At All Costs, Salvage a Fishing Day

I recently was reading about some of the bass-fishing adventures of an outdoors columnist, who no longer is with us. When I saw where he had launched his boat one winter day without the plug in it, I was hooked on reading the rest of his piece, 'cause that fact means we both have something in common.

The columnist went on to note that the back end of his boat was filled with water before he ever saw it and subsequently had to wade out in near-freezing water and muscle the boat ashore.

My boat likewise had a lot of water in it before I got it back on the trailer, thanks to a partner who simply stood and watched it filling up. He never said or did anything until I had gotten to the parking lot some distance away and parked my vehicle. At that point, he hollered, "I 'think' there's a problem, because our tackleboxes are floating." Duh??? However, I digress.

Getting back to the columnist, "We had two big bass that day," he said "The first one came in like a floating log, too cold to fight. When I hooked the second one, I was too cold to fight. The fish came out of the water and spit the lure back at me. By then, my hands were so cold they were numb, but my mouth was still in good working order, and I used some uncensored words on that fish."

Let's face it: There are probably only a handful of fishermen, alive or otherwise, who haven't spent at least a few days chasing bass when the elements were, shall we say, "challenging."

This columnist described a fishing trip with a buddy when he stayed awake most of the night with a bad cold and sore throat. This buddy was a topnotch angler, and he didn't want to miss a chance of fishing with him. "So I stuffed down aspirin and managed to get up and get moving the next morning," said the columnist, "despite the fact the ground was covered with snow and big flakes still were falling."

As he admitted, "Bass fishermen are like this. We are so caught up in this thing of chasing bass that we often use bad judgment and go fishing when we'd probably catch just as many fish if we stayed home. Looking back, I fished a bunch of cold, windy, nasty days with different friends. When we had a fishing trip planned, it didn't matter if the temperature was 18 degrees, and the wind was blowing 30, we still got up and went.

"My one friend always had the same reason why we should go ahead with our plans. 'You never can tell,' he'd say. 'This might be the day we catch that great big ol' bass.' So we always went...regardless.

"I remember one longer-than-usual visit with this friend and his wife, when the temperature never did get above 30 degrees. Nevertheless, my friend and I fished every day, all day long, hoping to catch one of those big ol' bass. We didn't catch a fish the first day, and that streak continued all week long. We didn't even talk to a single fisherman who had caught a single bass. It was a winter to forget."

The columnist went on to describe a bass tournament he fished in when it was "so cold the line would freeze on our reels."

He also recalled an equally unpleasant day when the wind was blowing like crazy. "That was before bass boats appeared on the scene," he explained. "My buddy and I were fishing in a flat-bottomed metal boat, and the swells were so bad (probably the roughest I ever had seen) we actually dented the metal seats. Waves would come over the bow, and we would have to pull the plug in between waves, so the water would run out before the next wave hit. I was so concerned I told my buddy I wanted to be the first one to get out of the boat that day."

Bass pro Kevin Van Dam from Michigan is another angler who knows a thing or two about fishing in miserable conditions.

"During one of the official practice days for the 2010 Bassmaster Classic at Lay Lake," he said, "the weather got brutal. The water temperature was in the upper 30s, the air temperature dropped, and the rain turned to snow. It was late in the practice day, and a lot of guys already had gone in. It was very cold and very uncomfortable and made it difficult to be out there, but I knew I had to find a good school of fish.

"About the time the temperature dropped and the sleet turned to snow, the fish started biting real good. And while I'm used to fishing cold weather, I was pretty surprised the fish were as active as they were. In fact, when I went out that morning, I wasn't sure I even could get a bite. But when that front moved in, a bass literally choked my Red Eye Shad, and I knew I was onto something. I caught about 12 to 15 that afternoon, including two 7-pounders. The fish were shallow and crushing my Red Eye Shad. I even caught some in 2 feet of water during that snowstorm!

"Once the tournament got started, I ended up catching them in the same areas with the same kind of techniques. It was cold--like in the 20s--when the event started, and it warmed up gradually as the week went on.

"My point in all of this discussion is thus: Don't assume bad weather drives bass deep, or that you always have to fish slow and methodical.

"And, because our cold-weather clothing is so good these days, anglers can endure a lot of bad weather if they just give it a chance.

"So, the next time you see a low-pressure system moving into your area in winter, go fishing, and don't be afraid to check out shallow-water patterns.

"Remember, it's all about the attitude!"