lighter jigs/smaller lures can make a difference in cold water

[SPOONMINNOW]

The winter in N,Y, has been the warmest on record. The ice has never been thicker than 4" and mostly thin black ice. In Feb. the air temperature reached near 60 degrees on some days and any snowfall melted quickly. Rain amounts have been amazing which would have been a real snow problem if the air was below freezing. The pond I fished yesterday and today has panfish and bass. The water is near 47 degrees with fish swimming near the surface as if to take in the warm sun.

Seeing as how it's my private pond that I stocked years ago, I usually don't fish for them. But one thing I do in warmer weather is feed over 20 sunfish bits of bread that swim to me when they see me standing on the dock. This year, the sunfish came out to feed which has never happened in early March. I saw large stocked bass over 2' long swimming near the surface for no reason I can gather.

Cabin fever finally got to me and I cast a curl-tail grub on a 1/24 oz jig yesterday into the school of sunnies. Only one fish was caught along with a few nips at the tail. Today I cast a thin 1.5" straight-tail minnow shape on a 1/32 oz jig and caught two sunnies and a crappie plus about 6 nips & misses. It seems the slower speed and smaller lure shape made the difference since the lighter jig allowed a slower stop & go retrieve using only the reel handle for lure action. There were more hits and misses today than yesterday maybe because the water still needs to get into the 50's for any increase in fish aggression.

More rain coming in the next three days which doesn't mean much as regards fish activity levels. I will go smaller and light to see if it makes a difference. Here's one of the sunnies caught and the clear plastic lure (from a mold) used:

 

[Jamesddean]

Great write-up Spoonminnow. Really enjoyed it. Keep us up to date on the fish activity.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Yup, smaller & slower the best ticket out here in the Midwest cold season open water too. Seems ties work better than plastics here, 1" mink fur jigs have been effective for years targeting trout & previous year smallies, & wallys tho yesterday a skinny 2" PB hair jig seemed unusually attractive to smallies in the catastrophically depleted canal.

My flowing waters require heavier jigs than yours SM for adequate sink and casting distance 1/16 - 1/12 oz.

Do you target the bass in your pond?

 

[SPOONMINNOW]

Yup, smaller & slower the best ticket out here in the Midwest cold season open water too. Seems ties work better than plastics here, 1" mink fur jigs have been effective for years targeting trout & previous year smallies, & wallys tho yesterday a skinny 2" PB hair jig seemed unusually attractive to smallies in the catastrophically depleted canal.

My flowing waters require heavier jigs than yours SM for adequate sink and casting distance 1/16 - 1/12 oz.

Do you target the bass in your pond?

Come to think of it I still have some hair jigs I tied using the hair from my border collie (recently deceased). What better way to honor her memory than to catch fish using her fur? BTW, the fur is very fine and ebbs & flows attractively in the water which is what I'm after to provoke bullies with gills to strike. Deer hair is too coarse and has almost no action. Mink is good but not enough body coming off the tie.

Was I found interesting was how far the 1/24 oz. jig plus curl tail grub cast: at least 60 ft.! The lighter jig and smaller plastic still cast as far as 50' and sank at a decent rate in order to find out what depth they were hitting at. Turned out to be 1-2' below the surface in 7 FOW.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Hard to say which works better, ties or plastics? Yesterday I got 3 trout going down river 3 miles on a 1/16 #6 1" black head black mink tie jig then on the return trek back up river got 3 on a 1/14 #4 white head 2" Bobby Garland white pearl Baby Shad. As you mention maybe a 1/24 or 1/32 jig slower retrieve might work even better but seems the wind is always adverse in my face or sideways, yesterday gusts up to 30 mph.

I completely agree with honoring your late buddy with jigs tied from her fur. I'd guess she had several colors of fur, light and dark.

 

[SPOONMINNOW]

Hard to say which works better, ties or plastics?

I'll take plastics any day because of the variety that keeps me from getting bored - not that either always works better. Heck, once I find a lure that works I add it to the list of dependables. This one I discovered by accident: a Mr Twister curl tail minus the tail. I will always cast this finesse lure among others in warmer water knowing how fantastic it did last year. It also caught fish attached to the spinner shown. Again - no action tail. It's all about finesse actions coupled with size, shape and maybe color enhancement - not recognition. The lures below have a slow, subtle erratic action, unlike fur jigs which swim in straight lines.
.

