After an awesome trip to Lake Kissimmee in Fla for NEW Sponsor Federated Auto Parts and American Bass Anglers I returned to cold temps and even colder water. after a day of rest and spending time with Beth I hit the lake to stay on top of the fishing here. Well I got out with good friend and client Paul Ponder of Albertville. We hit the lake at about noon after the temps got up a little outside. We started out looking for a reaction bite to locate some type of pattern.
We put in at Waterfront and worked our way up river. As we rode the main lake the first thing I noticed was the lake was way up and way muddy. There were entire trees floating and running was dangerous. I decided to start off on creek channels and work from there looking for a bite. I have always been a strong believer that things happen for a reason and what happened next just enforced that. While teaching Paul a couple of things I let the boat just float with the current and winds. Once the leason was over we just stood up and started casting. I was working the trolling motor back to our original stopping point and on his 5th cast he stroked a solid 4 pound fish. I stopped the trolling motor and let him work the area a little more. He put another one in the boat in the next few cast and the pattern was formed. To be honest I would not have started at that location at all and the fish were way away from where they should have been according to past fishing logs I have.
Paul worked the Jackall TN70 in Chart. Shad in less than 2 feet of water on old grass lines boating several more fish and a limit in the first hour. He was wanting to learn more about working a pattern so we sat down and I showed him how to find places on the lake that would hold fish like we were catching. Well he wanted me to prove it so I had him pick a place on the map that looked like what we were fishing and we went there. Within 10 mins he was boating fish of the same size and building confidence in his ability to find a pattern and locate fish on the lake. It was like watching a kid open presents on Christmas morning seeing the smile on his face when he put it all together and was building confidence on his new found ability. We ended the day with a solid limit of about 22 lbs. and alot learned on tactics.
Water temps were between 48-50 degrees and the only bait that produced was the TN70 in Chart Shad and Red Craw. Every fish boated was caught on older grass lines where some green grass stalks were still present in less than 2 feet of water.
The following day I headed out on the lower end of the lake fishing alone and working on some tactics. The day was alot different as far as weather with very little sun out compared to the day before. I changed colors of the TN70 to the Gold/Black due to the lack of sun and worked the same pattern as the day prior. The fish seemed to be just a little further because of the lack of sun to heat up the shallow water. I found the same pattern to be working but just a little deeper on the first outside line from 6-8 feet of water. The fish seemed to be hitting the bait a little more slugish and water temps were just a tad lower in the mid 40's. After catching a limit on the TN70 I decided to change the size of the bait to the Dozer and the color to a Chart. Shad. I found the fish liked the bigger profile of the bait but I did get less bites. The quality of the fish was better. I upgraded my limit on every fish and ended the day with a solid 26 lb bag. One thing I noticed is the fish are in the same areas but if the weather changes an angler must change with it. The fish dont move far from day to day so if you have an area where you were catching fish dont give up on them if they dont bite as soon as you get there. Pay close attn to weather patterns and adjust as needed to catch the same fish.
I hope this helps anglers out a little when fishing and helps turn a day of fishing in the cold one of the best days on the water they could ever dream of. Be sure to remember some of the biggest fish in the lake are caught during Jan., Feb., and March. So stay with it, stay confident in your skills, and dont let the weather get to you and you should have a great chance at the fish of a lifetime. Good luck and be safe on the water. See you on the lake!!
God Bless
Phil.4:13
Saturday, January 30, 2010
Friday, January 1, 2010
January 2010-First Day of a New Year, Lake Guntersville Style
Well the weather was cold but the fishing was HOT! I got out today to bring in the New Year with a bang and that is just what happened. The colder nights and high skies have moved the better fish to most of the wintertime "haunts" and they arrived hungry. For those that have fished with me in the past already know I would rather take a beating than fish a Jerkbait as slow as you have to fish it this time of year until the fish are on it hard. Well after several trips in the last few weeks of catching a few Jerkbait fish I went out today to see just how well they were eating it and committed to fishing it for at least half the day.
The day started kind of slow but when the sun reached the tops of the trees the bite got strong and was awesome to say the least. I Started with the Jackall Squirrel in Tenn. Shad. I worked the outside of main creek channels near deeper drops with the boat positioned in 12-15 feet of water. I was fishing the outside grass lines and found a solid 18 lb limit in the first 2 hours. After getting a solid bite I moved up to the Squad Minnow in the 120 size hoping to upgrade. The bite never slowed down and the pattern was holding up on all of the first 5 areas. I changed several colors and it never seemed to hurt the bite at all. One main key, yes the secret I found was once you pulled the bait down you had to let it sit for at least 12 seconds then remove the slack from the line and twitch it once. One key was DO NOT move the bait more than 4-6 inches and let it sit for another 12-15 seconds. This made the numbers drop a little but the size picked up greatly. I upgraded every fish I had caught prior to changing the size of baits I was looking at a solid 25+ pounds.
