Fishing The Overton Arm (January 30, 2019)

By LOREN BROOKS

“Field and Stream” is a good resource for information on the subject of “water temperature.”

“Fish are cold-blooded creatures and thus their temperatures are governed by that of the surrounding water. Each species exhibits specific temperature preferences, but also has temperature tolerances that cover a much wider range. The largemouth, for example, seems most comfortable when the water is between 65 and 75 degrees F. The smallmouth like slightly cooler water (60 -70 F.)”

What about Striped Bass?
John and I were out on Thursday. We were 6.3 miles north of the Echo Bay harbor trolling in water that was about 53 degrees.

According to “Field and Stream”, temperature affect both the occurrence and the well-being of fish. As the water chills, their metabolism starts to slow down and in cold water, bass are very sluggish. They require much less oxygen and food. Their digestive rate is very slow, and they don’t exert much energy in chasing a lure.

We offered lures that could reach 12 feet in depth, at 1.8 mph. We also offered bait, (anchovy) on leaded line three or four colors out in hopes of catching striped bass and crappie. We searched and marked fish but no action until after 2:00 pm.

I was using a sliding silver sinker (home made Steele) on leader attached to 3 color out pulling an anchovy by it’s tail and finally got my first strike. The skunk was off the boat.
We were also both offering crank bait and John landed a nice Crappie on mono line in 40 feet of water.

Another striped bass was hooked on a deep runner, using mono- line.
The fishing was as slow as it gets, but not “skunked.”
Some anglers believe that bass disappear during winter, but this is obviously not true.

When water temperatures fall the fish become sluggish.
“Field and Stream” claims the key to winter fishing cold water, is to “think slow.” The idea is to fish a lure as slowly as you can, and even then you are probably fishing it too fast. A ravenous bass in the summer can probably get by on about one tenth its usual food intake.

So I hope this information will help for those of you getting out during the month of January. We got out and caught three. Others got out and caught one.
Friday another Angler reported they caught nine but they were all caught in the afternoon.

When you see a nice slab Crappie brought to the boat, it’s worth it. This one was full of eggs.

I hope you can keep those lines tight, at the right depth, watching the weather, finding the right speed and the right location. Think Spring and Spawning.