Hey all! I started fishing this year in late spring, so this is my first winter fishing.  I live in northern Illinois and if there is open water, I'm fishing, no matter the temps!  

 

I've been getting extremely frustrated fishing my two "go to" lakes.  They were formerly quarries.  It seems that all of the vegetation has died off and is just sitting on the bottom.  Now, everything I've seen about fishing water temps in the low 40's seems to be about ned rigs and dragging football jigs.  I can't seem to do this without immediately accumulating ridiculous amounts of weeds immediately.  Any tips on how to fish these conditions?  Thanks!

Fish a light Ned rig. I’m using a 1/16oz head and fishing it in the remaining weeds because that’s where the fish are hanging out at. I’m in NE Kansas, so similar water temps I’d guess with low 40’s. I’m catching almost all my fish in less than 5’ of water. Suspending jerkbait with a very slow retrieve is another good option. I catch very few fish in the winter on a jig for some reason.

30 minutes ago, Bluebasser86 said:

Fish a light Ned rig. I’m using a 1/16oz head and fishing it in the remaining weeds because that’s where the fish are hanging out at. I’m in NE Kansas, so similar water temps I’d guess with low 40’s. I’m catching almost all my fish in less than 5’ of water. Suspending jerkbait with a very slow retrieve is another good option. I catch very few fish in the winter on a jig for some reason.

Thank you!  I am still figuring out the weights on the ned rigs.  I'm fishing from the bank and I know you don't wanna go to heavy but I also need to get a little distance.  

35 minutes ago, MikesCrappyFishing said:

Thank you!  I am still figuring out the weights on the ned rigs.  I'm fishing from the bank and I know you don't wanna go to heavy but I also need to get a little distance.  

A light braid mainline to a flouro leader helps a lot with casting. I use a 10lb Seaguar Tactix braid and even with that tiny head it will cast plenty far. 

I run into similar issues on the rivers I fish this time of year - lots of weeds but even more large leaves that have sunken and covered the bottom. I find a free rig works wonders, especially with a proper floating elaztec ned worm. Use as heavy a weight as you need and let the buoyancy of the worm do the work. 

Personally, if possible I would give up lakes and ponds. I would go for a stream or river.

 

a drop shot would also be an option for this thr weight may get junk on it but, the bait will be visible. 

3 hours ago, Susky River Rat said:

Personally, if possible I would give up lakes and ponds. I would go for a stream or river.

 

This i was i do too. Whether a frozen lake forces me or not. Although the other day i had to time my casts to avoid getting stuck on a ice berg floating at 10mph.

 

And for the op since you said you are fishing from the bank his suggestion is even better. Lakes in the winter i find the bass are too far out to even reach with my heaviest lure. In the river they can be anywhere and everywhere. Want to guess what the best part is?

The ned rig you are already using is the king in river fishing baits, especially when they dont want to chase down a moving bait.

 

But regardless of where you fish it, the standard weight should be 1/16oz, anything after that especially in shallow-10' of water with 0 current the bait just falls to fast on the initial drop, and everytime you go to work it too. (Most times the bass will bite on the initial fall) 1/8oz or higher should be a last resort option only if you truly cant get that distance, this time of year these fish (usually) dont want to move or chase down anything thats moving fast. Hence why everyone suggests having a long pause for jerkbaits.

But if fishing water past 10' deep or a place with current you might have to go to 1/8, or even heavier just to keep it on bottom. 

6 hours ago, MikesCrappyFishing said:

Thank you!  I am still figuring out the weights on the ned rigs.  I'm fishing from the bank and I know you don't wanna go to heavy but I also need to get a little distance.  

Are you or have you tried using braided fishing line? Disregard if so, but if not #1 it will cast alot farther, and #2 it will let you see your line on the top, which is the most crucial part of a ned rig. Anytime i couldnt see my line (fluoro or clear mono) the bass got badly gut hooked.

I do best cold water fishing with silent, flat sided crank baits , that don’t actually hit the weeds, or when they do can be snapped out with a hard jerk. 
 

or a Ned type bait on a drop shot rig, so the bait itself is not in the weeds. 
a slim type wieght.

