Well I was able to get out with my fishing partner Joey for a half-day trip on Sunday. We fished a small pond on the east end of Long Island. We arrived at the ramp around 1:30pm.

Date: 2/19/12
Air temp: 44 degrees
Water Temp: 41 degrees
Water Clarity: Clear
Winds: West at 10 MPH

We set out to target largemouth bass. First area we approached produced two largemouth bass on back to back cast with a hair jig.





Both bass were located at the base of the drop-off into deeper water. We fished the break for about an hour and landed a total of 5 bass ranging from 2.5 lbs to 3 lbs. No giants, but some nice post frontal action for February. We also connected with a bonus fish, a really chunky perch.



We left that area to check another wintering spot and were rewarded with a 2 lb bass and this nice largemouth that was about 3.75 lbs (photo below). That was our biggest bass landed for the day. We connected with couple more 2-2.5lb bass in another wintering hole, but nothing big.



All in all we had a great day on the water. All of our fish were caught on1/8 oz. hair jigs. We managed to catch 9 Largemouth Bass, 4 pickerel and that fat perch, which got me itching to go target perch, so that became to focus for the following morning:

On the trip back, I put a call into my friends Dave and Nunzio to find out if they wanted to join me for a Perch trip. Both agreed and we planned to be on the water by 8:30AM. Our destination was another Long Island pond that holds a very healthy population of nice sized Perch.


DAY 2

Date: 2/20/12
Air temp: 37 degrees
Water Temp: 40 degrees
Water Clarity: Clear
Winds: North 25 MPH (with Gust up to 35 MPH)


You know it’s cold when you are thinking of getting back into the truck while you are taking the tie down straps off the boat! The wind was howling and the pond we were fishing has no place to get out of the wind, so we knew it was going to be a long day. We started searching for Perch in a hole where they are often found schooled up this time of year. It is a large area with weeds and stumps, but with the wind at 25mph sustained, it made finding the perch a little difficult. In addition, the weed was gone. We worked around the area for a while and then decided that we needed to set out to find some good weed that might still be around. Once we found a good patch of weed near the creek channel, it was on! We connected with our first perch around 9:30am, kicked a buoy marker over the side and caught them almost on every cast until about 12:00pm.
















Every now and then they would move around a bit, but for the most part they stayed within about a 100’ radius. We had tons of doubles and a few triples. We only had on one giant, but she came off before we could land her. The rest were all really healthy, fat and feisty perch. With the average perch weighing about 1.5 lbs. They’re a lot of fun on light tackle with 4lb test line.

More Bass Fishing Reports

One lake in particular that I like is Clinton Lake, (about 2 hours south of Chicago) a 4,900 acre reservoir that's a cooling lake for the Clinton Power Plant. In the dead of winter we're catching bass in 50 degree water on crankbaits, plastic worms and slow rolling spinnerbaits.

October thru March in the upper Midwest usually means that bass season is pretty much over, most folks take their bass boats in for their end of the season maintenance and winterization and start focusing on deer and waterfowl season. Hey what do you expect it's the North Country; the first major snow storm comes in and you're stuck at home watching fishing show and going in & out of Bass Pro Shops or your favorite tackle store just to keep that desire for April spring fishing on your mind.

That works for some but there are a few of us that will get our bass fishing fix by fishing Power Plant Lakes.These are cooling lakes for Power plants, whether its nuclear or coal generation, these lakes don't freeze in the winter months and believe it or not stay fairly warm in the cold months. The other nice thing about these lakes is that they are usually stocked lakes, most of them are bass factories, so you will likely get some kind of action all year. Here in Illinois, where I live, we have several lakes just like these all over the state.

This is a great practice lake in the winter month's because with the warmer water from the hot discharge it will teach you how to fish currents, practice your prespawn-spawn techniques, and it will help you gain confidence in baits as well. On Clinton you can use rattle traps in 50 + degree water temp and 38 degree air temp and catch 15+ bass in a day.
Clinton Lake and other Power Plant coolings are a great option to work on your bass techniques in the winter months, and will keep that winter monkey off your back!!!

Tight Lines!!
Marques Green

Frank from our ProStaff started this topic on our message boards:

I was reading an article in a fishing magazine where they were talking about old lures that have fallen out of favor in bass fishing. They seem to become "kinda not cool to use." In the article they wrote about in line spinners like the rooster tail and the Mepps and one of my favorites the Panther Martin. It got me thinking about old lures that aren't cool anymore, but we all started out with them. Maybe it's the tournament thing, who knows.

I never go fishing without a stock of Johnson silver minnow weedless spoons in my boat or a couple of Johnson Sprites, yup that simple silver spoon. Now I know some guys carry them on winter trips for jigging, but they still catch fish on a regular retrieve. In fact they catch a lot of fish. Another is the 4 inch Rapala and Rebel minnows. And of course the Jitterbug which I think just had its 80th Birthday. What do you carry thats uncool but works for you?

