42* warming water and Shallow bass
Hey all,
was out fishing this weekend on a lake that has a hearing run. In the morning the water temp started at 42 degrees and warmed through out the day to 48 degrees. We fished around the morning catching nothing good, unless pickerel count. It was nice to be standing in the boat casting and not on ice. Around 1pm we came accross a school of basss in 1ft or less of water. i counted at least 20 bass ranging from 1lb to 6+. they were hanging around a hearing ladder. we threw everything under the sun at these fish, and could get them to bite.
any ideas on how to attack this, and is it possible they were simply sunning themselves after feeding fisrt thing in the morning? Going to try fishing that area first thing in the morning next trip and see what happens. We did NOT see any hearing cruising and the fish did not seem to be feeding at all. there are hearing in the ladder system. curiosity made me powerpole down and go for a walk. We messed with these fish for an hour, then left them caught a few more picks, and went back after 45 min and messed around with anything from senko weightless, drop shot, to glide baits.
any ideas or similar stories?
That's a great find. I have seen when the water warms so fast that fish are still lethargic. They also seemed to be keyed up on the prospect of catching a few herring when they come through the ladder. When fish get so dialed in on a certain bait, it can very challenging. You seamed to have tried several of the techniques that I would have tried. Move back an forth from ultra finesse to large power baits like the glide bait. The silver buddy is one technique that can turn a fish in 40 degree water. However, my best advice is to wait for conditions to change or stabilize and come back. Often when calm days turn windy or sunny days turn cloudy you can have a small window to trigger some strikes with the change in conditions. You may also find a school of herring coming over the ladder that will get those fish active. Good luck.
thanks for the input!
