End of the season?  No way! 

Well, the leaves are changing, the days are getting shorter, and the temperature is dropping.  One last big push for fall smallmouths, and then it’s time to clean reels, organize tackle, and plan a trip for next summer, right?  No way!  I used to dread winter because I thought you couldn’t catch smallmouth bass in cold water.  All that changed with a phone call I made several years ago to Butch Ward.  He had written an article in Bassmaster magazine (November 1997) about catching smallmouth bass in shallow, fast streams with water temperatures between thirty-seven and forty-two degrees.  Up until then everything I’d read about cold water smallmouths talked about tight-lipped dormant fish in deep water.  Butch talked about fishing small pockets and eddies with jigs, and catching fifty fish a day.  This intrigued me, so I called him.  He said he was waiting for the water to get colder and rise two or three feet.  I couldn’t believe what I was hearing - was this guy crazy?  He explained to me that as long as the water was low and slow the fish would stay deep.  But once it got high and rolling they would have to move to slower areas behind objects because they couldn’t hold in the fast, cold water.

Thanks to Butch I’m now fishing straight through the year.  I haven’t tried fishing for smallies through the ice, but it’s on my list of things to do.   About the only things that change as the season gets colder are the amount of clothes I wear - a lot more - and the fishing techniques I use - a lot simpler.

Let’s cover clothing first.  Normally I would just tell people to wear a lot of clothes and be done with it.  But the fact that it’s cold outside keeps a lot of people from ever trying to fish in the winter.  I like to be dressed warmly enough that I really don’t notice that it is cold outside.  Let’s start from the bottom up.  Waterproof boots or waders, wool socks with polypropylene socks underneath, long underwear, insulated coveralls, waterproof neoprene gloves, a parka with a hood as well as a hat, sunglasses, and this year I plan on trying out a face mask.  I also keep extra clothes back in the car in case I need to put more on or I get wet.  Having something hot to drink is also a good idea. I’m finding that keeping warm is a real balancing act.  I do a lot of walking the banks during the winter, so at those times I need to take off my hat and open my jacket up so I don’t get too warm; once I stop to fish, I bundle back up.  

Okay, so we’re all dressed up just like The Invisible Man, with no skin exposed.  Now we can get down to the good part - catching fish.  Focus on small pockets of water, ten by ten feet and smaller, that are barely moving in a high, cold, fast moving river.  These pockets or eddies will occur along the shore behind roots, rock bars, points of land, and fallen trees.  Also check behind mid-stream boulders.  The smaller the eddy, the better.  Even with the slowest of retrieves you can still cover a ten by ten foot area thoroughly and quickly, and know that you’ve gotten your lure in front of a fish.  Typically I like to have two to three feet of depth in an eddy but if the water is murky, less will do.  Don’t worry too much about bottom substrate.  What attracts Mr. Smallmouth to rocks is most likely the crayfish and insects that inhabit them.  Both of those two food sources are pretty much dormant in the winter, but these eddies will be loaded with minnows trying to escape the fast main current and this is what will draw the fish, regardless of what the bottom looks like.  If the water is clear these spots will look just like the tanks of minnows at the bait shop.  As you pull your jig through, the minnows will scatter about.  You can rest assured that smallies will eventually show up in an eddy like this. 

It’s always my goal to fish ten or fifteen of these eddies a day, and it pays to recheck them several times a day.  Finding enough small eddies will be your next problem.  Obviously fishing rivers with good bank access will improve your catch.  Bike paths or trails running parallel to the river will also speed things along.  After you get the hang of winter fishing, you can be on the lookout for new spots year round, where eddies will occur in high water.  Over time you can build up quite a collection of them, and the good thing is that they will produce year after year. 

If you think fishing little eddies seems easy, wait till you hear about our presentation: jigs.  That’s it.  Leave all the other stuff at home.  Oh, you can bring it along if you want.  Remember, it takes only a couple casts to cover a little eddy so you can experiment if you like.  All of my winter fish - 33 to 47 degrees - have come on some sort of jig.  My favorite is a one eighth ounce, three and a half inch black tube.  I’m always trying new things and hair jigs, crappie jigs, and float and fly rigs have all produced.  Whatever you choose, fish it slowly and make sure you have enough weight to get to the bottom.  Be sure to put some grease or vaseline on your rod guides to keep them from freezing.  It’s also important to cover eddies completely.  Some days the fish will be right along the edge of the fast water; other days they’ll be tucked up right along the bank.  Walking softly so as not to alert the fish to your presence is very important, as most of my fish are caught within a foot or two of the bank at this time of year. 

One other tip that I’d like to pass along is that not only will these eddies work for you in winter,  but also year round in high water or any time the water is muddy.  I’ve been able to catch fish consistently, even when the river is out of its banks or in water with less than two inches of visibility, by targeting small eddies.  

The beauty of small eddies is that they hold fish,  and are easily located and easily fished.  They have become my go-to spot when conditions get tough, and allow me to consistently catch fish from November through May,  seven tough months of often high, cold, muddy water.  I’ve been able to double the length of my fishing season by using this simple pattern of fishing small eddies with jigs.  So bundle up, grab a handful of jigs, and give it a try!

Copyright 2001 Phil Fiscella