"I know it's 35 degrees and I know I'm half crazy, but would it be okay to come try to catch a fish?"
"Come on over!"
That was the short text conversation between me and a private pond owner whose place I normally fish during the summer time. But it's January and cabin fever has set in. There's only so much tackle to organize. There's only so many fishing shows to watch before you just have to get out of the house and wet a line. It didn't matter to me that passing motorist were giving me strange looks as I stood outside in blowing snow. The water wasn't frozen and that's all I really cared about.
Winter fishing in the north can be brutal. Especially if you're a bass fanatic like me. Now the muskie, pike and trout bite definitely turns on when the water gets chilly but as we know, bass movement can be a slow grind from December to March in Indiana. Not to mention it would be quite a haul to target cold weather fish residing in places like Michigan, Minnesota and Wisconsin. So I make due with what I got and prepare for freezing fingers and chattering teeth.
The pastor of my church gave a talk today on pushing your limits. He shared a statistic during his talk: If a person practices anywhere from 10 to 20 thousand hours towards their specific area of expertise, they will be in the top one percent of that field. But not just "comfortable" practice. The type of practice that removes you from your comfort zone and pushes you to your limits.
Not to say I'm aiming to be in the top one percent of bass fisherman in the entire world (I neither have the time, money or resources to accomplish such a feat). Point being, I want to spend as much time fishing as I can. Even in situations where I'll be uncomfortably cold with snot running down my nose. Why? Because the passion I have for fishing outweighs the physical limitations I put on myself. Because I want to put the knowledge I've gained to the test. But mostly because I want to simply get better. The only way to do that is to put in time on the water. Cold water, hot water, dirty water or clear water. Doesn't matter because there are fish to be caught.
Most of the research I've done states winter bass fishing commonly takes place in 45 to 55 degree water. Locations like ours present more of a challenge with water temperatures dipping down to the mid/low 30's. Some days we are lucky to find water that isn't frozen over. Naturally techniques require adjusting and everything generally slows down. The last two bass I've caught came from dragging a jig across the pond bottom. One bite came off a white jig on a sunny day. The other came off a black jig on an overcast day.
I like to make little mini-goals for myself each time I go fishing. Catching a winter bass on a jig was one of those goals. So looking forward into 2020 has me making a handful of other goals:
1. Catch at least five bass in each month of 2020
2. Catch my PB Smallmouth Bass
3. Fish in at least 3 tournaments
4. Spend one day catfishing and one day carp fishing
5. Learn how to filet crappie
6. Fish four new areas of water
