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Ok so my buddy Josh and I decided to go out for our first attempt at Winter Bass Fishing. We met at Beaver Lake at about 10:15 am and fished until 4:15pm. Our plan of attack was to see if we could locate some bass or crappie on the bottom with Josh's fish finder. But if that didn't work, we were going to try trolling for trout.

So we get on the water around 10:30 and it is bright and sunny. It is extremely chilly in the shade but it is nice and warm out in the sun! The lake was calm and the surface of the water was glass. The water temp was 44 degrees. We started out by trolling various crankbaits. We trolling all the way to the north end and then we saw a huge bald eagle swoop down from the tree towards the water. We were anticipating seeing it catch a fish but it quickly flew back up once it was about 10 feet above the water. We believe that it might have been going after a sunbathing bass and that quickly fled into deeper water.

We then trolled down the opposite bank towards the launch and we didn't get anything. Not even a single bite on various cranks. There were a couple other boats on the lake that we chatted with briefly. At the same, they didn't catch anything either. The people fishing from shore at the boat launch had no luck either.

So we decided that we would try to see if we could mark some fish and drop shot them. We randomly marked fish in deep water but we absolutely could not get them to bite. Just for fun, we wanted to test out our new swimbaits to see them in the water. The Savage Gear Line Thru 3D Trout is AMAZING! The swimming action on this jointed soft plastic swimbait is so real that it's not even funny! We tossed them around a bite just for the heck of it but didn't spend too much time doing it.

For several hours, we mixed it up between trolling it and drop shotting. Then towards the end of the day, we decided to try one spot that looked good. After losing a bunch of drop shot hooks and weights to snags, I actually hook up with a bass! I was working my drop shot slowly along the bottom, trying my best to stay stationary and gentle twitch my bait. Thank God for sensitive rods, braided line, and fluorocarbon leaders! I felt the slightest difference in line tension and I set the hook. FISH ON! I bring it up to the surface and see that it's a bass and immediately I'm in disbelief. Did I really do it? Did I finally accomplish the goal of catching a winter bass? Yes, Yes I Did! It wasn't a big fish but it was very chunky. It came in at 1.38 lb on my Accu Cull Digital Scale. And to add icing to the cake, it was a LARGEMOUTH! I hear about people catching smallies in deep water in the winter but don't hear too much about largemouth being caught. At this point, i was ecstatic and it felt so surreal! I was a very happy camper!

We keep fishing and then the same thing happens! I feel the slightest difference in line tension and I set the hook! FISH ON! And this time it's MUCH BIGGER! It's fighting pretty hard and as I get it close to the surface it's start to shake its head violently! Unfortunately, it spit my hook about 2 feet under the surface. I had to suffer the heart break of watching a big largemouth bass swim back down to the bottom. This bass was easily twice as big and I estimate that it was pushing 3 lbs. It easily dwarfed the 1.38 lber that I caught. At this point, I went from being ecstatic to extremely disappointed and frustrated. But oh well, you can't win them all right?

Needless to say, I would call this a successful day. Never did I imagine that I would actually catch a winter largemouth bass!

Oh yeah, it probably wasn't the smartest thing to do but I quickly turned on my hatcam once the first largemouth got to the surface. If I had lost line tension, I might have lost the fish. But here is the brief footage, enjoy!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S5OrPhZE3Eo

jonb

1/26/2014 7:56:00 AM

Congrats on your winter bass!

BentRod

1/26/2014 8:01:00 AM

Congrats. Must have been beautiful out there. Have chased a few winter bass on that lake myself. They're a challenge for sure. FYI, there are only Largemouth in Beaver Lake, no smallmouth population that I'm aware of and I have been fishing it for a number of years now. Fishingmachine could probably verify that statement if debatable. Nice job on finding those fish!

Elijah.Loves.Fishin

1/26/2014 9:23:00 AM

@jonb - Thanks man!

@bentrod - Yes I'm aware that there are no smallmouth in Beaver. I was just talking in general because you don't hear about largemouth being caught very often this time of year. It's typically smallmouth being caught in various lakes in deep water.

Amx

1/26/2014 10:05:00 AM

Congrats. Someday I'll catch another Bass. :-)

Elijah.Loves.Fishin

1/26/2014 8:31:00 PM

@amx - thanks man! it'll be soon i'm sure!

Amx

1/26/2014 9:03:00 PM

Was gonna go Fri but it was 34 degrees air temp at the lake, with fog and couldn't see the other side of the lake, cold is bad enough, wet cold I don't do anymore. Sat. was nice and warm, I was at the Sportsman's Show. Today/Sun I was going to go, but I was already cold as the house heater wasn't putting out much heat so I didn't make it today. Fixed the heater today. Maybe fishing tomorrow.

Elijah.Loves.Fishin

1/26/2014 9:28:00 PM

good luck man!

Amx

1/27/2014 3:35:00 PM

CAUGHT ONE, CAUGHT ONE, CAUGHT ONE. :-)

(dancing with wiggle butt) lol

Spiegel

1/27/2014 4:42:00 PM

Be happy to catch 2 in the same day (even if you lost one). My winter bass fishing experience is about 1 bass every 3 to 5 trips! Never ever managed 2 on the same day. So be happy.

Elijah.Loves.Fishin

1/27/2014 4:51:00 PM

@amx - congrats bud!

@spiegel - who said i wasn't happy? i was very happy to catch. just because i was disappointed and frustrated over losing a big one doesn't mean that i'm not happy that i caught a january largemouth! definitely not something that happens very often here.

Amx

1/27/2014 5:21:00 PM

Ya, winter Largies can be rare, and I don't mean 'not cooked', but that's a good idea too. lol

My next trip just might be to a spot on the lake that Largies could be. But there are Smallies in that area too. And there is another lake I should try that I've never fished in the winter, and it has more largies than my usual lake, AND it used to be my home lake when I first got a boat. Fished it twice in '13, got a 2 and a 4 on the first trip, and the next day got skunked. lol And yes there are big Smallies in there. Plus a known 10 lb Largie that probably died from old age by now.

8theB8

1/27/2014 8:25:00 PM

AWESOME DUDE!!! What was the water temp? Depth? If you don't mind... I'm heading out maybe tomorrow up North. Terrell opens next Saturday, I will keep you posted!

Elijah.Loves.Fishin

1/27/2014 9:09:00 PM

@8thb8 - Thanks man! Water temp was 44 degrees. Don't know the exact depth but it was between 20-30ft.

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