 

[SPOONMINNOW]

Criteria that leads to strikes:
Recent and past observations in my pond gave some ideas regarding fish strikes Here are a few:
There's a pond that I fish once the water temperature is above 45 degrees and once it's warm enough, sunnies come to me to eat bits of bread. What I've noticed recently are fish slamming into one another to eat tiny balls of bread on the surface and as the bread drifts down before reaching the bottom.
Observations:
1. the bread makes a splash and then ripples which gets fish looking up
2. three or more fish compete with one another much of the time for one morsel turning into a surface free for all
3. If a fish spits out the bread, usually a nearby fish sucks it in
4. once a fish gets the bread in its mouth, it quickly turns its head and swims away from other fish
5. a fish may consume the bread and stay in the same spot for more
6. some fish watch the bread fall and not strike; it may consume the next piece of bread thrown near it
7. as the water temperature has risen from 44 degrees to 50 degrees, fish aggression has increased noticeably

#4 I believe is the biggest reason fish get hooked - turning and swimming away which is in of itself what is felt by anglers as the strike.

I then cast a minnow-shaped straight flat tail grub on a 1/64 oz jig and four fish were caught in other areas: a perch, crappie and 2 sunnies. The water temperature now registers 50 degrees with over 1" of rain in the last 24 hours but no fish came near like two days ago when there was over 20. Plus the water is too murky to see 6" below the surface.

As pertains to the strike, here is what a fish feels (with the lateral line) in conjunction with sight:
1. the lure hits the surface creating a noisy splash and ripples; it may stay on the surface or it sinks.
2. the profile & splash catch all nearby fish's attention and hold it long enough for the object's (lure) profile, speed and action to determine a strike or no strike.
3. the profile on the surface is dark gray or black with zero color unless the lure is made of clear plastic. As the lure sinks, the fish sees more of the profile and the lure's action. Depending on sky brightness and water clarity, the only colors seen are shades of gray or white. Metal flakes and flashing blades are always visible.
4. lure size and action as well as the type of retrieve (usually suited to lure design) indicate mass & motion - physical properties that allow fish to target an object - live or manmade - that pushes its strike button.
Since fish are incapable of thinking or correlating a lure to a prey animal, much of the time unnatural-looking and moving lures do as well if not better than live bait - especially live bait which has little action and sits in place. A lure is used, not to convince a fish of anything but simply to provoke its bully-like nature.

The above disagrees with a thousand or so fishing media articles or shows put on for commercial purposes. They make up stories anglers can accept as being true causing sales to go up. (ie. why buy a few colors when 30 or more will increase the chances of catching more and bigger fish? - Yeah, right!)

Something to think about on the road to simplifying the choice of what to cast, when and where to cast it.

Examples of clear plastic lures that have done as well as those with color.



Finesse like small balls of bread rely on a slower, subtle lure action. Even the Kut Tail and Softie worms below qualify as finesse lures regardless of size because their motion is slow but erratic mid-depth. A jig heavier than the 1/32 oz would label them as non-finesse because of a faster drop and more frequent rod tip motion and more turns of the reel handle

 

[duffy]

Great write up. We have a fellow here that has a pond that has bass, crappy and a few sunfish. He lets kids and retired people fish there and that’s where I test lures because of the dock and clear water. What’s funny is he would feed the crappy by hand so anytime you walked to the edge of the water here they’d come like a herd of cattle. It was almost scary how aggressive they were. Like you I decided to observe their reactions so just for the heck of it I put on a #7 silver and black floating Rapala. Way too big for those little guys but I just wanted to see the reaction. When I tossed it you could see them follow my arm movement but when it hit the water they all scattered for a few seconds then slowly came back. It was really comical as they all sat back about 3 feet or so until they sent “Larry” forward to check it out. He cautiously approached, pondering what this thing was and gave the rear hook a poke. It wasn’t a strike, but more of a jab and I could hear the jingle of the hook in the split ring. This went on for a few minutes all the while the rest of the crowd grew more brave until several were taking turns at the monster. Whenever I would wiggle it a bit they would back off a bit but soon return. Eventually I think they got bored or figured it wasn’t tasty and the group dissipated. It was pretty fun to be able to watch that close up. A friend has one of those cameras and he was saying with walleye many times they have tasted your worm and spit it out and you didn’t feel a thing. When you feel that 3rd tap they have it and are turning to take off with it. He said he learned a lot with that thing.

 

[SPOONMINNOW]

Duffy, you are one of a few angler posters who identify with everything I shared! Very well written!
Thank you so much!
Rather than blindly cast lures recommended by the media, you and I try to understand what really provokes those bullies-with-gills-and scales to attack and IMO, it ain't hunger! Interesting is the phenomenon you gave as an example where a small fish observes first and then gets hooked - many times on lures longer than it is!

