WINTER BASS

[JIM_D.]

I got the info from the largemouth bass book put out by the north american fishing club. JIM D.

[lionkiller]

That's from the Yamamoto newsletter?....

Cold is cold, whether you're in Alaska or CA... we won't see any bass frozen solid, but the fish do slow down...at least according to Lunker Larry, who guides Clear Lake in dead of night/dead of winter (successfully) for trophy largemouth.

Bigger baits move more water, so are easier for bass to 'see' with their lateral lines. That on top of the fact that big fish do eat big baits..where was that 'big bait theory'?...

Good article on winter bassin on the Delta at WesternBass:

http://www.westernbass.com/ncaliforn...w.html?id=2555

[JIM_D.]

I have also read that it is better to use larger baits in winter because it is more worth the fishs trouble and energy. JIM D.

[Beaver13]

Thanks for the post Jim_D. Just like the rest of you i also catch Bass all year round. Winter time is a hard time to fish for them but it still beats yard work.
P.S
Fish deep, slow and try not to fall asleep doing it ;D

[bassbrothers]

is this accurate for califonia bass where the water doesn't get that cold? i know the bite slows but it dosen't ever stop i have caught bass year round and have done just as good in the mid of winter as i do in spring

that was a very intresting piece that makes a lot of cents thats why they are harder to find thanks for the info

[JIM_D.]

I didn't write it, I just posted it, you are right though, it is ment for the northern areas where the water freezes in the winter. In California I have caught bass in the winter but it is much harder and to me not worth the effort. JIM D.

[wareagle]

Well, I live in Indiana and I caught bass all year this past year. Actually standing at 19 months in a row right this second. December has been below average temps. every day with almost 13" of snow, so it has been hard to even get on the water so far this month. However, I have caught bass in every month of the year before... the bites slows an absolute ton here. It is no where near like Spring, Summer or Fall but Winter Bass can be caught.


WAR

[bassinator]

is this accurate for califonia bass where the water doesn't get that cold? i know the bite slows but it dosen't ever stop i have caught bass year round and have done just as good in the mid of winter as i do in spring

[JIM_D.]

Winter Bass - What They Do
By Russ Bassdozer

Everyone wonders what bass do in the winter? Curiosity got
the best of me too, and I researched the issue. Here is a
little more about it. It primarily pertains to bass in colder
northern ranges. Biologically, bass and many other game fish
are programmed to fatten up during late fall in instinctive
anticipation of a scarcity of food as winter arrives.

As waters drop in temperature in winter, there is less food
available to eat. For example, a surprising number of species
of crustaceans, mollusks, reptiles, amphibians and insects
all vanish into the mud or elsewhere underground until spring.
Other prey sources become less dispersed and less available
to predators as winter approaches as well.

This reduces the total "energy content" available in the
water - and consequently less incentive for bass to pursue
food. Instead the bass will swim less, eat less and other-
wise conserve the "energy budget" it has stockpiled within
its own body.

As the water gets downright colder, food gets even scarcer,
and the bass tend to fast for long periods of time in cold
water. This inactivity happens gradually day by day and
eventually causes its muscle composition and body chemicals
to change so that in deep winter, it could not swim fast or
otherwise act as a quick swimming predator in cold water.
Even if it wanted to, it would be impossible to swim quickly
to pursue bait such as a minnow.

A small item of interest is that a few minnow species are
known to have an actual "anti-freeze" chemical in their
blood which allows them to remain slightly more active, and
therefore more elusive to consistently avoid being caught
by the slowed-down predators during the winter.

In extremely cold water, bass even tend to lose their
balance and may even have difficulty in propping themselves
upright on the bottom. Keep in mind that this loss of swim-
ming ability is a gradual process over an entire season of
winter in cold climates. The bait has to become scarce over
time, the bass has to become inactive and stop pursuing bait
over time, the water has to increasingly become colder over
time...all these changes take place over time.

So, if there is a quick chill and quick water drop in early
winter, you can continue to find plentiful bait and plenty
of feeding bass in chilled waters in early winter. But,
given time, the whole cycle of reduced energy content (less
food in the water), energy budgeting by bass (less incentive
to feed), and consequent reduced swimming ability will happen
to bass in colder climates by deep winter time.

In a late winter, when the water stays open (no ice) longer
than usual, fish may continue to follow the instinct to feed
later into the season than usual. This is generally not good
because the low water temperatures restricts the rate of
food absorption which also limits the energy intake derived
by even a "well-fed" bass. Often, gastric evacuation results
(puking) rather than digesting the food and unlocking its
energy.

In this way, the energy "cost" of maintaining a high metabo-
lism for continued feeding is far more costly than the energy
gained from it. Therefore, such continued feeding only begins
to deplete its stored body reserves in order to "pay for" the
continued loss of energy from the fruitless continued feeding.
This breaks down the condition of the fish and compromises
its ability to endure throughout the still long winter ahead.

This affect is especially serious in young of year fish that
simply do not have the body mass to "budget" large quantities
of energy that will carry them over the winter. They will,
however, be fine if a normal, cold winter slows their
metabolisms to a very low level that allows them to subsist
in a sort of suspended animation. For young of year fishes,
a good cold winter is generally survivable.

In fact, it has been reported that young of year of some
species have been known to endure being frozen solid within
ice at times during the winter...and they apparently thaw
out with no problem. This resiliency is only present in the
smaller young of year...and larger fish that are frozen do
not have the same durability to thaw out and swim away so
happily.

However it's probably an extreme case for them to get frozen
- I think that they mostly go into something like a suspend-
ed animation-like state to winter-over. I think this is a
good way to think of it. This is a common pattern in nature,
for animals to endure and in a certain sense "cheat" winter
by going into a "deep sleep" and not waking up until spring.

Besides, if you have ever seen bass during other adverse
times of weather (cold front, hot water), they are definite-
ly prone to "zone out" not just in winter, but they often
become inactive and drop into a stupor-like state at any
time of the year when conditions are not favorable to them,
not just winter. Anglers generally say the bass are
"inactive" then - whether it's for a few hours, a few days
or even weeks.

No doubt, the bass have shut down their high-maintenance
body systems in order to budget their energy and wait for
more favorable periods of time. This is not a conscious
thought or decision made by the bass, but Mother Nature at
work controlling their metabolisms to ensure their short-
term vigor and long-term survival of the species.