Winter is also another difficult time of the year to catch fish, though it is possible.  Like summer, fish in the winter are trying to remain “comfortable” and will search out deep water, where the water will be the warmest.  The game fish, being cold-blooded, become quite lethargic during this time of year as well.  Their main focus, oftentimes, is not eating, but retaining body heat.  When the game fish do get hungry, they will expend as little energy as possible in the searching for, and in the catching of, their meal.  This is very important to note!  As the game fish are not going to move fast, or far, your lure presentation must coincide with what they are wanting.  In the case of winter fishing, a deeper, and slower, presentation is the key!

 

On your fishing map, look for areas that have deep holes, or deep channels.  Locate the warm water discharges.  Turning basins and dredged canals are also prime winter hotspots.

 

Once you have located these areas, fish them “light.”  By this, I mean to lighten your presentation.  You want to keep your lure in the “strike zone” for as long as possible.  On your soft plastic lures, instead of using the typical ¼-ounce jighead, scale down to 1/8-ounce, or even 1/16-ounce.  The lighter jighead, coupled with the regular sized, buoyant soft plastic body, will cause a much slower “rate of fall” into the strike zone.  Often, this slow falling lure, passing in front of the game fish, will be just the ticket to get them to bite.

 

I am also an advocate of using lighter lines during the winter months.  I especially like the new “superbraid” lines.  Stick with something like 8-pound-test line in monofilament, or with a superbraid in the same size line diameter (which will rate significantly higher in pound test).  During the winter months, the “bite” of the game fish will be very subtle, and will oftentimes feel like no more than a slight “tick” on the line.  If you are using heavy monofilament and large jigheads, you most likely will not even feel the fish bite.  If you are using a superbraid, which has virtually no stretch, it will only take a “wrist flick” to set the hook.  Also, because of their no stretch capabilities, you will be able to feel “everything” that is happening on the end of your line – it really is “super-sensitive.”...

 

By:  Michael Guevara

 

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