth taken in early spring.

Simply stated, rocks are the answer to locating the most active bass in lakes, reservoirs and rivers during the early spring. Whether it be a long riprap serving as a foundation or a jetty serving as a current break in a river system, these rocky structures are bass magnets. And for good reason.

"Heat," says four-time BASS Masters Classic champion Rick Clunn. "Riprap or any rock in the northwestern portions of a lake or reservoir will have about the warmest water available during this time of year. And the bass will seek out that warmer water and bunch up."

Riprap and/or jetties are found in almost every reservoir and river system with year-round bass fishing, except for the natural lakes of Florida. Although there are some advanced techniques that fully exploit these structures, they are simple to locate and visible objects that are usually easy to fish. Those two aspects of fishing work to the advantage of even the most inexperienced angler.

And given the extra warmth that attracts bass, these rock structures are the places on which to concentrate when the water is cold with a variety of lures (plastic worms, grubs, jigs and crankbaits).

Crankin’ In The Cold

Many bass enthusiasts will be surprised to learn that one of Kevin VanDam's bread-and-butter late winter/early spring tactics involves fishing a crankbait. Crankbaits, generally, are considered warm-water lures. But VanDam, the reigning Classic champion from Michigan, has found that these diving baits have a certain allure with the often sluggish bass of late winter and early spring.

"A crankbait is a key lure for me in the colder months from late fall through early spring," he explains. "During that time of year, the fish will only bite a jig or worm that is worked real slow. So you have to slow your crankbait down and almost finesse the lure. That's one of the strongest presentations during that time of year for me."

VanDam's choice of cold-water crankbaits that can be finessed around cover centers on Strike King Series 4 and 5 models. He prefers plastic plugs during this time, because of the extra buoyancy that enables them to almost suspend (a cure for inactive, suspended bass).

"I like to parallel the cover with a crankbait, especially rock banks," he says. "By paralleling, each bass on that particular bank is going to see my bait three or four times as it slowly comes by.

"One of the keys with cold-water cranking is really working over or finessing each individual piece of cover. I'm going to spend a little bit more time because the water is cold. I will finesse that crankbait—crawl it over and bump it off of as much stuff as I can. It's important to show the fish that bait from different angles, as well as a couple of different colors and maybe different crankbaits with different actions."

Bluffing For Bass

During this time of year, Stacey King's favorite places to look for bass are bluffs, those broad-based banks or cliffs made of rock, mud or clay that are common in midland and highland reservoirs. King, a veteran pro and guide on Missouri's Table Rock Lake, says bluffs are late winter/early spring hot spots because of several factors: bass migrate to these rocky structures because the stone radiates warmth from the sunlight; bluffs typically feature boulders, chunk rock, sheer walls and outcroppings that provide prime ambush positioning. Vertical in nature, bluffs provide easy adjustments in depth as the water temperature changes throughout the day (bass move more vertically than horizontally along the structure in the late winter); and shad are usually present.

The coldest months often create a lethargic bass that will suspend in the deep water well away from the bluff itself. King has enjoyed good success with these sluggish bass in 40 to 50 feet of water by fishing a jigging spoon, jig-and-pig and finesse-type worm.

"Typically, the bass are most likely to be suspended out off of the bluff and move into the cover to feed from time to time," he says. "But once you locate their position, a lot of times you can mop up on the fish."

With the approaches outlined by our experts, there are still plenty of bass to be caught during the most miserable days of the year. Their techniques can quickly warm up the coldest of times afloat.

Article Provided by: Discover the Outdoors

THE SUMMER DOG DAYS:
MORE MYTH THAN TRUTH

by Jim Porter

(Authors note: I want to get this point across early-on. There is no reason for Summer to be a hard fishing period. 'Air' heat does not send the bass deep. They feed better in the Summer than any other time. Usually, it's just the anglers that slow down. Read and ponder this. It may help your fishing.)

