Winter Tournament Fishing

mofish · Post by **mofish** » Thu Dec 12, 2002 8:08 pm

Guys this is the first year that I have fished a winter Tournament Circuit. Man is it tough. All the Tournaments are on the same lake and started in Nov and run through March. I am having a heck of a time finding and catching them keepers. The lake is a river run lake with a power plant right in the middle. But the water is not that much warmer there than it is on the rest of the lake. Plus you could walk from boat to boat with all the folks that run there.lol. Any helpful hints would be welcome?!!! ANY Takers? Oh yes this lake is concidered one of the toughest in the state, with a 16" MIN.

Thanks
Conley

ukey28 · Post by **ukey28** » Thu Dec 12, 2002 11:28 pm

Get away from the warm water and look for a long gradual point (preferably with stumps, brushpiles or some type of wood cover) going into the main lake. Put your depth finder on manual and adjust for the best definition in the cold water. Work up and down the point going across the point. It makes for a more thorough search. Use crankbaits that make contact down the sides of the point, not just at the top, and work them SLOWLY, if the vibration disappears, set the hook. If you mark fish or bait, use some type of jigging spoon, fished vertical and slow at the same depth or a shade deeper than the bait school. Just a subtle flutter, not a giant rip. If you are not marking fish you can use a longer lift. Be aware of the take on the drop, so lower the spoon on a tighht line. If the bite picks up, be aware that the fish may move shallower quickly. If the bite is on plastics will work too. So does a jig and pork, but go with something a little longer and slimmer than a frog. You may find them very shallow too so check out the shallow water as well. A small jerkbait on a sunny day in January can make you warm up quick if they are up tight. Good luck
Ukey 28

JoeM · Post by **JoeM** » Fri Dec 13, 2002 3:05 am

Conley- Frank (a.k.a. Ukey28) has spent a lot of years in a lot of places like you describe. He talks from experience. He and I have crossed rods many times and he always manages to find a way to find those critters. Listen up. Might just be the ticket.

By the way, those aren't Floridas in that power plant lake are they? Could explain why the bite is tough in that cold water.

Frank- thanks again. And Conley, I hope you bring one of those Texas Monsters to the scales this next time. Bass Wishes, Joe

MMT · Post by **MMT** » Fri Dec 13, 2002 7:21 am

What is the water temp away from the discharge? How about in the discharge itself? I'm trying to figure out just how much it fluctuates. I'll be honest, sometimes only a degree or two turns them on so do not discount that. I would shy away from the crowd but try to take advantage of the warm water by locating the primary and secondary current breaks down stream from the discharge. These can range from stump or brush fields to under cut banks to a point. This should corral bait and warmer water and ultimately bass. What were the winning patterns in the past? I would likely chuck a jig or tube. I've never fished in Texas so I do not know what the water temp is like.

mofish · Post by **mofish** » Fri Dec 13, 2002 7:08 pm

Thanks for the replies so far I will try this stuff out.

MMT My temp gage broke on me during the last tournament but the water was in the low 50s away from the outlet and upper 50's at the discharge. I love fishing around the discharge but its just so crowded. Blue Fleck worms and Crankbaits worked last two tournaments. Funny thats all I been Throwing.

Don't Get me wrong I am catching fish just not big enough fish. lol.

Again Thanks to you guys. Cross your finger cause here I go.

Conley

catt951 · Post by **catt951** » Sat Dec 14, 2002 2:20 pm

Logan
May I make a suggestion like getting away from the crowd! Think slow retrieves "Wacky Worm", "Senko", or Carolina Rigged floating lizards, Drop Shotting. When all else fails the old standby Jig-N-Craw! During winter I've learned to key on wood instead of grass. Good Luck! :p

MMT · Post by **MMT** » Sat Dec 14, 2002 5:06 pm

I'm curious.... For the guys who fish in the South, do you experience a die off in vegetation like we do up North in the Winter? Reading Cat's post made me think that perhaps little changes and that might be why wood is key for him. Conley...current breaks away from the wash should be the key. I'm banking on it. If you get to that Magic 55 degree temp, you might serve yourself well to try some suspending Rogues.

catt951 · Post by **catt951** » Sun Dec 15, 2002 12:29 am

MMT
Down here in the south we do have a grass kill but it only kills the grass in the shallows. Thus wood becomes the dominate cover, be it stumps, logs, laydowns, ect. Many people bass be come dormant in winter when this is completely un-true. Their metabolism slows & their strike zone srinks but they can still be quite aggressive. Bass may not need to feed as often but are still can be quite glutonous. They can still be caught shallow but you must put you bait closer to the wood. They can also be caught deeper by drop-shoting, jigging spoons, or crankbaits. Some of my biggest winter tournament wins have came in shallow water (10' & less) but on main lake ridges.

mofish · Post by **mofish** » Sun Dec 15, 2002 3:09 pm

In the Nov. Tournament I caught probably 10 fish all of them were in shallow water 2 to 4 ft. along the rock retaining walls that are built along the shoreline. We do not have much grass at all in this lake. Not alot of wood either, except up the river. Most of the wood that I find is brushpiles that folks have sunk but you cant get on them that often (because everyone knows of them). There are alot of boat docks on the lake that have brushpiles on them too. I have tried the drop shot rig without much luck. I must not be doing it right. lol. The lake is just one tuff lake. Gary Klien from Weathorford fishes it too. He caught one barley keeper on the first tournament and zeroed on the second so I don't feel real bad about it. Just discussed because its my home lake.

Thanks to all of you and Catt maybe I should just come to the big TB and fish with you buddy.

Conley

catt951 · Post by **catt951** » Mon Dec 16, 2002 5:49 pm

MOFISH you just come on down! I would be glad to fish with you, just say when. But please tell me more about this lake (name).