Hey all,

The weekend is coming up and it looks like itll be fairly warm (warm being in the 50s in the NW).  I want to hear about your experiences with SHALLOW fish in the winter in areas where it gets fairly cold.  I will be fishing a big lake with deep water, but from the bank.

thanks!

Not that this happens everywhere but 4 weeks ago I was fishing a river in

eastern NC. Water temp was 42d and I caught about 25 bass in about 12 - 18"

of water next to logs. I expect it had a lot to do with the current in the river it

was very strong. But to answer your question go to the NW corner and start

throwing a spinerbait down the side of the bank and work your way out to the

middle. Try to vary your retrive. 8-)

I find that flipping the mats is good for shallow water bass in winter.

Look for dying vegetation (generates warmth as it dies) and use however much weight it takes to penetrate the mat.  I'll go as high as 1.5 oz's but less is better.  I like senko's, or beavers.  

This is a great fun way to fish.  Requires alot of concentration and accuracy.  Lack of wind, or advanced boat control also helps.

good luck and have fun

avid

Oh,

Once again, I urge all newbies who want help to post your location in your sig line.

go to your profile page and add your state, then where it says signature. put in something like

Texas panhandle or something that will help us know where you are.  This will help us give you much better advice targeted to your conditions.

avid

Done - NW as in Seattle.

thx for the tips!

Agreed that spinners work really well (varying retrieve speed and fan casting as stated), I'm going to try fishing some jerk baits off of some creek embankments near mainlake to try and coax some suspenders. I've read up on quite a few of everyone's posts and can't wait to take your advice with the jerk baits. You might try (if it's more your style) swimming jigs or worms (very slowly) especially if there's any wooded cover. The weather here is in the 70's all week with a moderately strong south wind (as usual, that's another reason spinners are good late winter/early spring baits; you can fish them faster). I'm hoping to get out this Saturday for the first time in awhile and try my luck. The downer is that a cold front is supposed to move in Friday night and bring storms on Saturday. I'm crossing my fingers that it holds off about 24 hours.