 

[SPOONMINNOW]

Note the motion of the minnows in the video. At times suspended but always interrupted by a nervous darting action with fins flicking. The gills and fins (pectoral and tail fins) are in constant motion as the fish backs up or goes forward adding to its finesse shape and motion - motions natural to all fish. The same applies to lures regarding their finesse vs non-finesse nature. At times Wham-BAM-Thank You-Ma'am lures provoke strikes more so than finesse and IMO it has to do with a fish's level of aggression. Fish are nervous anyway but how nervous and aggressive? This is where spinnerbaits with large flashing blades and Zara Spooks swishing and rattling on the surface excel.
A p.o.'d fish is a caught fish!

https://imgur.com/NHhzzX3

 

[Hawnjigs]

For cold season river trout my jig preference has evolved to simple dark & light mink fur jigs. Observing the action in the water the preferred full ties impede twitch darting action somewhat but maybe the constant pulsation of the fine fibered fur has a bite attractive quality?

Decided to revert to a natural pearl color 2" minnow replica the last session because during the previous river trip a mink jigged trout spit out 3 almost identical appearance & size minnows being landed. Was actually surprised the plastic landed the same amount of trout as the go-to fur jig on the rebound at spots where the mink jig didn't get bit initially. Could be that some of the few trout present have become wary of the fur jigs after multiple encounters?

Never say never learning on the job so may adapt a strategy of using plastics more, maybe a fur jig wandering downstream and a minnow plastic returning back up?

Very interesting video of the forage fish in what appears to be a natural clean moving water healthy environment? In addition to the perch looked like a juvenile largie made a cameo appearance?

 

[SPOONMINNOW]

Nice observations Hawn. Here are a few responses to various comments - again my opinion that strives to simplify and expand lure choices.
" Observing the action in the water the preferred full ties impede twitch darting action somewhat but maybe the constant pulsation of the fine fibered fur has a bite attractive quality?"
1. Observing lure actions and comparing which consistently do better is KEY! Glad to read that at least one angler other than duffy gets the importance. The great majority reply with the same ol' match-the-hatch nonsense.
Expanding on that premise, I've come up with this theory:
2. Fish have evolved as predators that include strike buttons same as a keyboard that has keys that command automatic responses. Those buttons include sensitivity/responses programmed into their DNA and can number in the hundreds. The buttons we push we correlate to lure actions that have been proven strike-provokers.

"Could be that some of the few trout present have become wary of the fur jigs after multiple encounters?"
IMO absolutely not! Strikes are the result of provocation via a strike button - a lure presses. Proof of a clueless brain is that you've seen many times when one fish bites in a school and all havoc breaks loose even though it should be obvious that the lure is dangerous once one or more fish are caught. Stupid is as stupid does.

"Very interesting video of the forage fish in what appears to be a natural "
Coincidence - nothing more. Unnatural catches more fish than natural most of the time. Take the Beetle Spin shown with the curly tail grub. Brightly flashing silver blade spinning rhythmically at one steady revolution-per-second. Same for the fluttering tail unchanging in the number of flaps/ second. The action is unnatural yet proven provocative - one that consistently catches fish in the mood to chase. By mood I mean the combination of a specific strike button matched to a level of aggression. Fur may provide the strike button relevant to a lower level of aggression just like for fish in 40-degree water.

"natural pearl color"
Color IMO may enhance a lure's action and therefore improve its potential to provoke. A fluorescent chartreuse lure stands out more than black or clear thereby challenging a fish's usual expectation of subtle colors and actions. Flash and fluorescence just don't fit and are just one more challenge to its bully temperament. Natural isn't a word I would apply but subtle vs flashy that contrasts with the environment.

Different species can be in the same area but not all are interested in attacking until the right button is pushed. Example: While sunnies were blasting small bread balls, a 1.5 lb bass swam near the bottom to see what all the commotion was all about. Not until I threw a small yellow perch (from a bucket) in the same area did it charge the fish and consume it in a flash. Now, it might have reacted to a large plastic worm hopping on the bottom, I don't know, All I know is that bread ain't worth the energy for a large predator to get excited about. That same bass reacted the same way from that day on: placing itself in a position for an easy meal such as small prey fish, crawdad or large earthworm - button pushers at the top of the list of button pushers.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Duffy, how big were the pond crappie? Were they big enuf to eat the 2-3/4" Rap ?

 

[Hawnjigs]

Can't speak for other species & situations but both my new trout bud & I have learned from experience that the bigger ones will not strike the same lure again after a missed hit contact. Gale actually has WAY more experience trouting than I will ever have. He used to sales rep for St. Croix and some fly tackle mfg(s) I don't care to remember & mentions mostly fly fishing many if not most of the top high country drainages in CO, MT, WY & then some. More gung ho hard core than me his best CO trouting session was during a blizzard.

So perhaps he & I have witnessed more situations with trout behavior suggesting smart rather than dumb. Exceptions to the rule maybe, since I have C&R crappie one after another in high #s holds. Maybe older fish are wiser?

