On 2/19/2024 at 6:05 PM, heavyduty said:

I believe the guy you are referring to is Bill Yingling. He went by "Dry" for Dr Yingling. Miss his posts! Another fan of the chillee willie is a great Susquehanna River guide, Chris Gorsuch. It's one of his go-to's for winter smallie fishing.

You are correct. He went by DRY and I guessed he was a Dr. but did not know his last name. He posted some great pics and wish he found this forum to continue.

On 2/19/2024 at 1:05 PM, Will Ketchum said:

There was a Susquehanna river forum now gone where a member winter fished with the Chillee Willie on a stand up jig. He let it sit long on the bottom and moved slowly. The bite was lite.

 

Isn't that an Al Winco bait?

 

Allen

40 minutes ago, Munkin said:

 

Isn't that an Al Winco bait?

 

Allen

 

There is a name from the past. I have/had a lot of Winco's baits. I'll have to look around to see if I have any left. If I remember correctly most of the baits I bought from him were to target smallmouth. 

2 hours ago, Munkin said:

 

Isn't that an Al Winco bait?

 

Allen

 Yes. Now Fitt Lures

19 hours ago, Dogface said:

 

There is a name from the past. I have/had a lot of Winco's baits. I'll have to look around to see if I have any left. If I remember correctly most of the baits I bought from him were to target smallmouth. 

Sounds familiar. That really rattles my memory.

Hair!!!!! Bucktail jigs, deceiver style flies on a 3 way rig, and ofcourse the venerable bear hair jig. Tubes are also a good bet. 

13 hours ago, Bdnoble84 said:

Hair!!!!! Bucktail jigs, deceiver style flies on a 3 way rig, and ofcourse the venerable bear hair jig. Tubes are also a good bet. 

 

This is it, while I have caught fish on other lures in these conditions I stick with two lures. A 2.5 or 2.75" tube works a lot of days. The #1 bait period is a hair jig with bear hair working the best. I have caught several SM in the river at 34 degrees with chunks of ice hitting my boat on a bear hair jig. Bucktail, Fox, and others work as well still I will mix them with bear. Trailers, if you can find any a Uncle Josh Pork 101 is the best cold water trailer ever made and would bet money on that. 

 

Like others have said you need to find the wintering holes or where the fish can move from shallow to deep with the least amount of effort. If you are fishing a long shallow flat that is the wrong place unless there is no deeper water available to them. Try to find some deeper holes where they can just rise straight up from say 12" to 2' when it gets warmer to feed. Remember this is a cold blooded creature that has to swim constantly to survive. 

 

Allen

The first plastic I throw in the year for smallies is the Charlie Brewer's 1.5" crappie slider grub.