Winter Patterns

I've run into a fella named Chris on Harris a couple of times, never got a
last name though. Does he work at Shearon Harris Nuclear Plant


That's probably him - was he fishing out of a Ranger?
Ronnie

http://fishing.about.com

I've run into a fella named Chris on Harris a couple of times, never got a
last name though. Does he work at Shearon Harris Nuclear Plant


That's probably him - was he fishing out of a Ranger?
Ronnie

http://fishing.about.com

Chris Ferguson - isn't that the long-haired poker player they call "Jesus"?

warren ;-)

"RGarri7470" wrote in message
...
I'm in Raleigh and fish Jordan,
Harris and Falls Lakes with some regularity

Ever run into Chris Ferguson on those lakes? I visited him in the spring
a
couple of years ago and had a great time fishing those lakes.
Ronnie

http://fishing.about.com

"RGarri7470" wrote in message
...
I'm in Raleigh and fish Jordan,
Harris and Falls Lakes with some regularity

Ever run into Chris Ferguson on those lakes? I visited him in the spring
a
couple of years ago and had a great time fishing those lakes.
Ronnie

http://fishing.about.com

I've run into a fella named Chris on Harris a couple of times, never got a
last name though. Does he work at Shearon Harris Nuclear Plant by chance?
This is the plant that Harris Res/Lake is the cooling body for, would make
sense that he'd fish it. Jordan is much larger than Harris (Harris = 4500
acres, Jordan = 13000+ acres) and has some big'uns in it (including a small
populus of striped and hybrids) but it stays SO busy during the warm months,
and the fish over there, for me, are hard to find when it's cold. The guides
around here tell you to fish certain spots (rip rap South of Hwy 64 bridge
where the channel falls out of the shallow flats, the old railroad tracks
where they are in 20' of water, etc) and I've never done much there, at all,
when they were supposed to be there during the cold months.

It (Jordan) and Falls Lake are "supposedly" the next state record largemouth
hotspots as both lakes' records to this point are just ounces shy of the
state record, which *supposedly* came from a private farm pond near the
foothills of NC. Of course without any of the Florida strain up here, our
records will never be impressive to deep southerners or West Coasters...ours
is currently at 14-15, so 15 lbs would be a new record. I thought my 10-2
was in contention for the Harris record for a few days, found out later that
it was over 12 lb too.

When you're like me and don't tourney fish, citations and records are about
the only "goals" we can have outside of just some good quality time on the
water, away from the office. The good news is, if you have some fleece, good
rainwear, and a strong will, you can bass fish in NC (aside from the
mountains), year round. Other guys around here are getting their stuff
winterized right about now, I just changed the plugs and am ready to get
going in earnest! lol A lot less surface traffic, a lot less fishing
pressure, and winter fishing around here is supreme outside of the chilly
temps and finding the sluggish bass in 40ºish water...

I'm in Raleigh and fish Jordan,
Harris and Falls Lakes with some regularity

Ever run into Chris Ferguson on those lakes? I visited him in the spring a
couple of years ago and had a great time fishing those lakes.
Ronnie

http://fishing.about.com

Was wondering if any of you could tell
me what works best in winter.

I consider this weather in the south late fall - I like crankbaits shallow
around rocks and wood cover from November thru March. As long as the water
temps stay above 45 I can catch some bass on that pattern. If it is above 50 it
is even better.

Last Sunday the water temps here in middle GA were in the upper 50s - 58 most
places I checked. I landed five bass weighing 11.67 pounds in a club
tournament, all on a Fat Free Shad in 7 feet or less. Guy that won had a 6
pounder and five at 13.42 on crankbaits, too. My partner landed four weighing
5.92 on crankbaits.
Ronnie

http://fishing.about.com

Scott Brown wrote:
Hi all,

I live in Western North Carolina, where the weather has been anything But
normal. It has been unseasonably warm here, and today I was going to take
the boat out, but wouldn't you know, woke up to high winds overcast skies
and a bitter cold snap in the air. Was wondering if any of you could tell
me what works best in winter. I have never really fished in winter as have
had no such luck, I have always thought, winter=Deep, and I hate fishing
deep. Is this true? I like boat docks or other structures, but hate deep,
although my tackle salesman has told me that verticle jigging was the way to
go this time of year, any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks in
advance,
Scooter



Bass in your part of the world don't actually have winter, do they?

