10 minutes ago, clemsondds said:

Last time I fished cold muddy water, several ppl had mentioned not to try fishing deep (eg brush piles…)  do you feel that’s true?  

It's a reasonable generalization. However, what are all the factors? Did a heavy flow of super cold rain shock the temps down 10 degrees? Hard to say where they're at. Could be belly down on the bottom, or anywhere else. It's reasonable to assume they'd be somewhere near their spawning grounds at this point in your season, which is why I suggested it earlier. Just work the zone and find out what mood they're in. If things get really rough, try some presentations that seem counterintuitive. I've had more bad days than I can count saved by an unusual hail Mary bait choice.

Any opinions on Ned rig vs jig in these type situations? 

I def wouldnt stay home.  This is the time of year when things break wide open.  The fish are already staging shallow here and pushing schools of bait in the evenings of sunnier days.  Water temp plays a role, but dont live and die by it.  Fish are going to be far more active in mid Feb when the water is 43 vs 43 in late Dec.  I wouldnt be surprised to see some quality fish on the feed thurs and friday with this moon cycle.

Try to find the cleanest water you can and look for shallow cover with easy access to deeper water relative to avg depth of the lake.  Its hard to say where they may be.  Earlier this week the fish were about as shallow as they could get (6-8") on a steep bank, and were aggressive enough to take everything I threw at them.  2 days later they were on the same steep bank but instead of being really shallow they were 2-3' and not quite as aggressive.  I had to downsize and slow down a little to get bit.  

The cold and extended period of rain can put them down or in a negative mood. If the water isnt too much clearer normally like 2-3' viz then I would think you could get away with swimming a small swimbait or ned rig around bridges, pilings, steep banks, rocks or any kind of cover they can be relating too.  I would have a JB ready to go as well as they make a great 1-2 punch with more subtle baits. Once you pick up a few fish in a certain spot or find a pattern then slow down with a jig and really work those areas over.

 

@GetFishorDieTryin

 

7 hours ago, GetFishorDieTryin said:

I def wouldnt stay home.  This is the time of year when things break wide open.  The fish are already staging shallow here and pushing schools of bait in the evenings of sunnier days.  Water temp plays a role, but dont live and die by it.  Fish are going to be far more active in mid Feb when the water is 43 vs 43 in late Dec.  I wouldnt be surprised to see some quality fish on the feed thurs and friday with this moon cycle.

Try to find the cleanest water you can and look for shallow cover with easy access to deeper water relative to avg depth of the lake.  Its hard to say where they may be.  Earlier this week the fish were about as shallow as they could get (6-8") on a steep bank, and were aggressive enough to take everything I threw at them.  2 days later they were on the same steep bank but instead of being really shallow they were 2-3' and not quite as aggressive.  I had to downsize and slow down a little to get bit.  

The cold and extended period of rain can put them down or in a negative mood. If the water isnt too much clearer normally like 2-3' viz then I would think you could get away with swimming a small swimbait or ned rig around bridges, pilings, steep banks, rocks or any kind of cover they can be relating too.  I would have a JB ready to go as well as they make a great 1-2 punch with more subtle baits. Once you pick up a few fish in a certain spot or find a pattern then slow down with a jig and really work those areas over.

 

Thank you! When starting in a particular area, would you only start if you saw a Bait or do you think cleaner water is more important? So another words, if you found clean water, but didn’t see any babe would you still start fishing and that area?

I generally don't suggest running-n-gunning but now is when you want to cover water. Not just distance wise but the entire water column.

 

Clear water doesn't necessarily mean crystal clear. Little color doesn't hurt.

 

Me personally, no bait, no bass, but keep in mind both the bait & the bass gonna be moving.

For me personally, the short answer is no.  I don't necessarily need to see bait to stop and work a spot, especially in post frontal or bluebird conditions.  Those fish may not be actively feeding on bait, but they will take a smaller swimbait or ned rig most of the time, if you can get it front of them.  

The past week shad have been frequenting a shallow flat in the evening.  To access this flat the shad have to pass under a bridge and swim up a steep bank to access the flat.  The bass have been holding around that bridge and positioning themselves so that they can pick shad off as they file through the channel. 

