With the sun falling lower into the daytime sky, days are getting shorter, and so are our opportunities to pursue the fish we love. Soon, the gentle splash of waves will give way to the creaking and cracking sound of shifting ice. Or will it?
It was just last year that I found myself on my boat – on the water – on November 23rd. No, I wasn’t in some far-off southern reservoir. Instead, I was right in my backyard – Lake O’Dowd in Shakopee, MN. The temperatures were in the high-50s, and it wasn’t long before I was shedding my jacket in favor of a light sweatshirt. It was the perfect day, with just one exception. The bass weren’t biting. I may as well have been muskie fishing. Hundreds of casts and nothing…only a small hammer handle to be found. But the problem wasn’t with the fish; the problem was with me.
Yes, the weather for late November was amazing atop the surface of the water. Subsurface though - that was a different story. Fish – bass the flavor of the day – were in the midst of their winter slowdown. With a metabolism shutting down for the season and energy levels low, there was no way they would give chase. To make this catch, I should have been fishing slowly. If I wasn’t going to be knocking on their door, they certainly weren’t going answer.
Arnie Nichols, Northern Minnesota Guides League, tells us that when winter strikes, slow isn’t good enough. You need to fish real slow. “I would try a jerkbait or a Baby Minus 1”, said Arnie. A jerkbait should be left to suspend in the water a long time. “By ‘a long time’ I mean 30 to 45 seconds.” If you are patient enough to let the lure sit that long, small twitches – 1 to 2 short bursts – will help generate a bass. If that doesn’t get a hawg on the end of your line, you may have to go to a finesse lure. A drop shot or Texas rig comes in handy this time of year.
Try working a drop-shot rig in shallow. Bass relate to wood, rock and the backside of creek channels this time of year, so fallen trees and stumps make great targets. Again, this is not the time of year for the impatient. Painfully drag your drop shot rig forward and employ long pauses as you bring up slack line. The longer you let the lure sit, the better your shot at enticing a lethargic bass to take a snap at a stalled lure. If drop-shotting and other fancy plastics aren’t in your list of favorite lures, a spinnerbait can also get the job done, but not in the way you make think.
Bob Perkins, Bassmaster Weekend Series Championship qualifier, let’s his spinnerbait flutter and drag…flutter and drag. A faltering spinnerbait churning up dirt, silt, and muck as it flops and fumbles across the bottom of a lake may be just enough to drum up a bass. Yo-yoing a spinner bait while giving it time to sit on the bottom can also be effective.
Whatever your lure choice, the key for winter bass is simple – slow down. The fish won’t be chasing your lure down, so you have to chase them down. Put tasty treat right in front of their face, and give them plenty of time to know it’s there. You’re sure to land a big one before you have to call it a year.
Bob Wood
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