The reset button
COLUMN
NEWELL’ S NOTES
ROB
NEWELL
The reset button
10
Maybe it’ s the cold water that erases their memory. Perhaps it’ s because fishing pressure wanes significantly when hunting seasons begin in fall and lakes start icing up. Or, it could be that forage gets a lot scarcer in the winter months and they forget what the real stuff looks like.
Whatever the reason, this is the one time of year the reset button gets pushed in the brains of bass. I call it the reset button because for just a short while during winter and early spring it seems bass forget everything they’ ve learned about lures and artificial presentations.
It’ s like the cache in their memory banks where lure shapes, sizes and sounds are stored gets cleared. However, this magical period only lasts a week or so on a fishery, as it does not take them long to“ remember” why certain profiles, actions and vibrations sting a little more than others.
Starting about the last week of January in the South and working up through the country until the first week of April in the North, every lake has this special window where the bass, especially the big ones, are oblivious to our fishing tricks, and they eat like they have never seen a lure before.
During this time, bass sort of“ wake up” out of their winter dormancy and begin ambling toward the bank. The water is still cold – in the mid- to low 40s in the South, grazing the upper 30s in the North – but the days have started getting longer, triggering that instinct to get moving shallow where the water will warm up first. They’ re grumpy, like someone who hasn’ t had their first cup of coffee in the morning. Their fuse is short, and they snap at anything that comes by.
Several other factors help the reset button get pressed this time of year as well.
Late winter usually means cold rain, which brings muddy water, helping to add color to lakes that are normally considered clear. In many cases that extra stain in the water makes bass less wary about crushing lures.
In major reservoirs, the water is still low due to winter drawdowns, which reduces the number of hiding places bass can use and makes the ones they do use more obvious.
Also, cold winters are hard on forage bases, oftentimes killing off shad and sending crawfish into the ground. The first artificial lure bass see can easily be mistaken for food.
Finally, the weather frontal cycle brings a more predictable feeding window: that prime time on the second or third day after a front when things have stabilized, but just before the next front hits.
When the reset button gets pressed, you can get the bullin-the-china-shop lures out and push those groggy bass over the edge – no finesse required. Think lipless rattlers in 1 / 2- ounce and 3 / 4-ounce sizes in oranges or reds; big, ugly jigs in black and blue or black and chartreuse with full-sized salty chunks; obnoxiously colored crankbaits that dredge up the bottom, banging into cover and making commotion; and even those old gaudy white and chartreuse spinnerbaits with big blades that trip their triggers.
FLWFISHING. COM I February-MarCH 2018