The smaller bass are actively schooling and feeding on them in the last 30 mins of daylight where the bigger fish seem to be content just ascending up the steep bank in the early afternoon and waiting for a few hours for the shad to come through in the evening.  There are more active fish will follow the school, but so far I havent been able to get one over 2 pounds.  

Thats just an example of an area is holding fish where there is no bait to be found.

Clear water is a relative term to me.  It depends on what the water normally looks like.  Dirty water doesnt seem to have the negative effect on fish that are used to feeding in water that has a perpetual stain to it.  Conversely, fish that are accustomed to clear water are more affected by low or no viz situations.  

What Ive found this time of year when you have sunnier days and a stain to the water where you have 1 or 1.5' viz the fish often will sit on those steep banks at the edge of my visibility, to where I can see them nose down on a jig, but if they don't move its hard to pick out their silhouette.  

This time of year I like cleaner water not so the fish can see my bait better, but for light penetration.  Shallow cover will heat up faster in cleaner water, which gets insects and other invertebrates moving that the fish can feed on.

I would lean more towards bait being more important than clean water the majority of the time.  Just dont overlook places that dont have bait at the current time, but have the shallow cover and deep water access the fish are looking for this time of year.  

Ok…soo who was it that said  I should have stayed home?! Lol you were the winner. Ha. Nah it was still a beautiful day but only had one bite. I only got to fish for about 3.5 hours. Water was worse than I thought…only about 4-6” of visibility and that was down at the dam where it was the cleanest water. saw bait all over the place.  Started off pitching jigs to structure and working a football on points. Tried a double Colorado spinnerbait, a-rig, 110, 110+1, Ned rig, lv500 and a finesse jig. Tried fishing secondary points, bluff walls, island tops and the back of creeks. But just couldn’t get a bite. I’m still trying to learn livescope…saw several suspending but couldn’t get them to engage.  Still…beautiful day! 

Sometimes thats the way it is, but generally when I have days like that I learn something or find a spot that may be good a different time of year.  

If it makes you feel better I had a rough day too.  1 fish short of a limit with the biggest being about 2 pounds.  All fish were caught in the last 45 minutes of daylight.  

6 minutes ago, GetFishorDieTryin said:

Sometimes thats the way it is, but generally when I have days like that I learn something or find a spot that may be good a different time of year.  

If it makes you feel better I had a rough day too.  1 fish short of a limit with the biggest being about 2 pounds.  All fish were caught in the last 45 minutes of daylight.  

Yeh that's true...I stayed in one main arm of the lake...so I learned that area a lot better.  So I got that going for me ha.  And yeh...I fished the worst part of the day 9-12:30...water temps were starting to rise when I was leaving...so I'm guessing the bite was probably better between 3-6pm.  Who knows though. 

Can you tell me what this is? 

Don’t know your lake or the conditions, but first guess would be scattered small fish/baitfish that get more compressed as you move up that incline. Possibly a few bigger fish (relative) right on bottom near the base breakline.

On 2/14/2023 at 11:02 AM, Team9nine said:

Don’t know your lake or the conditions, but first guess would be scattered small fish/baitfish that get more compressed as you move up that incline. Possibly a few bigger fish (relative) right on bottom near the base breakline.

Ok thanks. Yeh I wasn’t sure if it was bait,, grass or small fish. Most of the bait in the area were in bait balls.  

When you meter bait fish in a tight ball that is a defensive school tactic with predator fish nearby or feeding on them.

The stretched out cloud shape is the bait fish traveling without being defensive. Do you have Blueback herring in this lake? 

Tom

6 minutes ago, WRB said:

When you meter bait fish in a tight ball that is a defensive school tactic with predator fish nearby or feeding on them.

The stretched out cloud shape is the bait fish traveling without being defensive. Do you have Blueback herring in this lake? 

Tom

Yeh that makes sense. And no I don’t believe so. 

On 2/14/2023 at 10:44 AM, clemsondds said:

Can you tell me what this is? 

Without knowing what machine that is or the settings, not easy to say, but that looks bigger than bait to me, maybe crappie.

On 2/12/2023 at 1:24 PM, Catt said:

Y'all need to understand 2 things about pre-spawn.

 

First it starts before most of y'all believe.

Learned this here. It's helped me get on some big fish. 

15 hours ago, Deleted account said:

Without knowing what machine that is or the settings, not easy to say, but that looks bigger than bait to me, maybe crappie.

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