I've enjoyed reading Bass Resource's lead article, "Cabin Fever? 25 Things To Do In Downtime." I've read it twice and intend to read it again.

What down time? the water temperature is 52 degrees & I have a pair of long Johns. If that don't do it  get yourself a pair of pantyhose you will be surprised how much they will help. This is a great time of year to be on the lake, the fish  have the feed bag on.

I did Enjoy the article, don't know how much I believe in a fishing log though.

1 hour ago, scbassin said:

What down time? the water temperature is 52 degrees & I have a pair of long Johns. If that don't do it  get yourself a pair of pantyhose you will be surprised how much they will help. This is a great time of year to be on the lake, the fish  have the feed bag on.

I liked this post because my water temp is 52 degrees literally today, I was wearing "pantyhose" very tight fitting long underwear, and you couldn't be any more right about the "feed bag".   It's glorious seeing those bellies.   

 

That said, we're lucky, Katie (OP) canoes out of ultralight, and while her waters might not all be iced over, it's a safety concern.   For others up north, they actually close the season of Bass fishing which I still find crazy.    Then others are completely iced over.  

8 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

I've read it twice and intend to read it again.

Are ya already getting cabin fever already  Crickety?  I feel for you and everyone else who gets shut out in the winter. I have some down time too, it’s by choice. 
I give the fish a break during spawning season, I bother them enough the rest of the year.

I liked the article too, some of the things I already do, some I try to do this year. I usually change line, clean & lube my rod and reels, service the boat, that kinda thing. 

1 hour ago, scbassin said:

What down time? the water temperature is 52 degrees & I have a pair of long Johns. If that don't do it  get yourself a pair of pantyhose you will be surprised how much they will help. This is a great time of year to be on the lake, the fish  have the feed bag on.

Longjohns at 52? That’s a warm day in wet Seattle lol. As for panty hose, shoot, this is shorts weather ?

4 minutes ago, islandbass said:

Longjohns at 52? That’s a warm day in wet Seattle lol. As for panty hose, shoot, this is shorts weather ?

You outta see what we do when it snows 2" ?

Just now, AlabamaSpothunter said:

You outta see what we do when it snows 2" ?

 

Decades ago, Miami got an inch of snow. There was footage of the chaos, of cars sliding into intersections and crashing. 

 

18 minutes ago, GRiver said:

 I feel for you and everyone else who gets shut out in the winter.

 

Thanks. That's kind of you.

9 minutes ago, AlabamaSpothunter said:

You outta see what we do when it snows 2" ?

Mount leconte got 16” two nights ago, not terribly far north of ya. (But way uphill haha)

7 hours ago, ol'crickety said:

 

8 hours ago, GRiver said:

 I feel for you and everyone else who gets shut out in the winter.

 

Thanks. That's kind of you

I Remember looking out and seeing river frozen  but in a few places…. I had to pace myself on doing winter fishing tasks so I wouldn’t get done to early. 

1 hour ago, GRiver said:

I had to pace myself on doing winter fishing tasks so I wouldn’t get done to early.

I failed at that this winter. I’m 99% done with my winter checklist and it’s not even February. All I have left to do is fix the seat on my boat. These last couple months are really gonna drag. 

I'm behind on my winter projects. I spend too much time on BR.

1 hour ago, Jar11591 said:

I failed at that this winter. I’m 99% done with my winter checklist and it’s not even February. All I have left to do is fix the seat on my boat. These last couple months are really gonna drag. 

I'm getting closer to wrapping it up early myself.

Must be the lack of sub-zero weather.

Btw that 'list', makes for a nice starter kit.

Yes, I live in the world of over-kill.

A-Jay

 

 

11 minutes ago, T-Billy said:

I'm behind on my winter projects. I spend too much time on BR.

I've been spending time on my other hobby - but thankfully I've only got two 'major' things to do this winter for fishing and one is half done.

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

I'm getting closer to wrapping it up early myself.

Must be the lack of sub-zero weather.

Btw that 'list', makes for a nice starter kit.

Yes, I live in the world of over-kill.

A-Jay

 

 

Maybe on a very cold winter day you could make your own version of the above article I'm sure many here would be very interested in the details behind the madness, sorry organization.

The bait monkey has got me pretty good this winter. I blame that on taking bass fishing more seriously and not focusing on musky anymore.
 

 I haven’t been out for about two weeks. I don’t make fishing that much of a priority Dec, Jan, feb. I will do it if the opportunity presents itself.  I try to stack overtime hours if I can. once March hits its go time. That’s when the water starts to warm up from mid to low 30 into the 40s.

 

As far as boat stuff needed done I want to shampoo the carpet. I also want to sharpen my jet impeller.  Which is a never ending battle anyway. 
 

 

Full confession: Other than change the trebles on my Whopper Ploppers, change some line, and feed the Bait Monkey, I haven't done anything. 

4 minutes ago, ol'crickety said:

Full confession: Other than change the trebles on my Whopper Ploppers, change some line, and feed the Bait Monkey, I haven't done anything. 

That’s a lie lol. You made a post that you’ve been google earth fishing. Looking for new spots and researching them in the off season is great homework. 

4 minutes ago, Darnold335 said:

That’s a lie lol. You made a post that you’ve been google earth fishing. Looking for new spots and researching them in the off season is great homework. 

 

Oh, yeah, you're right. I have spent hours and hours doing that! I was online just this morning, planning my sequence of casting for a couple new lakes. 

1 minute ago, ol'crickety said:

 

Oh, yeah, you're right. I have spent hours and hours doing that! I was online just this morning, planning my sequence of casting for a couple new lakes. 

I use google earth to try and see where I can run my boat. I try to look for the possible ledges I may have to get over and dams are also a biggie. Obviously sometimes when I pull up to a place it’s a bust. I always try to have a back up plan.

I'm the same with backup planning. I've also done some onsite scouting this winter. It's easier to find a path to a pond with the leaves gone.