Let Nature Lead You

Let Nature Lead You

Over my many years of guiding and fishing I have learned many lessons, one that stands out and has been a key in wintertime fishing has been that the natural elements can really tell the tale in the winter. This past week was a typical example as I notice some gulls diving and loons diving over and area of about 10 ft. of water as I approached the feeding, I took out a crank bait and started working the area near the feeding and found a school of spotted bass. We went on to catch tons of fish because I noticed the birds feeding; the natural elements lead me to the bite had I not seen these birds feeding I assure you I would have moved past this area and would have missed these fish.

Nature in the winter is a telling tale and feeding birds diving on bait fish put me in position to have a great day; feeding birds is just one of the natural hints that can help you in the winter there are more, but you must be aware of your surroundings to notice them. Another big teller of importance is water temperature; it seems minor but just a few degrees of water temperature is another key to finding winter fish. Warming water temperature in an area maybe out of the wind or from more direct sunlight gives you another opportunity to find feeding fish. In lakes where there is a lot of grass another true mark of finding fish is green grass; yes, there is a big difference in areas of dying grass and green grass as the old saying that “dead grass uses oxygen and green grass produces oxygen,” is very true, bass will relate to the green grass because of the oxygen levels.

Lastly sunlight areas in the winter are always more productive, if you are fishing on a cloudy day and find an area where the sun is peeping out the difference can be far as that area receiving that sunlight seems to gather the bass up and cause them to feed especially in the cold of the winter. Not only does the sun gather the bass but it draws the bait and combined becomes a great area for catching.