Basstrike Fishing Blog

Many people will think that winter is the season that's difficult to fish, surely, this is mostly true in winter. While you can still find some good fishing opportunities if you closely observe the rhythm of the weather changes.

In Oklahoma, there will be a lot of warm fronts in winter, and then you need to grasp these moments. I can tell you that, one or two sunny and mild days will not have too much impact of fishing, because the water temperature is too low, the water temperature will not have significantly increase just in one or two days' time. It is possible that today's temperature is 40 degrees Fahrenheit, while tomorrow is 60 degrees Fahrenheit. You may think that it's the time for the bass to come to the diving area, but in fact it's not the case.

But if it is the sunny days for three days or longer, the fish will have some reactions. They will not move too far, but will become very active. They will float to the shallow layer with higher water temperatures to warm themselves.

Usually, the warm front of winter is brought by the south wind. This will make the bass become very active, but the bass will not move far, as they know that the temperature will drop soon. I've seen the bass coming to the shoal, while the distance from the deep water to the shoals won't be too far.

When the water temperature rises, the movement of the bass is mainly vertical, e.g.: when it's cold, they stay in the underwater of 20-foot deep, while when the temperature rises, they may float to the water layer of 8-12 feet deep.

If the temperature continues to rise, usually accompanied by continuous southerly, both southerly and shad come to the shallow water.

After two or three days of continuous southerly, I've indeed seen herds of bass. They do not jump out of the water like the summer time, but you can see the fish in the water, just below the water surface.

As for the fishing place selection during the warm front in winter, I will focus on the water bay of the river, where is the place for the bass to hibernate. With the rise of the temperature, the fish will wander along the bank of the river. The warmer the temperature, the farther the fish will go.

The higher the temperature rise, the more I dare to stay away from the river to the main lake zone, but I will leave too far away.

For the increase in temperature, one thing I would like to point out is the type of waters. E.g.: for the reservoir in the mountains, the water is especially deep, so even if there are three to four days of warming, the water temperature will not have a significant increase, as the water is too deep there.

But the water temperature rises very quickly in the shallow water lake or river system in Florida. If the lakebed is relatively flat and there are several days of warm weather, the water temperature rise will be very significant, and the fish will have very high activity.

I can still remember the 2009 Bass Masters Classic in the Red River, the time for the trial fishing was very cold, while the weather for the few days of the game became warmer. The bass began to move along the shoal, and the fishermen had big harvest.

The water with the highest temperature will be on the shore of the water bay, usually, the water temperature there will be 5 to 6 degrees higher than other places. But you also have to remember that the bass will take the risk to leave the deep water area too far.

After a warm rain, I will pay special attention to the small water bay next to the deep water area, thus the bass can go to the water bay does without having to travel too far to.

There's still another advantage for the warming climate in winter, that is, you don't have to replace your equipment on a large scale. It's enough to change your wheel with 5.1 times of speed into 6.3 times and then cast the bait.

It is still not suitable to use noise bait at this time, while the actions of using other baits could be wider and faster. The bass's biting will not be bad, so just make good use of the advantages of the weather.

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