Cold water fish

[Spoonminnow]

Went out today - couldn't stand being in-doors any longer. Strange day: it rained an inch last night; the sun came out with a stiff breeze and chilly; then cloudy; then sun with wind about 15 mph; and then rain with wind gusting to 30mph . Water temp had dropped to 42 degrees because of the cold nights and I assumed fishing would be tough with a slow bite. Man was i wrong!


Thank God fish are cold blooded! Once a few schools were found, the strikes were hard and hook-ups easy. If it wasn't for the wind chill factor of 30 degrees and the rain, I would have stayed an caught more than 20 fish. Crappie and perch were very cooperative along with one bass and a few sunfish - most caught on shallow flats only 5' deep. What a weird day!

Glad I got out. I just hope the weather moderates back in to the low 50's and sunny even with water temps below 45 degrees.

(BTW my cone tail grub, a thin tail grub and a Crappie Magnet grub on 1/32 oz jigheads could not be beat.)

[Crestliner08]

Great job! And yes, this can be the best fishing of the year for us New Englanders. Just a matter of finding the schools BEFORE ice up! We're hoping to get in one or two more trips before we put the boat away.

[Spoonminnow]

I've been known to fish black ice using my boat like an ice breaker and fish in early March. Those days are long gone.....

[sinkermaker]

Great you got out and caught some

[Spoonminnow]

Most important was proving once again that fish will still bite with gusto even in freezing water! Some may say hunger drove them; I say lure action and a slow presentation did the job along with a school mentality - one strikes/ other think, why not?.
Other than mid depth in shallow water, I did catch some fish letting the jig rest on bottom with my rod laid down and then getting hit as soon as the lure rose slowly off bottom and started its swim. Just amazing the similarities to warm water fishing!

[Ketchn]

I think they become a bit more lethargic in cold water and when they are located and induced into a bite they have less control over the take like they do when the water is warm when they can take it softly ...one must remember they are cold blooded and I am fairly sure they become quite lethargic when they become cold .

[Spoonminnow]

Could be K.
But part of me believes fish follow the conservation of energy principle all year round, suspending a great majority of the time even with metabolism changes up or down depending on water temperature. I've seen many videos of suspended fish milling around, ignoring nearby bait fish until a lure's surface splash breaks them out of their trance. The only movement was fish slowly swimming from one area to the next. No video showed fish attacking bait fish and then a lure or vice versa.

Some times I wish I had pursued skin diving and underwater photography so I could document fish activity at different times of day. With spy technology reaching the masses via drone cameras, I wouldn't be surprised if that equipment becomes cheaper so more anglers can study underwater fish activity similar to that in Glen Lau videos. A remote controlled spy submarine .....

[Zman]

Great story , good for your health, not to sit on the couch all winter


Sent from my iPad using Crappie.com

[Spoonminnow]

Great story , good for your health, not to sit on the couch all winter


Sent from my iPad using Crappie.com

More so my mental health! LOL
Cabin fever is dangerous at my age. Good thing for lure craft or I'd go nuts!

[Crestliner08]

I've been known to fish black ice using my boat like an ice breaker and fish in early March. Those days are long gone.....

You've got that right! I fish "up to" ice up and "just after" ice out these days. Too old to breaking ice. My mind says, "go for it".....my body says, "you're kidding, right!"