Fall Pattern to the Winter Pattern ??

[CTFSHWHISKER]

last year and in past years at rough and nolin i have found that the fish never seem to go real deep for long unless it is a real strong cold front,then in a few warm nights and sunny days they will move right back up,just usually the same channel bank or ledge just shallower.i caught fish less than 10 ft deep all winter last year,follow the shad when they go to the channel the bass,crappie will go too.The best day last winter was the week after thanksgiving at nolin spinnerbait'n 30+ fish with few less than 15 most 16" to 4 lbs 44dg water 6ft or less in the river well above wax.anyway to answer my opinion try shallow til well in december 38dg water is my definition of winter water if it stays that low for a few days.any other opinions on this would be welcomed i always like to compare my findings to see how far off i am.

[DJD]

Thats the beauty of bass fishing...we can all be right if it works for you on any given day! I have seen some ODD things (to me anyway)with bass fishing in the past few years. Unbelievable top water bass fishing in the middle of winter, we were slapping the ice off our rods and line! Extreme topwater bites in the middle of the day in the sunshine this past spring in 10ft of water, we would watch these largemouth coming up to explode on the baits. Good crankbait fishing in 38-40 degree water. Breaking ice with our anchor and pushing ourselves through the ice with paddles to get to the open water and then catching huge numbers of bass on jigs in water temp that was.... well freezing! While this is out of my usual mind set of how to catch bass we just lucked upon it and it was awesome. Always keep your mind open out there because you never know. :-)

[CTFSHWHISKER]

2 years ago at nolin we had some topwater fish in 43 degree water,was catching crapping in shallow cover and every now and then a huge bass would nail the float,well then i had a couple grab my crappie as i was pulling them in on top,started burning big spinner baits,and buzz baits,we quit crappie fishing for awhile to enjoy it.