You can always tell that winter is coming because the member activity on Bass Resource slows down.

 

Woke up to 42 degrees here in southern Georgia this morning. The days are still in the 70's and 80's but it's getting chilly overnight. 

 

I have been fishing sporadically, but my girlfriend is away for the next few weekends so I'm hoping to get out and do a decent amount of fishing. But before that, I'm going to rig my kayak a bit differently. 

 

First off, I added some sun visors to my Garmin and Humminbird units. But my next project is to shed some weight and see what kind of speed I can gain. Normally, I run two 100Ah LifePo batteries, one for electronics and one for the motor. I alternate them each trip so one isn't getting a heavy draw all of the time. But for my next trip I'm going to connect the electronics to a 36Ah to reduce weight.

 

But it's my crate and soft plastics that probably weight the most. So now I'm going to really pare down on what's in my speed bags. I'm also going to cut down on the number of hard baits I bring. The truth is that I never use most of it out on the water. Instead, I'll put the extra baits in a tub and put that in my trunk.

 

The other part of shedding excess weight on my kayak is me! I recently joined Planet Fitness with my son and we have been working out together. I've been at it for a few weeks and if I can make it for another month it will become a habit and get easier to get out there 3-4 times a week. It helps to have him pushing me to get out there.

 

I already fixed the nav lights on my kayak and gave it a good deep cleaning, but unless I buy a new kayak I really don't have any winter fishing projects this year.

I can always tell it's winter because we start getting questions like - "If you could only buy one color lure the rest of your life, what would it be?"

The next 4 weeks are probably my most consistent time for catching 4lb+ bass. I hope to get out as often as possible. 
 

scott

Fall is disappearing.  We go from summer to winter in like a month here now.  September was HOT.  Like July hot. 

 

I'm sure there will be ice on the lakes in a month... 

It was 32* when I launched my yak Sunday morning. I did not come prepared for that kind of weather. I had one thin pair of thermals, some light fishing pants, a sun shirt, a hoodie, and crocs. I ended up putting on my cheap frogg togg suit for an extra wind break but I was still about frozen after the first 30 minutes.

Crocs in 32 degree temps?  Lol that one back fired.  Maybe it'll make you think twice about wearing those dumb fashion police violations again.

20 minutes ago, gim said:

Crocs in 32 degree temps?  Lol that one back fired.  Maybe it'll make you think twice about wearing those dumb fashion police violations again.

No doubt..

Winter is coming....... in Georgia.

Good one. 

A-Jay

1 hour ago, A-Jay said:

Winter is coming....... in Georgia.

Good one. 

A-Jay

Must be horrible having 50* water in the middle of January. 

I know fall is upon us when water temps hit the 50's and I have to pack my Milwaukee heated sweatshirt if I head out before dawn.

 

Besides that, I have to wear long pants AND underwear !!!!!  😝

 

 

22 minutes ago, fishballer06 said:

Must be horrible having 50* water in the middle of January. 

 

I don’t know about Georgia but last winter - NC had ice covering everything from January til March.  It was insane.  I really hope we have 50* water in January this year!

I know it’s fall when on the river it seems nearly every cast lands on a leaf or one grabs my line on the retrieve.   It may be the only time of the year I curse on the water.

2 hours ago, Bluebasser86 said:

It was 32* when I launched my yak Sunday morning. I did not come prepared for that kind of weather. I had one thin pair of thermals, some light fishing pants, a sun shirt, a hoodie, and crocs. I ended up putting on my cheap frogg togg suit for an extra wind break but I was still about frozen after the first 30 minutes.

That’s too brutal for me. 

 

It was 42 degrees out when I went to work this morning. That’s about my lower limit for kayak fishing.

 

Water temp here is nudging into the 60’s. It’s time to break out the muck boots.

1 hour ago, fishballer06 said:

Must be horrible having 50* water in the middle of January. 

I think that temperature is relative when it comes to bass activity. Those northern bass may treat 50 degree water temps like it’s picnic weather, but these southern bass are wearing scarves and sweaters.

Fired up the wood furnace this morning.

Mid 30's for lows much of this week.

 

As long as air temps are forecast to warm above freezing, I’ll take my kayak to the river and fish alone when water temp is in the low 60s.  Once it falls into the 50s, I’ll fish only if someone is floating with me.  Once the water hits 55° I don’t go, regardless of air temps. 

57 minutes ago, OldManLure said:

I know it’s fall when on the river it seems nearly every cast lands on a leaf or one grabs my line on the retrieve.   It may be the only time of the year I curse on the water.

We get filamentous algae and eel grass on some of the rivers here. I do a bit of cursing late spring thru late fall.

There are 2 seasons for those that fish in crocs here. Summer, and sock+croc season.

 

We rarely get hard water here. Mostly I can fish all year round. But when it's in the 30's, I'm a wuss and don't fish much.

 

I have historically gotten skunked in winter. This year I am going to be trying some jerkbaits. I couple of X-Raps, Husky Jerks, and Zoom Super Flukes.

 

Last winter I think it was I learned to cast a baitcaster while wearing jersey gloves.

 

And if I could only have one lure color the rest of my life it'd be green pumkin... or, perhaps watermelon red.

Woke up to 56° this morning. It’s now 90°. Felt great this morning. Bass must’ve thought so, too. They slept in. Only the young’uns got up. 

2 hours ago, Kayak Koz said:

Those northern bass may treat 50 degree water temps like it’s picnic weather

Actually, no, once it drops below that here, their activity level plummets and they move into wintering holes to hibernate. We aren’t far from that point at the moment.

2 hours ago, Kayak Koz said:

I think that temperature is relative when it comes to bass activity. Those northern bass may treat 50 degree water temps like it’s picnic weather, but these southern bass are wearing scarves and sweaters.

 

I completely agree, figure they know the lid is coming soon and those months slow everything down.  The LM's seem active on my lake till the high 40's, not always chasing but certainly hunting struggling shad especially at first light.  And any morning shad kill certainly perks them up a notch or two.  The smallies on the big water seem to go shad/alewife crazy all the way down to the low 40's on some days.  I have found pinch points on both waters in 20-25' fow that both provide consistent action and the weather the last few years has obliged by extending that window of nighttime lows of plus 40 degree weather.

 

scott

Northern bass at 50 degrees are slowing but still catchable.  When the water starts with a 4 that’s just a lot colder somehow.  At least in the spring that’s how it goes.  When the water hits 52 or so the fish just turn on.  We’ll see how the fall to winter transition goes.  I’ve never fished it since I’m normally hunting plus 40-something water in a kayak is tough going.  I’m not hunting this year and I have a boat so…

I'm normally gearing up for waterfowl and Mule deer seasons...but in the past few years I have really concentrated on fishing more in the fall. 

 

It was 43 degrees air temp on Sunday morning, afternoon highs were in the 60's. Water temps were 60-63. Hope to fish another month or so before hard water gets here. 

We live in a Mediterranean climate controlled by the Pacific Ocean currents. The closer you are to the ocean and sea level the more stable the climate temperatures are. We average around 30 temperature difference night to day year around. 
Further away from the ocean and higher altitude the temperature change significantly. During the winter our rainy season the freezing/ snow level altitude is around 5,000 feet. Where I live freezing temps happen occur a couple of times a year. If it’s 30 degrees in the morning it’s 60 degrees in the afternoon. We look at snow capped mountains while bass fishing in 50 degree water during our winter.

Tom

Winters are tough.  I sure wish I could go ice fishing.

 

@king fisher- put that toro on ice and serve with an iced cold cervesa and you’ll forget about fishing on ice.