4 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

 

It seems like every other video I see about winter fishing is talking about how it’s a myth that you slow down and that has been my experience.

 

I do really well with jerk baits and lipless cranks and heavy jigs in the winter time.

 

when it gets really cold, the goal is to make the fish react.

 

I heard recently on a podcast that the way we think about the relationship between lower and higher metabolic activity with regards to Coldwater species is kind of incorrect and inverted as anglers.

 

 During the summertime you run your heat more and it kind of stresses the system out and this is kind of how Bass operate in the summertime and they can serve a lot more energy and you do a lot better with big slow presentations when it’s hot. When it’s cold, Bass conserve tons of energy and are able to move around much more freely and put on weight when they eat much more efficiently. This is the time to speed up.

Thank you very much for sharing. I had not heard this, but it makes sense.

Well, it’s a heat index of 106 today so winter is the last thing on my mind.

 

But for winter fishing my go to bait is a black and blue bladed jig with a blue Vibe Speed Craw.

 

But instead of a straight retrieve I’ll yo-yo it with a lift and drop, but I don’t let it touch the bottom. In this case, a standard 3/8 oz bladed jig works better than a bladed jig.

Around here everything freezes solid in winter. Someone told me to try ice fishing, so I did. Didn't work for me, my lures just kept bouncing off the surface.

We're doing good to have a couple weeks of ice on the water. Most of the time, it's a skim of ice that is gone in a few days because we almost always jump back up into the 40s and 50s after a cold spell. It's actually quite nice... except for the wind.

20 hours ago, Pat Brown said:

 

It seems like every other video I see about winter fishing is talking about how it’s a myth that you slow down and that has been my experience.

 

I do really well with jerk baits and lipless cranks and heavy jigs in the winter time.

 

when it gets really cold, the goal is to make the fish react.

 

I heard recently on a podcast that the way we think about the relationship between lower and higher metabolic activity with regards to cold water is kind of incorrect and inverted as anglers.

 

 During the summertime you run your heat more and it kind of stresses the HVAC system out - this is kind of how Bass operate in the summertime and they do their best to lay low and save a lot more energy when it’s hot - this is why fish mortality is highest in the summer - you do a lot better with big slow presentations when it’s hot.
 

When it’s cold, Bass are able conserve tons of energy and are able to move around much more freely and put on weight when they eat much more efficiently. This is the time to speed up.

Pat, fellow NC fisherman and silent admirer of your fishing and follower of your comments for a while....curious what podcast this was?

2 minutes ago, BRobNC said:

Pat, fellow NC fisherman and silent admirer of your fishing and follower of your comments for a while....curious what podcast this was?

 

that would almost certainly be an episode of Bass after Dark and probably one of the ones with lots of biologists on the panel!  Maybe one of the ones about fish care?

Ahhh. I skipped that one as I don't ever use a live well. I'll have to check it out. Thanks!

54 minutes ago, Pat Brown said:

 

that would almost certainly be an episode of Bass after Dark and probably one of the ones with lots of biologists on the panel!  Maybe one of the ones about fish care?

I'll have to check that out too, thanks.