Once satisfied that I could put up coming clients on solid numbers and size on the Jerkbait I had to change baits and play with my newest weapon in my arsenal, The Jackall Delta Spec Rod. I tied on several baits starting with the Jig (Black and Blue) and changing to see what baits worked well on the rod. I went about 2 hours without a bite on several baits and only a few smaller fish on a couple. I then changed to the Jackall Giron (Black Crappie). I loved the way the rod preformed for casting the bait and it felt good with me being able to feel everything the bait was doing on the retrieve. I then had a solid 7 pound fish on the rod and its performance was everything I expected from the Jackall Rod. I boated several more fish on the same pattern just worked a little deeper (15-20 feet) than the jerkbait.
After finishing the day with a solid 28 pound limit I was pleased to see how the bite was getting stronger and the fish seem to have settled down some and moved into a pattern unlike past trips where it was a fish here and there.
The best baits on the swimbait pattern were the Jackall Swimming Ninja (Hitch), the Jackall Giron (Black Crappie) and the Lake Fork Live Magic Shad (5.5 in the Magic Shad color). I ended up with the best fish off the Live Magic Shad worked with a slow swimming motion then letting it fall into the grass edge. Most fish hit the bait on the fall near the bottom or just as I pulled it off the bottom and the end of the fall. Best advice is to not fish too fast and trust your area and bait. Some of the bites were very light so if it feels different set the hook.
I hope this helps some of our fans catch the fish of a lifetime and makes your cold winter days on the water a little better. If you want to see these tactics or some other little tricks we have to catch fish on winter patterns drop us a line and we will get you set up for a great fishing trip. Thanks again to everyone for their support and looking forward to seeing you on the water.
God Bless
Phil.4:13
The day started kind of slow but when the sun reached the tops of the trees the bite got strong and was awesome to say the least. I Started with the Jackall Squirrel in Tenn. Shad. I worked the outside of main creek channels near deeper drops with the boat positioned in 12-15 feet of water. I was fishing the outside grass lines and found a solid 18 lb limit in the first 2 hours. After getting a solid bite I moved up to the Squad Minnow in the 120 size hoping to upgrade. The bite never slowed down and the pattern was holding up on all of the first 5 areas. I changed several colors and it never seemed to hurt the bite at all. One main key, yes the secret I found was once you pulled the bait down you had to let it sit for at least 12 seconds then remove the slack from the line and twitch it once. One key was DO NOT move the bait more than 4-6 inches and let it sit for another 12-15 seconds. This made the numbers drop a little but the size picked up greatly. I upgraded every fish I had caught prior to changing the size of baits I was looking at a solid 25+ pounds.
Once satisfied that I could put up coming clients on solid numbers and size on the Jerkbait I had to change baits and play with my newest weapon in my arsenal, The Jackall Delta Spec Rod. I tied on several baits starting with the Jig (Black and Blue) and changing to see what baits worked well on the rod. I went about 2 hours without a bite on several baits and only a few smaller fish on a couple. I then changed to the Jackall Giron (Black Crappie). I loved the way the rod preformed for casting the bait and it felt good with me being able to feel everything the bait was doing on the retrieve. I then had a solid 7 pound fish on the rod and its performance was everything I expected from the Jackall Rod. I boated several more fish on the same pattern just worked a little deeper (15-20 feet) than the jerkbait.
After finishing the day with a solid 28 pound limit I was pleased to see how the bite was getting stronger and the fish seem to have settled down some and moved into a pattern unlike past trips where it was a fish here and there.
The best baits on the swimbait pattern were the Jackall Swimming Ninja (Hitch), the Jackall Giron (Black Crappie) and the Lake Fork Live Magic Shad (5.5 in the Magic Shad color). I ended up with the best fish off the Live Magic Shad worked with a slow swimming motion then letting it fall into the grass edge. Most fish hit the bait on the fall near the bottom or just as I pulled it off the bottom and the end of the fall. Best advice is to not fish too fast and trust your area and bait. Some of the bites were very light so if it feels different set the hook.
I hope this helps some of our fans catch the fish of a lifetime and makes your cold winter days on the water a little better. If you want to see these tactics or some other little tricks we have to catch fish on winter patterns drop us a line and we will get you set up for a great fishing trip. Thanks again to everyone for their support and looking forward to seeing you on the water.
God Bless
Phil.4:13
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