When it seems too cold.

[PaulVE64]

Found a dead fingerling smallie in thin water this morning. 

The water felt lifeless today. It might be too cold to catch another smallie this year.

[Kirtley Howe]

I have caught smallmouth bass in less than 4 ft of open water when there was ice all along the shoreline. I have friends who ice fish who have caught smallmouth bass in shallow (6-8') water while fishing for perch and walleye.  I am not sure it is ever too cold to catch smallmouth bass unless the water is frozen solid. It is sometimes too cold for ME to catch smallmouth bass simply because I HATE being cold.

[gim]

The smallmouth went to their wintering holes here about a week or so ago.  They will be there all winter hibernating.

 

Fish are cold blooded, meaning their activity level is dictated by the environment they reside in.  The colder it gets, the more reduced their activity level is.

[Motoboss]

Yeah, the river has gotten thin on smallies. We had no rain the last two months and with the river so low and now near frost temps nightly they’re pretty scarce.
Gonna have to switch up to the lakes, until they get hard.

[DogBone_384]

16 hours ago, PaulVE64 said:

It might be too cold to catch another smallie this year.

 

It's never too cold.  Go deeper and use blade baits and hair jigs.

[Kev-mo]

Rivers are tougher in the cold. Not because the fish won't bite.... I've caught fish in mid 30 degree water. Once there's ice chunks in the water column and the air temps are below freezing it's exceptionally difficult to present something effectively let alone dealing with frozen line/guides/reel.

 

So yeah maybe never too cold but definitely too much work.

[MediumMouthBass]

Early November and the smallmouth have already retreated? It must be really cold up there.

Usually my local river is good through beginning of December, atleast for smallies and walleyes.

But after that all the lakes, ponds, and rivers get too cold to fish. Recently (last few years) the ice is too thin to even try to ice fish, and the river has sheets of ice flying by constantly so i only have one way to fish and thats for creek trout.

Not sure if you have creeks with trout in them, but by me fishing for them is what gets me through the winter.... Even on the coldest days parts of it only have ice around the edges of the bank, and those fish will still bite. Ill just have to run to the truck every 10 minutes to melt the ice off the rod tip.

[gim]

1 hour ago, MediumMouthBass said:

Early November and the smallmouth have already retreated?

 

We've had some pretty intense cold snaps, but not extended cold here.  I can recall several nights around 20 degrees or lower in northern MN in recent weeks though.  Water temps in those areas are in the 40's already.

 

Most of the smallmouth lakes here are in the northern portion of the state too.

[PaulVE64]

Ive been throwing my little black maribou hair jig for about a month now.

Its my favorite finesse jig

[AJ in PA]

I caught my PB smallmouth in the Delaware River on 10/30/24, and then an average one on topwater (surprising) the next day about a mile farther up.  They might be more active than you think.  I've definitely had the same feeling about the cold, but I'm guessing I was just not fishing in the right places those days.

[PaulVE64]

My river had some mushy ice packs today after a day of near freezing rain and frost most nights.

[Junk Fisherman]

I had 56 temps in my river last weekend.  It'll be colder tomorrow but they'll be active.  I can still catch them till it gets down into the low 40s.  That's when I go fish for lakers or go hiking.  

[TnRiver46]

Water still in the mid 60s here 

 

[Reel]

Went fishing today.  Was 32 degree this morning and warmed up to 45.  Caught a nice 5 pound smallmouth on a hard swimbait in 4 feet of water ( Shimano BT).  Caught some smaller ones to.  No cold is OK.

[r83srock]

I fished yesterday and am going today and tomorrow. The water temp is 41-42 degrees. I’m still catching them on a jig best, a trap, Ned and jerkbait round out the rest. I lost the biggest smallie of my life this time last year on a Spinnerbait, the water was 38 degrees and the small baitfish were pushed up super shallow. It was a very cold day also. It’s never too cold.

[Reel]

At this time of year, I wade because the boat has been put away.  And like the previous poster said, the shallows are full of gobies and minnows.  You see them scooting away in a couple of inches of water.