Use a weedless Ned Head ( EWG)

Ned rigs and football jigs do better w/ rocky bottoms and not grass. You can throw a 'weedless ned' but honestly if I'm around grass there are other lures I prefer when it's slow...here are a few:

 

* drop shot w/ a 1/0 ewg hook and a 6" worm or roboworm alive shad

* 4" fluke on a 3/0 owner cps w/ a light weight on it...started out w/ caffeine shads but I just picked up a pack of big bite baits jerk minnows and they look like they are going to be awesome

* light carolina rig - basically a cylinder weight with 2 bobber stoppers and then further down a 1/0 ewg hook...then use a small elaztec bait like the baby z too

* tiny texas rig - try a 1/8oz weight w/ a 2-3/0 ewg hook then throw a zoom utail or a small craw on it

* that same owner cps hook with a 4" easy shiner

 

honestly I like all of these more than a ned or a jig. If I really feeling like throwing one of those it's going to be an ewg / 'weedless' ned or if I want to use a jig it's going to be a flipping jig instead of a football jig w/ small hops on the bottom instead of dragging...but honestly right now it's cold and I mostly just dropshot or throw a small texas rig or carolina rig.

I'll ask a couple of questions before I give my $.02. First, are you sure they were quarries, or were they strip pits which there are an abundance of where I am? Second, are the weeds you're bringing up green? I know you said dead.

Now for my two cents. In the extremely deep water of quarries, a Ned rig will take forever to reach the bottom (see my first question). Plus, I doubt the bass would be sitting on the bottom, not enough O2.

Quarry or pit, the fish are likely holding somewhere off the bottom and figuring out their depth is your first priority. Figure that out and the best presentation will become evident.

On 12/30/2024 at 1:02 PM, MediumMouthBass said:

This i was i do too. Whether a frozen lake forces me or not. Although the other day i had to time my casts to avoid getting stuck on a ice berg floating at 10mph.

 

And for the op since you said you are fishing from the bank his suggestion is even better. Lakes in the winter i find the bass are too far out to even reach with my heaviest lure. In the river they can be anywhere and everywhere. Want to guess what the best part is?

The ned rig you are already using is the king in river fishing baits, especially when they dont want to chase down a moving bait.

 

But regardless of where you fish it, the standard weight should be 1/16oz, anything after that especially in shallow-10' of water with 0 current the bait just falls to fast on the initial drop, and everytime you go to work it too. (Most times the bass will bite on the initial fall) 1/8oz or higher should be a last resort option only if you truly cant get that distance, this time of year these fish (usually) dont want to move or chase down anything thats moving fast. Hence why everyone suggests having a long pause for jerkbaits.

But if fishing water past 10' deep or a place with current you might have to go to 1/8, or even heavier just to keep it on bottom. 

Are you or have you tried using braided fishing line? Disregard if so, but if not #1 it will cast alot farther, and #2 it will let you see your line on the top, which is the most crucial part of a ned rig. Anytime i couldnt see my line (fluoro or clear mono) the bass got badly gut hooked.

Thanks for the reply!  I am, I'm using 15 lb braid to 8  lb fluoro. 

17 hours ago, papajoe222 said:

I'll ask a couple of questions before I give my $.02. First, are you sure they were quarries, or were they strip pits which there are an abundance of where I am? Second, are the weeds you're bringing up green? I know you said dead.

Now for my two cents. In the extremely deep water of quarries, a Ned rig will take forever to reach the bottom (see my first question). Plus, I doubt the bass would be sitting on the bottom, not enough O2.

Quarry or pit, the fish are likely holding somewhere off the bottom and figuring out their depth is your first priority. Figure that out and the best presentation will become evident.

 

 

They were quarries for sure, the weeds are like a mixture of light and dark green.  

 

Well, you appear to have been spot on with where they're at!  I kept hearing over and over that they'll be on the bottom.  I brought my new christmas gift out with me, castable sonar.  In 20 feet of water, the ones I saw were only like 8-12 feet below the surface. 

Thanks for all the responses.  I'm going to try all of them.  haha