I'm lucky to live where the water doesn't freeze.  The coldest air temp I've fished in was 22 degrees when I launched by boat.  I caught my PB spotted bass (4 pounds, 4 ounces) within my first dozen casts.  (state record is ~6 1/2 pounds)    The coldest I've seen the water is 45 degrees.   That was on a 1500 acre lake.  The bigger lakes don't get quite that cold.  

I fish shallow waters in a canoe, might be different in a real boat. I stop when the fish do, for my style that’s when the water gets to about 50 which seems to coincide with a few nights in the 30’s and day temps in the low 50’s. It has a lot to do with age too, the older I get the less I can handle the cold.

I don't stop. 

 

I ice fish if/when my local waters freeze over.  I've been lucky the last couple years because Cape Cod hasn't frozen over.

I'll try and go regardless of temps. I can dress for the cold, especially if there's no wind. 

Once there's ice anywhere (especially on the boat ramps)

Safety becomes a concern and a limiting factor.

Big waters here get nasty late season while the smaller lakes are often quite fishable & safe(er).

So the Pro-V Bass gets put up as that mess approaches and if there's a day or two here and there when I might consider wetting a line,

I'll break out the Old Town Canoe.

Water temp plays no role for me as long as it's not hard water.

But I hate fishing in gloves, so super cold & wind has me huddled by the wood stove.

Finally very late season brown bass (Late Nov & early Dec time frame)

 that have moved & set up in their wintering holes

are routinely pretty easy to find and usually willing to bite.

I just need to be willing to endure the elements to get to them.

Fish Hard

A-Jay

 

 

Lots of folks probably think it doesn't get cold in Florida.  I've got news for them!  Back when I was fishing tournaments I fished on some brutal days, even seen some ice in my guides. Not only is it cold at times, it's also damp.  I remember one tournament around Christmas time with temp in the thirties and rain dripping down the back on my rain suit.  I got so chilled once running down the St. John's River that I had to huddle up in the bottom of the boat before I could fish.  My hands were so cold, I couldn't turn the reel handle.  I still have my snow suit hanging in a closet.  It made me look like the Michelin Tyre Man.  I only fish now on nice days. 50 degrees is about my limit.  

11 hours ago, WRB said:

Some bass anglers never stop fishing. If the lake is iced over they simply drill a hole in the ice.

The physics of water temperature limits for Black Bass is; LMB,Smallmouth and Spotted, comes down to saturated dissolved oxygen levels must be between 3 to 12 mg/L.

Warm water over 90 degrees the mg/L levels fall under 3 without green plants making DO. Cold water less then 39.4 degrees the DO levels increase over 13 and starts to float to the surface and freeze solid at 32 degrees.

Those are the physical water limits for bass.

Tom

 

 

 Tom you're a wealth of knowledge and a wonderful asset to this board.... I appreciate your insight. I've learned a lot from you and others like you on here.. 

15 hours ago, a1712 said:

When I throw my jig and it bounces off the water surface I quit. Brian. 

^^^^^ THIS

Never, I fish close to 300 days a year.  That’s why I moved to South Florida 45 years ago.

I will fish for bass as long as the water isn't ice.  When I fish for trout i don't go out if the water temp is above 60-65.

pretty soon for this guy.

 

Shore fishing...Air temp I quit at about 15F. Water temp....if the river isn't frozen over, I will give it a try. I don't fish lakes (from a boat) after the temps drop down into the high 30F range, because around here (southern central NY state) the winds can pick up very quickly and it can get very dangerous...that temperature with that wind just HURTS my body. Hey--I'm 73 years old, cut me some slack <G>. Nice thing about fishing the Susquehanna River near Owego NY is that I can park near where I fish and just go warm up in the truck if I get cold. I find that the quantity of fish I catch in cold conditions goes down, but the quality (size) often goes up. Of course the days when I get skunked also increases.

Can't say when I stopped fishing last winter, but I paddled small lakes to the end of December and temps in the low 20's, which is always windy.  I thought it was pretty cool when the spin-drift was freezing onto the deck of my kayak and the shaft of my paddle.  The exercise keeps me warm.  However, I found that when the ice is 1/2" thick I can no longer bust holes in it to get a paddle blade in the water, so I can't push the kayak forward.

I fished a couple mornings in the high thirties this fall, but it's the water temps that put my canoe away for the winter, for as much as I love catching bass, they aren't worth risking hypothermia and maybe death in my canoe.

I didn’t think about hypothermia when I was younger, I do now. That’s why I was thinking I might still fish if I had a power boat vs a canoe.

Zero Kelvin...  

1 hour ago, padlin said:

I didn’t think about hypothermia when I was younger, I do now. That’s why I was thinking I might still fish if I had a power boat vs a canoe.

 

Heck, yeah, I'd be fishing in a powerboat too. Big. Stable. And you might be able to reboard it if you fell into the water.

It depends on the wind more than the temperature for me.  

On 11/10/2022 at 11:58 AM, geo g said:

Never, I fish close to 300 days a year.  That’s why I moved to South Florida 45 years ago.

this............

I've been fishing on days when the temps started out in the high 20's and warmed into the low 40's.  That is about it for me.  If the high temps are going to be low then I stay home.

I live in New Jersey so when it starts to get really cold out or the water temps reach the lower 50s upper 40s, which is right around now.. 

 

Based on the forecast we're supposed to get a very cold and possible heavy snow filled winter this year, so i wouldn't be surprised if the water freezes over soon. 

Temps make no difference to me. I can usually catch Bass out of my local river until late October. Then I switch to Fishing for Perch and Pickerel. I usually stop fishing late December and pick it back up in April.

 

This year I hung it up in early November. The stretch of river is not the same since they put the water back in after lowering it 8ft early summer.

Today, here in deep central Kansas, it's 25 degrees with a north breeze and a snow/sleet mix falling.

I'm not fishing. ?

When I was (much) younger, I would fish in pretty much any weather from scorching heat to as cold as myself and my gear could stand. The limiting factor was usually the wind. Anything over 30 mph is a no-go for me.

 

Tom

Typically when the water is solid or close to it. 

53 minutes ago, tholmes said:

Today, here in deep central Kansas, it's 25 degrees with a north breeze and a snow/sleet mix falling.

I'm not fishing. ?

When I was (much) younger, I would fish in pretty much any weather from scorching heat to as cold as myself and my gear could stand. The limiting factor was usually the wind. Anything over 30 mph is a no-go for me.

 

Tom

I agree. If there’s precip that isn’t snow below 37-38 degrees, I’d rather not. I can be talked into it, but being soaking wet below those temps is pretty rough. I would rather fish in high 20s with snow, that cold rain is just the worst