Winter Nightfishing for MONSTER largemouth **PICS**

[supermat]

Let me begin with a question, when is it too cold to catch big fish at night? And a more pointed question, does it ever get too cold?

The reason I ask is that my night bite had been tapering off lately, (at least it WAS) and I attributed it to the constantly cooling water/air temps. Last night (while I was knocking them dead ) it occurred to me that this has been going on for over 4 months! I'm practically a vampire, I expect the sun to start hurting my eyes any day now! The interesting part is that, while the fish have moved, the baits have stayed the same. I'm still getting almost all of my fish on the jig.
I vary it a bit but the essentials are shown here:
-The Dirty Jigs Tackle "No-Jack Grass Jig" with the baddest
hook on the planet!
-The "Phantom Craw" from Uncle Josh
-The swimbait trailer from 3:16 lure company
(or something similar)
-The Dobyns 765 Flip (working the slower moving jigs)
-The Dobyns 795 SBMT (Yes, that rod was designed for
topwaters and swimbaits but it couples as one of the best
heavy duty, big bass swim jig rods on the planet!)



Water temps have dropped from the high 50's to low 40's and the air temps from the 50's to 20's and yet the fish seem to keep on chomping.
Common knowledge suggests that there comes a point around December when the night bite ceases to exist until late spring. It also suggests that if you are to catch fish, it should take place between the hours of 10 PM and midnight.(at least that's what I was taught). Well I'm here to say, at least this year, all of that is BOGUS
Last night, if I'm not mistaken, was my best 5 fish limit ever on jigs! My buddy and I had 5 fish for 38.1 lbs, my best 5 alone were well over 36 lbs. And its FEBRUARY, at night, in the wind/rain/cold!
What I have decided is that "common knowledge" is bull. Its limited by the minds of those who refuse to experiment. Why do most people get them between 10 and midnight? Because they're not crazy enough to be out there at 3:30 when the ice is building up on the deck to see if the fish are still biting! If you want to stick big fish, I believe you need to be willing to do what others will not.

Case in point: YESTERDAY

Yesterday I decided to go to one of my favorite lakes and throw a swimbait for big largemouth. Sure, we're in the middle of an 8-day rain pattern and its 45 minutes each way to the lake but I thought it would be fun. As I got to the ramp I quickly realized that everyone else was either a lot smarter, or a lot less brave... zero boats in the parking lot!
I make the 10+ mile run to my first spot and begin throwing a large swimbait, called a "baitsmith magnum". The waves are 2-2.5 feet tall, nothing you can't fish with, you just don't want to try and go against them, and the wind is blowing a steady 10-15 mph. 5 minutes in I get bit, "FISH ON" I yell to no one in particular... but the 8' Dobyns rod never loads up. Shaking my head, I tweak the bait a little bit and start casting again...

...long story short, no fish got landed though I had a few bites, in a matter of minutes the lake went from fishable to OUT OF CONTROL! I was dealing with 1/4" hail coming down so hard I couldn't see through it, huge waves that I couldn't see coming through the hail, and LIGHTING everywhere! An hour and a half later I'm sitting at home, soaked, a little shaken, bruised from the hail that was hitting at 60+ MPH while I was trying to dodge lightning, but alive.

For a normal person, that would be the end of the story. But for me, that's where it begins. I was home for no less than 10 minutes before I get the call canceling my evening plans. I call a buddy and 15 minutes later we're beginning the 2 hour drive to my night lake, pulling the boat that is still full of water and partial battery life.
At this point you're tired of reading so I'd better insert a picture to keep you going! Here are the first two fish of the night, 5.6 and 8.2 lbs respectively.


I guess at this point you can already tell the bite was on! We got to our first spot, a sheer boulder/rock wall that quickly drops into 30+ feet of water. I love this area in the winter as the bass are able to move up and down to feed without expending much energy. The biggest fish seem to lay at the base of the boulders in 30-35 feet of water with tight lips until its time to feed. From what I've experienced the big females use these boulders as ambush points to feed on smaller baitfish and bluegill along the rock wall.
As we began fishing the wall I felt a fish pick up my jig in about 30 feet of water on the No-Jack and pork combination. The fish just would not budge as she headed to deeper water! I ended up losing her and I'm sorry to say I think she'd have been the largest fish of the night. However, ten minutes later the two fish above were both in the boat. The 8.2 fought harder than any fish I've hooked in a long time, she circled half way around the boat before turning her head and getting anywhere near net range!
The fishing continued to progress as my buddy stuck a small one on the No-Jack/sweatbeaver combo and I began to throw the swim jig. A 3, then a 4 pounder fell quickly to the swim jig as it was slowly pulled along the boulder wall. I work the swim jig incredibly slow, just pulling it across the rocks then letting it swim naturally down the face of the boulders until it lands again, then repeat.
My buddy gets bit again and calls for the net, its a chunky 5.7 lber with some serious shoulders on it!

As he was retying from that last fish I fire right up against the shore with the swim jig and let it settle. As I picked up my slack something just didn't feel right... and we all know what that means! 9.6 lber in the net! Here are two pics of her, the first shows her, and the 795 SBMT rod really well, the second shows the swim jig just barely skin hooked in her lip.


After photos and a clean release we're back at it on the next spot. Again, casting up to the boulders and slowly letting the swim jig kick down the ledges. The technique I use for this, while a little basic, is quite effective. I slowly work the bait across the rocks, as it begins to fall off the edge I click the reel into free spool and let the line slip out under my thumb. This allows the bait to fall vertically instead of the pendulum affect away from the wall and also allows me to feel if I fish hits it on the fall.
On the 5th cast to the exact same spot, my bait was free swimming down the rocks as described above and I feel a "tick". Here in lies the problem! I had to quickly engage the spool, reel down, and rear back! Another hard fighting fish was on as I began calling for the net. My buddy was quick to put the net under her and this healthy, chunky, 8.9 lber found her way into the net!

I called Curt at www.dirtyjigstackle.com on the phone (who cares that its after midnight in Wisconsin? I was excited!) and told him that a 7 lber would cull us over 40 lbs for five fish but alas, it never came to pass. As quickly as it had begun the bite stopped. We fished on until 2:00 AM but never had another noticeable bite.
So, the moral of the story is that even when its cold, they're still out there, and they've still got to eat! You just have to decide if its worth it.