Thank God fish are cold blooded!

[Spoonminnow]

Normally this time of year the tackle starts going into storage, but a friend showed me that that would be a big mistake after catching pan fish under a float in 8 FOW. The water temperature has been going down for the last two weeks, from 53 down to 46 today.

I've always thought that when pan fish take down a float attached to a jig rigged with a minnow type lure, those fish would need warmer water to do so. The water 20 fish were caught on different days was only 51 degrees.

Today and yesterday the water temp was between 46 and 49, but the strikes were strong much of the time and if not hooked on the first cast to a spot, would get caught on the second or third cast. Jigging off bottom in water around 9' also produced some nice perch, crappie and sunfish. Water only 4-5' on a flat with stumps, produced the same as well as a 12" crappie caught just off a long rock ridge surrounded by deeper water.

You or I would be dead from hypothermia (and with the wind yesterday blowing a chilly 48 degrees at 15-20 mph , I thought I would succumb).
But I have to keep in mind the year a buddy and I ice fished and caught over 45 crappie in one area. The hits were also strong.

As always, right place, right time, right fish.

[shipahoy41]

Nice job. The fish are ok in the cold weather and will eat if given the opportunity and the right bait.

[feelay]

Always say.... Fish are like us, they want to eat something most every day, if possible.

[skeetbum]

Good job. I fished in some cold conditions and did very well. It's worth the effort.

[NIMROD]

Good job , I have caught fish after breaking ice some winters .

[Spoonminnow]

I don't know about the rest of you, but I don't fish to just catch fish the same way year after year - it would hold no challenge for me. I must discover and be blown away by experiences that shed light on why, when, where and on what fish can be caught.

I've always known fish were cold blooded and had one amazing day on the ice years ago catching crappie after crappie, but didn't correlate it to cold water fishing in fall. Early spring with water temps in the upper 30's after ice out has usually resulted in a few fish or none. Getting easily detectable strikes in the last week has convinced me to never again store my gear in fall.

The other discover is that jig and lure size need not be downsized except for the depth fished. Jig size to me always relates to lure speed on the horizontal retrieve. The heavier the jig the faster the speed. So I now use 1/32 ball head jigs for shallower water under 5', 1/16 for mid depth fish in water 4-5' down from the surface and 1/8 oz for slow bottom jigging in 9-14' on a particular lake I've been doing well on. Nice to find out that lure sizes 2"-2 3/4" in my minnow design have worked well for the tiniest crappie and sunfish as well as nice size perch and crappie. I've been experimenting with colors and found that a clear tail with tiny flakes attached to a greenish body are easily detected and that the tail action is irresistible. All clear with black flakes or all chartreuse with black flakes do as well at all times.

The strikes have been hard or at least easily detected, allowing me time to take in the slack, raise the rod 45 degrees to the side and hold it until the fish hooks itself. One light hook set in the opposite direction (also at 45 degrees to the side) and the fish is hooked good.

Correction: a friend caught many fish using a float making long casts from shore. Having a boat, I don't need to use a float because I can hit different structure types and depths in 1/4 of the lake - pretty much the same area I've been catching fish when the water dipped to below 60 degrees.

I'll be rotating between three bodies of water and keep you posted. Each is very different.