VIEW TOPIC

In order to participate in the BASSIN' USA.com contest, and be eligible to win our prizes, you MUST be a registered member of Bassin'USA.com site. Membership is free and it's easy to REGISTER at www.bassinusa.com.

More info at: OFFICIAL CONTEST WEBPAGE

Hope you can join us...   

Since most lakes in the North Eastern United States have not iced up yet, we decided to shoot a video on catching deep water smallmouth bass using Keitech Fat Swing Impact swimbaits.  Not something one thinks would typically work in 40 degree water, but it does!  You've got to try this technique, it's that good... 


We had a great day on the water and got some really nice video footage with several smallmouth bass between 3 and 4 lbs.  Subscribe to BASSIN' USA's YouTube Channel to be notified when we release this awesome video!

While browsing YouTube I came across a video that someone posted for a “fishfinder app”.  It has over 100,000 viewsso far, check this out:

I'm always amused by the crazy things people think up to trick people on YouTube.  This one actually had many people out there searching for the app on the iPhone and android market.  The trick here was that the guy was simply taking a picture and the image he pointed to (claiming it was a new "fish finder app") was nothing more that a screen shot of a fish finder which was stored in his iPhone gallery...

So the lesson here is "if it sounds too good to be true, it probably isn't". 

On a side note, if you like playing gags on your fishing buddies, you could have a lot of fun with this video!!!

Has anyone been following this story?  Some local fishermen fear that this could result in the lake being closed for fishing tournaments and perhaps even make the lake private. 

Towns bordering Candlewood Lake will begin talks about buying the lake.

BROOKFIELD -- Built more than 80 years ago to produce electricity, Candlewood Lake may become a publicly owned lake managed primarily for recreation and the environment.

The Housatonic Valley Council of Elected Officials on Thursday authorized its executive director, Jon Chew, to set up meetings to discuss purchasing the lake from its current owner, FirstLight Power Resources. Candlewood Lake, at 5,420 acres, is the largest inland body of water in the state.

The council met Thursday at Brookfield Town Hall.
New Fairfield First Selectman John Hodge, chairman of the council and a member of Candlewood Lake Authority, told the council that FirstLight officials raised the purchase issue during discussions FirstLight between and the authority this week.

"They're very agreeable to selling it off," Hodge said
The buyers and owners would be the five towns that border the lake -- Brookfield, Danbury, New Fairfield, New Milford and Sherman. Hodge estimated the lake might cost $10 million, based on FirstLight's estimates of its worth.

Hodge said ownership would allow the towns to control what he called "a jewel of the region."

Charles Burnham, spokesman for FirstLight, said Thursday that FirstLight mentioned the sale to town leaders as something they might find advantageous.

"We welcome the discussion of this option," Burnham said.
Hodge said Thursday the authority and area town leaders want to manage the lake to increase its value to western Connecticut.
"As the lake goes, so goes the region," Hodge said.

Hodge said FirstLight, as a company interested in increasing it profits, has less interest in the lake as a center of recreation.
"FirstLight is there to make money," he said.

Hodge said, the towns and Candlewood Lake Authority would like the annual drawdown of the lake to last a full 60 days or longer. The drawdown lowers the lake by several feet every year to kill the Eurasian watermilfoil growing near its shoreline.

"In an ideal world, the drawdown would begin the first week of December and last for 60 days or so," he said. "But FirstLight has told us one of the most profitable times to make electricity is near Christmas."

Burnham pointed out that FirstLight agreed this spring not to pump water into the lake to reduce the chance of zebra mussels getting into the lake. That meant the company wasn't generating power at its Rocky River hydroelectric plant in New Milford.
"It's been difficult to make it profitable," Burnham said.
Hodge said Thursday it might take five years to discuss all the issues surrounding a purchase and reach a deal with the utility.
The towns will have to decide whether they would continue to generate power at the Rocky River plant or simply use it to raise or lower the lake, he said.

"But let's see where it leads," Hodge said.

Written by Robert Miller
at bmiller@newstimes.com
or at 203-731-3345.

ARTICLE SOURCE: Towns can consider buying Candlewood Lake



 

As we head into December 2011, we've been pretty lucky here in the northeastern United States as far as weather is concerned.  Every year at this time I'm faced with the debate of whether to winterize my bass boat or not.  Some years the lakes don't freeze over and I can still use it.  Other years, we’ve gotten hit with a nasty snow storm before I had a chance to winterize my boat... and therein lies the dilemma... "to winterize, or not to winterize".

This year I will again take the gamble and see how much more fishing I can squeeze out of 2011.  It really gets interesting when you start hearing “talk” of a snow storm.  Do I run out and fog my engine just in case?  I think the safe bet is to do so and if the weather stays mild and I want to take the boat out, just burn off the fogging oil and hit the motor when I pull out.  Perhaps the best of both worlds.

I have spoken with other northern bass fishermen who feel that since the boat is only really going to sit for a couple of months, there really isn’t a need to fog the motor.  Some guys farther up north don’t take that chance because they might be iced in for up to 4 months.

It certainly posses some interesting things to ponder…  what do you northerners think?