copied from fish & wildlife post

Kentucky Afield Outdoors: Cold weather now could make better fishing laterShare
Yesterday at 8:08pm
Kentucky Dept. of Fish and Wildlife Resources News


January 8, 2010

Frankfort, Ky. – Snow is blowing across much of Kentucky right now, and forecasters predict we won’t crest the freezing mark for a while.

While this week’s arctic winds are making life more difficult now, our current conditions should make for better fishing in the future.

“This cold snap will help the float-and-fly pattern for smallmouth bass,” said Gerry Buynak, assistant director of fisheries for the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. “Once water temperatures drop below 50 degrees, shad - especially threadfin shad - get stressed and start to die. The float-and-fly presentation perfectly mimics a shad or other baitfish in distress.”

The float-and-fly technique requires an 8- to 11-foot fishing rod, and a small craft hair jig or duck feather jig suspended 8 to 14 feet beneath a bobber. This presentation is one of the most effective ways to catch winter smallmouth bass since the advent of the vibrating blade bait.

Smallmouth bass in reservoirs learn to suspend near schools of shad so they can pick off those baitfish struggling to survive the winter. With help from waves on the water or manipulation by the angler, the small jig twitches and quivers almost in place, just like those besieged shad.

The cold-water stress on shad will also improve the fishing in the Cumberland River below Wolf Creek Dam at Lake Cumberland.

“All of those distressed shad and alewives coming through the dam and into the Cumberland River will help the trout, walleye and sauger,” Buynak said. “The fishing below Wolf Creek Dam should be really good over the next couple of months.”

Mother Nature thinning the numbers of shad with this recent cold blast holds another benefit for fishing later this year.

When shad numbers contract after a cold winter, the survivors respond with strong reproduction in the spring. “Shad are very fertile,” said Ron Brooks, director of fisheries for Kentucky Fish and Wildlife. “They respond and reproduce well after a cold winter.”

This means food for predator fish such as bass, walleye, white bass and crappie will be not only be abundant, but also a beneficial size for fish.

“The shad will be smaller because there will be many more young ones,” Brooks said. “They are more vulnerable to being eaten when smaller. The predator fish should be in a better condition.”

Bass, crappie or other predator fish feed with abandon when they sense conditions are in their favor. That is a good situation for an angler. This may be a good year to pare down the size of your lures in general. Try throwing lures that imitate small shad, such as spoons, smaller lipless crankbaits and in-line spinners.

Don’t despair because of the cold. Once nature takes its course, it should make for better fishing later in the year.



Author Lee McClellan is an award-winning associate editor for Kentucky Afield magazine, the official publication of the Kentucky Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. He is a life-long hunter and angler, with a passion for smallmouth bass fishing.



(Editors: Please email [email][email protected][/email] for photos

sorry next time will just post link my mistake

OK rick enough already, I never see a [pic of you bundled up with a foot of snot hanging out of your nose.As for me, got a sinus problem, always a foot ready to come out. Have you been out the past few days? I'm going to try DH next week again, two more trys on FNF, and then its live bait.

[QUOTE=kygorski;395715]OK rick enough already, I never see a [pic of you bundled up with a foot of snot hanging out of your nose.As for me, got a sinus problem, always a foot ready to come out. Have you been out the past few days? I'm going to try DH next week again, two more trys on FNF, and then its live bait.[/QUOTE]

a horrible cold with outside borderline fatal temps has me sissying up , hoping the bait i have is surviving. Been over a week for me
next week looks doable, you guys with the fnf, have dedication like no other, all those pull downs, an so many close calls, good luck

Some of those pull downs might be caused by shivering, or anxiety

What kind of shape are the ramps in down there at Cumberland and the Holler? The last I looked on Grider Hill's webcam it looked like the ramp leading from the dock was covered with some snow. It seems the toughest thing about winter fishing would be launching and loading.

[QUOTE=Chubminnow;395732]What kind of shape are the ramps in down there at Cumberland and the Holler? The last I looked on Grider Hill's webcam it looked like the ramp leading from the dock was covered with some snow. It seems the toughest thing about winter fishing would be launching and loading.[/QUOTE]
At Dale I heard hendricks road was closed, state park both ramps have light snow no problem with good tires