I read those lines in a Wired2Fish article today, and I'm sure some anglers have no trouble relating to the authenticity of that statement. Personally, however, I only can remember a single instance over the years when I actually caught a bigger fish in cold weather. Back on Feb. 28, 1976, I caught the pictured 6-lb. 6-oz. bass (mount on left, actual fish on right) in Lake Anna, while fishing a chartreuse-with-black-back crankbait.
Let's face it: A good day on the water this time of year might only consist of a half-dozen or so bites. So getting just two or three more can be a huge deal. Writer Shaye Baker has some suggestions designed to correct common mistakes by anglers this time of year and perhaps make those few extra bites more profitable.
Don't let the weather fool you. Mid-morning on a nice sunny day in winter is about the time an angler usually starts thawing out...and probably begins fishing too fast.
"It's so easy to speed up your retrieve, without even realizing it," said Baker. "Even though the sun certainly helps activate the fish a bit, it's usually just starting to get them going around that time and certainly doesn't call for burning a spinnerbait.
"You have to keep slow-rolling your baits and avoid the temptation to burn them," he continued. "Even if the air temperature is 20 degrees warmer than it was the day before, the water temperature may have only moved a degree or two. That's what you have to focus on, and be sure you're fishing the fish's habitat and not your own above the water."
Control the emotions. A common flaw Baker has seen in reviewing the GoPro footage of many pros was to unknowingly change what they were doing once they got a bite.
"Bass have a way of lulling us to sleep between bites," he said, "and we'll start to fish a lot slower, without even knowing it. Once we get a bite, though, and get excited, we often speed up without even realizing it. Then we'll go another 30 minutes without a bite, until the monotony slows us down again.
"Whether you're intentionally fishing slow or just get lulled to sleep, you have to focus on slowing down again once you get a bite. The old saying goes something like this: 90 percent of fishing happens between the ears. That holds very true with winter bass fishing. Focusing on the mechanics of fishing slow and managing your emotions will lead to more bites...period.
"That's the right idea," he noted, "but you also can stumble into some really unproductive water this way and stay there entirely too long.
"Sunshine is your friend in the dead of winter. Just the same way we feel better in the sun, rather than the shade, a bass does as well...maybe more so, since bass are cold-blooded, and their metabolism and other body functions are regulated by their environment. So you want to focus on sunny banks, and stay out of the shade. Yes, you can catch fish on a shady bank this time of year, but you greatly increase your odds by focusing on the sunny ones."
Baker routinely starts on the sunny side of a pocket and fishes his way toward the back. When he reaches the shade, he picks up his trolling motor and idles to the next sunny pocket, then starts fishing again.
"This eliminates wasting half your time in far less productive water," he explained. "It's also worth pointing out that some parts of those banks will have been in the sun longer. Pay attention to how the shade lines are moving throughout the day, and you may even be able to find a pattern within a pattern, where you're focusing on water that has been in the sun for at least two or three hours.
"Keeping a vigilant focus on how and where you're presenting your bait is crucial," continued Baker. "Be sure to keep things moving slow, even as you warm up or get excited. And focus your time on the sunniest stretches you can find. Don't get caught up going through the motions and find yourself on a stretch that hasn't seen direct sunlight since yesterday. Correct these three simple mistakes, and you'll certainly catch more fish," he concluded.
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