JANUARY 2022
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Cold weather and shorter days are putting fish into winter patterns, a great time to fish. Look for steep drops! Take it slow, small, and light…grubs, tubes, thin small worms, and hair jigs! Spinning gear handles lighter 6-pound test GAMMA Copoly leaders on 10 pound test Gamma Torque braid on fast spinning reels. Mustad Ultra Point Mega-Bite hooks are thin enough wire to set hooks on hard-mouthed, cold fish from a longer distance on light line!
Crappie and bass are being caught in deeper spots out of the current, like Spoils, and Smoot Bay. DC Bridges are also spots to try, as is Washington Channel. The hot spots are Possum Point, Four Mile Run and Blue Plains…very crowded! There are many shad and other species; it’s hard to get baits through them. You need to “feel” fish before setting the hook! Drop shots, split shots are good, but Carolina rigs with 1-ounce weights keep baits in one spot a long time, letting current push it. Generally, a 5-inch finesse Mud Puppy Custom Lures DS worm in green pumpkin or watermelon/red works. Same baits on split shot and drop shot.
During heat of the day, near warmed rock and wood surfaces or close to Blue Plains, work suspending jerkbaits in clearer water 45 degrees or warmer…warmer the better…50 is very warm this time of the year. Use 10-pound Gamma Edge fluorocarbon line. Jerk and pause…twitch…pause, twitch, and sit. Before you jerk, crank baits down first. If water in other areas warms to 45, try crankbaits and spinnerbaits. For crankbaits, a tight wiggle bait is needed. Spool 10-pound test Edge and make long casts. Fish are not hitting very hard, so crankbait hooks become critical. Replace with Mustad Ultra Point trebles. Crank and pause. Spinnerbaits, 3/8 ounce or heavier with willow/Colorado gold blades, retrieved near flats out of current close to deeper drops, pausing when you don’t feel the bottom, will work. Slow down with a slower reel or slow it down by slightly under-spooling. White or white/chartreuse skirts, best with chop on the water.
Bass are grouped on drops. Make bait transitions as fronts pass. Temperature gauge is the most important boat instrument and your PFD the most important piece of gear. Dress in layers, take a buddy and let others know where you are going to be. A fall into the river this time of year can be fatal!
The king of all winter baits is the Silver Buddy! The company is making them again. Cast to 3-foot depths and burp down drops to deeper water. Vertically jig over 8-15 foot holes. Don’t overwork! Control drops on semi slack line back to bottom. Feel a “tick” or feel fish when you lift again. For tackle, use a 7-foot medium action graphite rod and 10-pound test GAMMA Copoly. Quantum Smoke casting reels are easier to cast while wearing gloves. Replace dull hooks with Mustad Short Shank Triple grips, cutting the eye near the shank, open, attach and close. Split rings allow hooks to catch each other. Blade baits locate groups of fish. Take note of depth and stay on them.
For bottom baits, try three: Mizmo Tubes, and 1/4-ounce Punisher Hair Jigs with plastic Punisher chunks. Thinner diameter line offers less resistance, encouraging fish to hold on longer. Thin diameter makes it easier to feel light bites and set hooks on longer casts, and gets to the bottom, holding in wind and current. I use Gamma Edge 6-pound test tied to 10 pound Gamma Torque braid, spooled on a fast spinning reel. Slow down, stopping when you contact cover!
For 3-inch avocado Mud Puppy Custom Lures SR grubs (perfect replacement for stingray grubs), use 1/4-ounce round Mud Puppy jig heads. Rig tails flat. A drop of PRO’s Soft Bait glue keeps grubs on hooks! Cast to bottom lifting the rod, slowly drop, creating a very slow gliding motion into cover. Green pumpkin Mizmo tubes rigged with a 1/4-ounce Mud Puppy Custom lures weedless insert tube head made with Mustad Hooks make this bait glide. Punisher Hair jigs…black/blue (blue chunk with Punisher rattle), olive/orange (green chunk with Punisher rattle).
Drop shotting becomes very effective the colder it gets, near 40 or below. Fish group on drops on South Point, Smoots, Spoils, barges above the Wilson Bridge, and Foxes Ferry. Using 6 pound test Edge, keep leaders about 6 inches or less. A good drop shot rod has enough backbone to hook set on long casts, but flexible enough when working under the boat. Use a 3/16-ounce Water Gremlin BULLSHOT bullet-shaped split shot weight. Rig SR grubs or a 5-inch DS finesse worms on 2/0 Mustad Mega Bite hooks. Feel cover with weights, leave in this location as long as possible, aggravating fish into biting.
Work split shot rigs with 2/0 Mustad Mega Bite hooks and SR Grubs or 5-inch DS finesse worms with a 1/8-ounce BULLSHOT weight dragged very slowly and stopped. Feel weight, set the hook. Let baits fall down drops. Pause in strike zones.
Warmed water, even just a few degrees, can make fish more active. Wind-blown banks are great places to start. Baitfish follow the food chain and winter bass actively feed under these conditions! High-pressure cold fronts with clear sunny skies force bass to take cover and go deeper, not eating as much. Target cover with repeated casts. Work very slowly!!! Start shallow, work deeper. There are shallow fish all times of the year. Next time you catch a fish, see if there’s dirt in belly scales. This shows how long fish have been on the bottom. Lots of silt, go slower!!!