I love late fall/winter fishing. By late fall/early winter I mean water
temps under 50 but warm enough that I don't have to cut a damned hole in
the surface to catch a fish. The bass bunch up in predictable areas now.
Some times (most times in many lakes, but much less so in others) those
places they bunch up in are deep. But in others they might only be 8 to
12 feet a lot of the time. Whatever combination of conditions offers
them the most environmental stability in any particular habitat.

Today where I was fishing, the air temp was in the low 50s and it was
cloudy and calm. The water was 39 to 41. I caught 20 bass, all on smoke
grubs fished on 1/8 and 1/4 ounce jigheads on light spinning gear. A
couple came from less than 20 feet, but most came from 28 to 34 feet.
They weren't giants, but it was a fun day. Here's the biggest one...

http://www.richz.com/fishing/images/...h-12-11-04.jpg

"Scott Brown" wrote in message
. ..
Hi all,

I live in Western North Carolina, where the weather has been anything
But
normal. It has been unseasonably warm here, and today I was going to take
the boat out, but wouldn't you know, woke up to high winds overcast skies
and a bitter cold snap in the air. Was wondering if any of you could tell
me what works best in winter. I have never really fished in winter as have
had no such luck, I have always thought, winter=Deep, and I hate fishing
deep. Is this true? I like boat docks or other structures, but hate deep,
although my tackle salesman has told me that verticle jigging was the way
to
go this time of year, any help would be greatly appreciated, thanks in
advance,
Scooter


Can't comment on Winter out west Scott, but I'm in Raleigh and fish Jordan,
Harris and Falls Lakes with some regularity during the cold months (no
skiers or PWCers to deal with) and some adages hold true sometimes, and
other times, they don't.

If it is a clear, chilly and low wind day, absolutely, fish deep or don't
fish at all around here. I look for the thermocline on the LCD and fish
ledges that may criss cross that warmer water in the water column. Fishing
is usually slow like this, but when you do get bit, it is normally a better
quality of fish.

The absloute BEST days to fish in cold weather around here (again, being the
Piedmont of NC and not the mountains) is to wait for dreary days, even in
light rain. Usually I like to go after a day of rain, if it is still
overcast, as it sets up what has been my best pattern to find/figure out.
The runoff is usually at or above the lake water temp, which causes warm
water pockets in coves (or anywhere runoff is apparent near a bank), and it
also stains the water up some. Mix that with overcast, and the fish will
usually move up and appear to feed regularly. My largest bass ever caught
have been in this pattern, with bright (chrome usually) rat-l-traps, in
anywhere from 1' to 10' of water. If the water isn't so stained, go to a
quieter crank bait, and one with a baitfish color if you have one (shad,
tenn shad, and bleeding shad all work good in clearer water here). I find
Rapala's line of crank baits to be good, just enough rattle, good baitfish
paint schemes, and their bills can take a beating on submerged rocks and
brush without causing them to swim funny (lakes around here have rip-rap
rock in areas where this "warm water runoff" occurs, near bridges etc).

That said, the "pros" and "guides" around here will tell you to find
dropoffs, and deep flats, and fish dark color jigs/pigs too. I've done "ok"
trying that, but you literally have to be on top of the fish to catch them
that way so the swimming bait tends to "find" more fish for me to catch.
I've caught more fish during Dec-Feb slow rolling small spinnerbaits in deep
water than I have jigging for them, but I ain't a pro so my advice is worth
exactly what you're paying for it... :-)

Good luck out there. We're going to spend Christmas and New Year's at our
cabin up there outside Valle Crucis (near Boone, Foscoe, Linville, etc).
Hoping to see some snow on the ground this year for Christmas, figured for
us flatlanders, our cabin would be the best bet. So, do you ever do any
trout fishing up that way? Our land up there abuts a legal "fishing portion"
of one of the local streams and I've toyed with the idea of learning to fly
fish sometime for those little trout up there...

My favorite winter pattern is going up north to my cottage, sitting in
the living room with a hot cup of coffee and the fire going and watching
a dozen guys freezing their butts off out on the lake through the
picture window. Aahhh can't wait.