Cold Water Bassin

Unless you live in the warmer climates of the country, February brings a fever to anyone's heart and body who fishes for a hobby. Preparation and knowledge will increase your chances of engaging an early season bass in battle. Keep in mind some of the basic tenets of nature. We have a built in blast furnace to ward of cold. When our bodily thermostat sees a need for more heat, fat and food is sent to the ovens of the digestive system. Discomfort may be felt, but the body stays at a normal constant. Bass and other cold blooded species aren't so fortunate. Amphibians and reptiles opt for hibernation. Bass, as do all fish, must resort to a subdued lifestyle while waiting out Old Man Winter Fat is consumed, but in a reduced fashion. Movement is maintained, but not with the summertime sharpness and snap. Lethargy overtakes aggressiveness in the aquatic domain of the bass. Anglers must adjust their methods and tactics to reflect the late winter and early spring activities of bass. The cold water angler must be deliberate and methodical in his approach. Before ever making a cast, have a gameplan under your belt. Put all other thoughts aside and think like a bass. What will you need to survive? Where are the best places to take up residency while battling the cold of the early season? Which foods are easily found and caught in the bone chilling waters? The needs are simple for a bass. He needs food, shelter and protection. Step one of your gameplan is concentrate on the simple facts and solve them. Heat is a big problem when facing month after month of cold. Bass are attracted to a warmer area. This could be slightly more radiant part of the lake or a patch of water in his predominant locale which heats up first. Places to try first are the northern sections of the lake. These take the southern flow of sunlight for the longest period of time. It is best to concentrate on areas where this glow hits the longest. This goes double if a small cove nestles against a northern shore. The water has twice the chance of gaining a few degrees. The jutting sides of the bay block wind from robbing the radiant heat. Runoff water may or may not be helpful. If a southern wind has brought warm rains, the runoff will have a positive effect at increasing a bass' appetite. If the rain is a hard, driving deluge from the north, it will only lower the temperatures and decrease the hunger drive. When searching prime early season habitat, try and locate waters where the area is free from shade. Steep bluffs block sun. Heavy tree limbs will filter light even without leaves. Houses, dams and other manmade structure usually impair the sun's radiation. Find and fish places with a dark background. Such sections will gather warmth and pull in a bass. Black is best for attracting heat. Some lakes have bottoms which will attract and hold heat better than others. A mucky bottom will bring bass into action faster than a sandy one. The organic matter gathers in heat faster. The heat then generates action in the imbedded microbes. They go into action, reducing the dead matter back to its basic elements. Such bodily action by miniscule animal life tend to raise water temperature. Search out sections of the lake that are normally flooded with plantlife later in the year. These sections will be used by bass early in the year for many of the reasons already discussed. Aquatic weeds grow best in organic soil. Ant gardener knows vegetables and flowers thrive in heavy humus. Water plants are no different. Sandy shoals offer little in the way of nutrition. Submerged shrubs flourish in much the same manner as the household cousins. They need organic matter to blossom forth. Dark, mucky bottoms will give them their daily dose of all the necessary vitamins and minerals important for growth. These budding backdrops for nature offer bass many options. They provide the extra added temperarure. The absorption rate is high in these thermal hothouses. They also offer another needed commodity for the daily needs of an early season bass. Budding plants provide oxygen in depleted waters. If there had been a heavy ice and snow cap, the lake my be depleted in available oxygen. The tender shoots of new growth not only give bass a breath of fresh air, but call in smaller critters as well. This serves another solution to the need list of a cold water bass. Food must be available and it must be of the variety a sluggish bass can overcome. Forget about frogs and other amphibians. It is too early for them to emerge. They are still buried, allowing their skins to provide oxygen for their metabolism. Bass need a quick boost in the belly. They need a prey that can be easily tracked and overtaken without a tremendous outlay of energy. These murky bottomed bays are fertile hunting grounds. Minnows gather about in the tender leaves. They nibble on succulent sections of buds and inhale the the fresh supply of oxygen. Many of them are weakened by months of hardship. Little bodies don't hold up well to the ice. Gizzard shad are a prime example. They often swim about near the surface, dazed and quivering. Daces and darters need the high levels of available oxygen. Crayfish use such places to hunt for food also. Later in the spring, when the amphibians do start to emerge, they will wiggle from their mucky cocoons, sluggishly filling their lungs with gulps at the surface. Such areas are prime bass waters in the icy period of early spring. Now that food has been found and warmth located, bass has to be on the watch for predators. This time of year limits predation to the water. Bass seldom have to watch for enemies from above during the early spring months. They are less cautious of an angler sneaking about. This gives the fishermen a trump card to play. The bass are lulled into a false sense of security from months of seclusion under a blanket of white. After locating your prime areas, go to step two of your gameplan. Methodically fish only sections where bass are active. Limit your work to water less than 12 feet deep. There probably are a passel of bass deeper. There may be many times more in the depths than in the shallows. But these offshore swimmers are less likely to be active. Fish in the shallows are more likely to be aggressive. They are more willing to attack a lure. Cold water bassin is a time to play the odds. Lures should reflect your gameplan strategy. They should closely imitate cold water morsels. Small minnow type lures, jigs, and spinnerbaits are prime probers of cold water. The thin bodied minnow bait is the most overlooked early season lure. The A.C. Shiner, Rapala, and Rebel minnow are perfect examples of early bassin tools. These tiny darters closely resemble a struggling shad or dace wriggling about. The beauty of the lure is the ability to slowly work them in one area. Here again, you are playing the odds and matching the bait to the need. Sharp twitches of the rod tip will bounce them in place. Sensual ripples are sent out to tempt a sluggish fish into action. The bass has plenty of time to react. He knows the crippled meal won't get away and he can take his good old time getting to it. In order to lengthen the time the bait can be kept in one place, file a notch on the bottom section of the eye. Tie a nonslipping knot, such as the Trilene model, against the ring. This will force the bait to bounce downward. It can be worked around a stump or rock for several minutes on each cast. The jig is most widely recognized cold water lure. These slugs of lead can be cast in just about any weather condition and turn heads their way. Cold waters call for a few minor adjustments. A thin strip of pork should be added. If you are going to use a chunk, such as Uncle Josh's No.11 size, trim off the fat. This will give them more bounce in the water. Pork strips and lizzards are popular cold water additions to the aft section. The midsection is a bit different. If the jig has hair or rubber legs, try to cut it into different lengths. This will permit each appendage more area to undulate. Clip these to various sizes with a set of fingernail cutters. Hook the strip on and try it out in the bath tub. You will be amazed at all the action sent out with a very slow retrieve. The third choice of cold water bassin baits is the spinner. Most anglers are familiar with the safety pinned variety. Many overlook the traditional in-line type. Mepps makes a fine array of this form. They seem to offer a morsel of just the right appearance. These can be enhanced with an inch or two of pork strip to add a little more calling power. Add this to the bottom tine on the treble hook to keep the bait from revolving. Don't leave out the safety pinned spinner however. These are still big bass getters in the cold waters of early spring. Team up a fine wire, large blade, small body, rubber skirt, pork trailer, and a careful, sluggish retrieve and you have a winning combination. Keep all these tips in mind and formulate your own cure for cold water bassin. You won't be disappointed!