Cold-Water Feeding
in much of the scientific literature, bass and other
centrarchids (bluegill, crappies, etc.) have been shown to
significantly reduce feeding and movement once the
water temperature dips out of the 50s into the 40s.
that being said, there are places all across the country
where bass anglers continue to smash them basically
until ice-up, and even a few fisheries where you can catch
bass routinely through the ice. so what gives?
science hasn’t given us any clear answers, and there
has only been limited research done on the specifics of
where, why and how much bass feed in the winter. What
science has found over and over is that bass (and fish in
general) have to be opportunists to succeed.
if the water temperature is only 42 degrees, a bass
might turn down a wounded shad fluttering in its face,
but it might eat the shad if it’s convenient. though the
bass isn’t processing the situation this way, the expla-
nation is that the metabolic cost to consuming the shad
is less than the energy the shad would bring, so there’s
potential for a surplus and definitely not a deficit.
in addition to a deeper understanding of fish metabo-
lism, the take-home here for most anglers should be sim-
ple: despite all our knowledge, animals (including us) are
constantly forced to search for balance between needs,
wants and available resources. to the savvy angler, this
means that under the right conditions, there are ample
opportunities to keep catching bass even when tradition-
al folklore might say it’s not possible.
DAMIKI RIGGING: A HOT TACTIC FOR
By Curtis Niedermier
COLD-WATER SMALLIES
One of the hottest finesse baits for wintertime smallies in the
clear-water mountain reservoirs of the Southeast the last few years
is what local anglers have dubbed the Damiki rig. It’s a 3- to 3 1/2-
inch soft-plastic jerkbait or minnow bait rigged on a 3/8-ounce
(give or take) jighead with a 90-degree line tie and a light-wire
hook. The name comes from the Damiki Armor Shad, which was the
first bait to become popular for the technique, but dozens of other
baits have since been used.
The bait shines when the water temperature is in the mid-40s
and smallies are deeper than 30 feet. Anglers typically dead-stick
the rig midway down the water column to catch suspended small-
mouths that are hanging out under schools of shad and alewives.
Sometimes bass will even rise off the bottom to eat the bait, and a
little video gaming is necessary to get them to eat.
Smallies will set up on a variety of structure, but finding bait is
more important than looking for any particular structure. Find bait, and
you can dangle this little morsel in front of some really big smallies.
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