cold water tips

[bfd300]

hello everyone,
i am fishing my first tournament on sat, its gonna be around 50degrees water temp in upper 30's to lower 40's.
i'll describe the lake as best i can..,......water is stained,maybe 2 foot visability.....max depth is 16 feet but only in one small area.
there are a few areas where deep water (12') is very close to shallower water.also there is a creek channel running through 8-12; of water.
west end of the lake has some rip-rap on the bank on 8ft of water..
alot of people say fish the north end of a lake because that gets more sun but in this case the north end is very shallowe 1-4 feet.
i was thinking of starting w/ a suspending jerk bait in firetiger colors along the steep drop offs. or rattle traps along the rip rap. then maybe mid day when the sun is higher movin shollwer..this a good stradegy.
anyone have any other tips i can use......also what colors do you all like fore these confitions

thanks
otto

[InEccess]

Find some sunken timber around deep points and run a spinnerbait into it. That's how I pulled the lunker bass out of a lake with similar conditions.

I'd probably use a dark crawfish colored crankbait on the rip-rap. I'd run the bait parallel to the bank keeping the lure in the 4'-6' depth range. Just realize the water's cold and the bass won't bite as agressively as they would during the warmer months. You may need to throw your crankbait around the rip-rap all day just to get a bite, but the fishing will be just as hard for the other guys too.

On the transition periods, especially where there's a deep current, you'll find fish. You may want to toss a jig on the shallow bank and hop it down into the deep water.

I don't expect the bass to be moving shallow in those kinds of conditions, but thier biological clocks will be telling them to get ready, warmer weather is coming.

[bfd300]

what color spinnerbait were ya thinking?..............thanks for all that advice..i will give that a shot

otto

[adamchasejones]

Something that has always been a productive pattern in the cold is slow cranking on teh rip rap. With the water that temp get a good wide wobble crankbait and parallel that rip rap with it. Find the depth there holding on it adn just work that depth. With water in the lower forties you're not going to get anything to chase a spinnerbait. SLOW DOWN being the best info you can get. With that water temp the person fishing the slowest will have the best shot.

[lizardsrule]

1. Riprap will hold the heat well.
2. There are always bass shallow, and usually they are more agressive, so don't rule out shallow.
3. If there are any points off the channel, that would be a very good place to hit IMO.

Lizards

[commanche]

i would not be in hurry to go fish..get a late start ,good breakfest, then get there as late as you can..

water that cold, smallmouth will bite,so, key on smallmouth, thats where the water is FLOWING,IN OR OUT OF THE LAKE..

spend your time watching where most are fishing that you feel have fished the lake before ..

i spend more time watching than fishing on unknown water..

when you go down lake,ask others if they caught any bass..if they say ,no,then watch how far from shore they are fishing,this means the fish are deeper if they were fishing in 4ft to 10 ft water..

so, now you want to fish from 10 ft to 20 ft..they just did all the work for you..