chasing some green fish

[Turtle135]

Got out on the local reservoir today to chase some green fish. NIce day, just a very light breeze out of the NW, the sun would peak out of the cracks in the cloud cover once in a while. No other fisherman on the entire lake!

Surface water temperature was 40 to 43 degrees. Seems like we missed the 50 degree water temps this fall, just went straight from 60 degrees down to the high forties over the course of a couple of weeks.

The weeds have broken loose from the bottom forming some heavy weed mats around the edges of the lake. I spent the first couple hours pitching a jig into those mats thinking the bass might have lingered there but came up empty. Next I spend another couple of hours moving from laydown to laydown hoping to get something going on the wood with the jig but again, not so much as a tap.

I had spent most of the day working areas that had protection from a NW wind, cause that's where the bass are "supposed" to be. Apparently these bass did not get that particular memo.

I moved to a south east corner and started seeing this on the fish finder:



I stuck with the jig because for me that seems to be the best way to target the bigger fish. Hard rocky bottom, bumping a 3/8th ounce arkie head jig with a beaver trailer along the 20 to 23 foot deep contour line, first bass of the day:



Caught another one shortly there after on the same presentation:



Had two more bumps on the jig. One, I felt the jig pull right out of her mouth and the second, she popped the jig good but nobody home when I set the hook. Left them biting as I had to be off the water at sunset.

[kevinfry]

way to succeed in spite of the weather!

[Runnin]

Nice Outing. That wouldn't be Black Hills would it?

[Turtle135]

Nice Outing. That wouldn't be Black Hills would it?

nope, sent you a PM

[DanMarino]

Nice job Dave!
I considered fishing over the weekend, but the morning below freezing temps changed my mind.
Being the only boat on a lake is always enjoyable and catching some big bass is awesome any time!

[perchy]

Beautiful fishies! I need to try that place out

[buzz]

Those are some nice looking fish, Turtle

[Turtle135]

12/07/13 - followup

back after them again today, same pattern as last weekend (look for fish wih the fish finder then work the 20 foot deep contour line with a jig)

[Berto]

Great Job Dave! I like that fish with a hunchback!

[Jaspratt]

What kind of jigs and trailers do you like to use? For me a jig seems to be more difficult to catch fish with than other techniques i use. Maybe ill try with what you like to use since you seem to catch hogs off the jig lol

[Turtle135]

My current favorite jig and trailer combo is a Dirty Jigs Pitchin' Jig with a Netbait Mini B Bug.



I also like the football head jigs from the same guys (Dirty Jigs). Generally I use the 1/4, 3/18 and 1/2 ounce jigs.

I've come to the conclusion that what really makes a good bass jig is how good of a hook they use. Having a good quality sharp hook that is the right length for the profile makes hooking the bass much easier. Nothing worse than fishing a jig in cold water and missing the one bite you got because of a poorly designed jig. Actually one thing is worse, having a huge bass straighten the hook on a cheaply made jig.

Something about that jig presentation, it will generally get you bites from larger bass. The retrieve can be anything from a slow drag on the bottom (with long pauses) to a fairly aggressive hop. As a general rule, the colder the water the slower the presentation but it pays to mix the retrieve up and let the bass tell you want they want on a given day.

[Jaspratt]

Ill have to order a few of those, when using a jig ive always experimented with different retrieves so i figured maybe its the brand im using, for the most part all jigs are relatively the same but theres always the slightest things in a lure that can promote a bite when others fail to produce. I probably just need to try it more often. I read a study that bass 13" and up prefer a crawfish over other baits. So thats probably why big bass bite a jig

[jsnyd86]

You always seem to pull out some slobs, Dave. That's some great fishing for this time of year! This wouldn't be the outing you were with Jeff was it? Saw his video recently and you guys cleaned up. I still need to learn those deep water tactics. I get it on paper but its difficult to transfer into a successful winter day.

[Turtle135]

You always seem to pull out some slobs, Dave. That's some great fishing for this time of year! This wouldn't be the outing you were with Jeff was it? Saw his video recently and you guys cleaned up. I still need to learn those deep water tactics. I get it on paper but its difficult to transfer into a successful winter day.

Thanks! The pictures of the 4 bass in this thread were from a December 1st trip and from a December 7th trip where I was fishing solo.

Jeff's video was from the 14th when we went back out there in the snow squall hoping to get that pattern on the camera.

This is the bass from the 14th:



I wish I could always find and get those big ones to bite. I was out yesterday for 7 hours and got one bump on my jig (nobody home when I set the hook). That's more like a typical winter trip for me on that lake, work the jig on the bottom patiently for 7 hours and you will probably get one or two bites.

The nice thing is that you usually only catch larger bass on the jig when the water is in that 38 to 43 degree range. The hard thing about winter fishing that way is you get zero feedback from the bass so it can be difficult to develop confidence in the presentation. You might be right on top of them but that day they may be in "almost comatose mode" as they can get in winter. They can get active in cold water but it is infrequent.

The way I approach that kind of fishing is to just rack up the hours working the jig slowly in good potential areas and take satisfaction in that.