With the hot, muggy days of Summer, we usually see marked decrease in fishing activity. There are few anglers on the waters and those who do venture out enjoy rather short days, mainly confined to the cooler periods of early morning/late afternoon. With this natural avoidance of creature discomforts has come the misconception that fishing successes are somewhere between `poor' and `impossible' during the Summer months. Possibly, the relationship of hot weather to poor fishing is simply a well- planned excuse to stay indoors under the air conditioner, while watching the `boys of Summer' turn those double plays and hit their home-runs. Whatever the case, it is time to dispel the myths of the supposed `dog-days of Summer'.

Myth #1: Bass stop feeding in hot weather

This is the most common misunderstanding concerning fish behavior, and it may also be the easiest to logically explain away. Bass, being a fish, are cold-blooded creatures of nature. As such, they tend to adjust their body temperatures to that of their surroundings. Their bodies have certain upper and lower temperature ranges, within which life can be sustained. Temperature has one major effect on the bass and that is that it regulates the speed of his bodily processes (i.e., metabolic rate). For example, the rate at which energy is expended in a bass as with the temperature of his surroundings (and, therefore, his body) increase, thus requiring more and more food to digest and convert to that energy. This single fact shows that it is a physical impossibility for a fish to cease to feed during hot weather. In fact, a bass should feed more during the Summer months than at any other time.

Myth #2: In hot weather, bass always go to deep water.

While this statement may seem logical at first, it is actually a double falsehood.   First, understand that `deep' is a relative term. On exceptionally clear bodies of water, bass will always position themselves at greater depths than in a stained water impoundment. Clear water bass may normally spend their time at depths of 20-45 feet. Therefore, `deep' water would be somewhere below those depths. The majority of largemouth bass on a typical southern or mid-western reservoir might tend to spend their days and nights at a depth range of 10-18 feet, with occasional excursions to the shallow cover areas and food shelves to feed. Bass do not normally go deeper than this during the Summer months. And, 10-18 feet is not normally considered to be `deep' water. The fact is, the deepest the majority of bass will ever be found is during the coldest part of the Winter, when the depths are actually warmer than the mid-range and shallow zones!! What `tricks' us fishermen into thinking that the bass have gone exceptionally deep is actually a result of the recent seasonal change. To get into Summer, the bass had to pass through the Spring season. Spring, with its ritual of the spawn, had most of the bass clan up in exceptionally shallow water, where they were easy to find and catch. When they suddenly disappeared from the shallow cover, we unwittingly use the excuse that they must have fled to the deep zones. Actually, most of the Summer bass can be found beneath where your boat was sitting during the Spring fishing. 

Second, escaping from the heat is no problem for a bass and really doesn't enter into a Summer fishing scenario. Studies (please refer to the accompanying chart) have shown that when the surface temperature of a lake is in the high 80's and low 90's, the water atthe 10-12 foot level will be in the low 70's. You can easily prove this to yourself by jumping off a boat dock and noticing how cold that water is down deep. No more needs to be said about that misunderstanding.

Myth #3. Bass have certain temperature preferences and will always adhere to them.

Other than a specific temperature range to provide for incubation and hatch of the spawn, a bass usually seems to disregard temperature factors in favor of staying near a food supply. In fact, certain scientific study reports in my possession indicate that the largemouth bass makes the most efficient use of his food at a temperature range of 78-85 degrees (F). This efficiency factor is based on the percentage of digested food left over for body growth after fulfilling the basic requirements to sustain life. In fact, the peak efficiency point was noted (straight bilogical study data here) to be approximately 82 degrees (F). What this tends to indicate is that bass should be quite comfortable in what we anglers tend to describe as `warm' water. And, in referring to the earlier chart, we could surmise that he can easily tolerate shallow zones during the Summer period.

What actually may be the case, regarding the Summer depth of a bass, is that the food supply (normally threadfin shad and crayfish) does not handle warm water well, and prefers the cooler depths. Accordingly, the bass follows the food source as the waters warm and it moves away from the shallow zones.

One great truism of bass angling notes that "Catching fish is easy; finding them is the hard part." The wisdom of this statement holds regardless of the season, the waters fished, the angler, and all the fine equipment in the World. However, it holds more significance for understanding as we try to overcome the ingrained misconceptions we have harbored for years regarding hot weather fishing. Finding bass in the Summer is, like other times of year, a matter of understanding the World of the bass and how he reacts to his surroundings. With the water temperature up and their body metabolism high, the bass are very active, moving a lot, and feeding heavily. You may come upon a good structure feature, cast a lure, and catch two or three fish quickly. But, just as suddenly, it will be all over. And, the next time you try the location, it may well be void of any fish. Well, here is what is probably happening. 

