I’m headed to Borderview this weekend and it looks like the weather could make things tough. Lows will be -10 to -20 with highs in the low single digits. I’ve run in to this same scenario in the past with very limited success. Does anyone have any ideas as to how I should approach things? Any advice is appreciated!
Hopefully you are not going it alone. That gets real dangerous at those temps. I think the fish are going to be real negative and it seems that has been the growing trend out there in recent weeks and the resorts are primarily moving out deeper. They kept a lot of houses shallow this year thus far and it was paying off with a lot of big fish, but now the push to the depths has started.
I was up over new years with colder temps and we still did very well. We rented a sleeper from Dales. We had 25-30 below air temp with 50 below windchills. still managed to bring home a 4 person limit with minimal small saugers in the bucket. had 6 eyes between 18-19 1/4 and our other 6 eyes 15-18, biggest was a 22.5″. We were fishing in 28ft off of arneson’s reef about 2 miles out.
My buddy and I were the serious ones fishing, our wives didn’t catch as many on their bobber poles, they were more into talking and drinking wine. His best bait was a northland glo-shot spoon with a hole minnow hooked thru the lips with a chartreuse glow stick put in it. Mine was a pink stop sign with a gold back with a minnow head.
We didn’t keep track between him and I as to who caught more, (just guys vs girls) but I would say it was pretty even for the number of fish each of us caught. Chartreuse gem-in-eyes were doing good too. Dale just posted that this last weekends hot bait was the tiger glass eye jigs.
ccat6,
I am headed up mid next week, and have the same feeling at you, although I will be getting there as they are coming out of the deep freeze.
My past experience, just like yours, for this weather phase, is to go as small as possible and set your rigs about 3″ off the bottom. Less movement, small, small, small. And when the bobber goes down, give it lots of time. But you are right, usually tough fishing.
Post a report, hopefully a great one, maybe I will get it read before I head North.
No, there are 4 of us fishing out of the Borderview shacks so I’m not overly concerned about getting stranded or freezing. I’m more worried about 3 days staring at each other without catching anything. How do you change up your presentations for a negative bite? Downsize? More natural colored baits? More deadsticks?
No, there are 4 of us fishing out of the Borderview shacks so I’m not overly concerned about getting stranded or freezing. I’m more worried about 3 days staring at each other without catching anything. How do you change up your presentations for a negative bite? Downsize? More natural colored baits? More deadsticks?
More BEERS ????
Approach it as you usually would.
I’ve experienced some memorable bites on really cold days at LOTW several times over the years and cold weather doesn’t necessarily mean bad fishing at LOTW in the winter.
You never really know what’s going to work until you get out there, but using something that rattles to call them in (Rippin Raps and Live Targets have been good for calling them in for me this year) is always a good place to start and always try gold and/or pink colors on your lures and jigs. Slab Raps and Jigging Raps can also be pretty good at times. Don’t work your lures too hard and slow them down, even hold them still for 10 seconds or more when the fish show up. Try pounding some of them in the mud at times when jigging too and if you see a high mark, immediately get your lure up above the mark.
On the dead rods, small, gold or pink and white 1/8 oz. jigs with a fatheads has been very good for me this year.
A few weeks ago it was -27 degrees when my wife and I got out on the ice about 9:30 am and we left with two limits of walleyes and saugers by 2 pm and we threw back a number of small fish. Cold weather doesn’t mean poor fishing.
Concentrate on working your lures and you’ll catch some fish.
Typically, cold weather is associated with a cold front, or low pressure system. In this case, that is not true, it a huge high pressure system. So I am with Karry, I don’t think the cold will affect your fishing this weekend. As a matter of fact, my handy fish forecasting app shows Saturday as and excellent fishing day pretty much all day (it takes into affect weather, sun and moon phases, and some other fishing information, and combines them all).
And hopefully that continues into next week, so leave me a few fish to catch!!
Thanks guys, I appreciate the feedback and I’m hoping you’re right about the bite. I’ll report back next week!
No, there are 4 of us fishing out of the Borderview shacks so I’m not overly concerned about getting stranded or freezing. I’m more worried about 3 days staring at each other without catching anything. How do you change up your presentations for a negative bite? Downsize? More natural colored baits?re deadsticks?
Depends if you are marking or not. If you ‘re marking fish with no takers you have to mix it up, throw anything/everything in your box down the hole. And don’t be afraid to ask if you can move to an empty house (if there is one available)
If nothing is biting – well that’s what beer is for!
Good luck!
Fish the river has been better in past few weeks and doesn’t seem to get as much pressure and the bite holds better with the weather changes.
You must be logged in to reply to this topic.