Summer bass school strongly and nearly always relate to structure. (The only exception may be when the bait fish schools move into open water over the deeper zones and the bass follow. We usually note this condition by the presence of surface feeding activity). The Summer school will be active and somewhat loose and dispersed, as all are trying to feed on a nearly-continual basis. The structure being used, therefore, must be fairly large in order to support the dispersion of the entire group. This is a very key point in locating schools of hot weather bass on a consistent basis. We can still find singles and small groups on smaller structures and cover features. But, for lots of bass, we normally need large structure. The angler must recognize that, if a few bass are taken and the action stops, the remainder of the school may be dispersed across or along the remainder of the structure.

The most ideal Summer structure is a creek or river channel drop, as it meets three primary requirements. First, it is near deep water, always a major factor in bass positioning. Second, it is a large feature that allows a school to disperse along its course. And, finally, channels normally have some degree of current flow, either natural or induced by the winds. Current is important in hot weather bassin', in that it prevents stratification by temperature and oxygen levels, lends some cooling effect, and adds oxygen to the water.

Other good locations are large submerged islands, long underwater points, and roadbeds. Again, we would be searching for a feature near deep water and with sufficient size to support a large, widely dispersed school of actively feeding bass.

Those readers who have fished tidal waters or flowing rivers with some degree of regularity readily recognize the benefits of current flow. The mixing of the continually moving waters precludes temperature stratification to the degree that there is little seasonal depth variance in the location of bass.

On shallow, weed-infested waters, some Summer bass will relate to structure, if the water happens to be deep enough. However, the dense aquatic growth may indicate where the majority will be. (Florida biologists report that fish sampling has shown about two-thirds of the bass will be in the dense cover zones and the remaining one-third in open water. This can be considered a normal condition, IF the aquatic growth is alive and thriving. Dead vegetation actually uses up oxygen as a part of the decay process.) The heavy cover, even in the shallows, is comfortable due to the shade and the rich oxygen output of the plant life. A by-product of the photosynthesis of oxygen is a cooling effect, which may well make the shallow vegetation zones cooler than deeper, open water.

When searching for bass in these shallow waters, the two key ingredients are, by priority: the most dense cover and the deepest water available. Recalling that the warm waters result in a high metabolic rate in the bass and an increased requirement for food, we would suspect that the competition for food would be high during the Summer months. Consequently, we would logically choose an active lure to attract the active fish. This basically describes a diving, lipped crank plug pulled with a fast retrieve. In fact, this type lure has proven to be the most effective method for taking large quantities of largemouth bass during the heat of mid-Summer. The only requirement is that the angler get in down to the fish. Selecting the lure with the express purpose of operating it at a certain depth, as dictated by the structure to be fished, is the most important criteria for the angler's decision process. If the depth to be fished is beyond that at which a crank plug can be accurately presented and controlled, a plastic worm is acceptable, but should be fished rapidly and erratically.

Remember, during hot weather, a rapidly-fished lure is always vastly more productive than one presented slowly. Plus, we will be able to make more casts during the day. Every cast is a potential ten-pounder!

So, just because the weather is a bit uncomfortable, don't stay home under the air conditioner and sulk. The bass are on their most active feed during the hot Summer period.

Major Points To Be Made!
1. A bass should feed more during the Summer months than at any other time.
2. When the surface temperature is in the low 90's, the water at the 10-12 foot level will be in the low 70's.
3. The deepest the majority of bass will ever be found is during the coldest part of the Winter.
4. The peak efficiency that a bass uses food is at approximately 82 degrees (F).

· Fish in the cooler periods of early morning/ late afternoon. The fish don't care which one.
· Summer bass school strongly and nearly always relate to structure.
· The Summer school will be active and somewhat loose and dispersed, as all are trying to feed on a nearly-continual basis.
· Dispel the myths of the supposed `dog-days of Summer'!!! Make 'em the 'grand days'!

Article Provided by: BassFishin