 

[duffy]

Duffy, how big were the pond crappie? Were they big enuf to eat the 2-3/4" Rap ?

Pretty little, with the distortion of the water they looked about the size of your palm. I don’t think they could have gotten hooked very easily and that’s why I chose the size I did and that’s all I had with me at the time. I didn’t really want to catch any, just checking the response.

 

[duffy]

Nice observations Hawn. Here are a few responses to various comments - again my opinion that strives to simplify and expand lure choices.
" Observing the action in the water the preferred full ties impede twitch darting action somewhat but maybe the constant pulsation of the fine fibered fur has a bite attractive quality?"
1. Observing lure actions and comparing which consistently do better is KEY! Glad to read that at least one angler other than duffy gets the importance. The great majority reply with the same ol' match-the-hatch nonsense.
Expanding on that premise, I've come up with this theory:
2. Fish have evolved as predators that include strike buttons same as a keyboard that has keys that command automatic responses. Those buttons include sensitivity/responses programmed into their DNA and can number in the hundreds. The buttons we push we correlate to lure actions that have been proven strike-provokers.

"Could be that some of the few trout present have become wary of the fur jigs after multiple encounters?"
IMO absolutely not! Strikes are the result of provocation via a strike button - a lure presses. Proof of a clueless brain is that you've seen many times when one fish bites in a school and all havoc breaks loose even though it should be obvious that the lure is dangerous once one or more fish are caught. Stupid is as stupid does.

"Very interesting video of the forage fish in what appears to be a natural "
Coincidence - nothing more. Unnatural catches more fish than natural most of the time. Take the Beetle Spin shown with the curly tail grub. Brightly flashing silver blade spinning rhythmically at one steady revolution-per-second. Same for the fluttering tail unchanging in the number of flaps/ second. The action is unnatural yet proven provocative - one that consistently catches fish in the mood to chase. By mood I mean the combination of a specific strike button matched to a level of aggression. Fur may provide the strike button relevant to a lower level of aggression just like for fish in 40-degree water.

"natural pearl color"
Color IMO may enhance a lure's action and therefore improve its potential to provoke. A fluorescent chartreuse lure stands out more than black or clear thereby challenging a fish's usual expectation of subtle colors and actions. Flash and fluorescence just don't fit and are just one more challenge to its bully temperament. Natural isn't a word I would apply but subtle vs flashy that contrasts with the environment.

Different species can be in the same area but not all are interested in attacking until the right button is pushed. Example: While sunnies were blasting small bread balls, a 1.5 lb bass swam near the bottom to see what all the commotion was all about. Not until I threw a small yellow perch (from a bucket) in the same area did it charge the fish and consume it in a flash. Now, it might have reacted to a large plastic worm hopping on the bottom, I don't know, All I know is that bread ain't worth the energy for a large predator to get excited about. That same bass reacted the same way from that day on: placing itself in a position for an easy meal such as small prey fish, crawdad or large earthworm - button pushers at the top of the list of button pushers.

I’ll add to your findings that some species seem to have a gang mentality while others are more like loners and like humans that seems to change with age. Kinda like teenagers and old men. Teens, “we’re gonna take on the world”. Old men, “get off my lawn”. One fall my wife and I once ran across a school of approximately 4-5” long smallmouth bass up by a rock bluff. I could kinda get a glimpse of them at the surface occasionally so I tossed a piece of a cookie by them and it looked like a blender. I took a #11 floating Rap tossed it fairly close and in a few seconds it felt like it was getting hit with a machine gun. The one that got hooked wasn’t much larger than the lure. So there’s that competition thing going on. A fellow once told me he was fishing some shallow areas where he spotted a bass on its nest. He took a worm and carefully worked it over by the nest. When he got “too close” the bass simply swam over, picked up the worm and moved it about 3-4 feet away. He said “I watched it and didn’t feel anything on my rod”. He did it a few more times, gently crawling it to the nest with the same results but each time it was taken a little further away. The fellow with the camera said that sometimes when a fish gets hooked the others in the area will get worked up and sometimes follow the hooked fish. Other times they all scattered but would soon return. On negative days he said you could hang a fat wiggly worm literally right on their nose and they wouldn’t budge. I compared it to having a bad hangover or the flu and he said that’s exactly what it seemed like. If you bumped them with the lure they would move but just enough to get away from it. Would have been fun to have all the resources and unlimited time to study all this stuff years ago.

 

[SPOONMINNOW]

Just goes to show you (and me) that wildlife is, well - wild. A fish's 1 Mb micro-chip of a brain is simple in all respects, its behavior follows a set of rules that is at times predictable (cookie reference, and in my pond, bread bits). But then again fish are very predictable when it comes to lures I know will provoke them to strike.

Anglers like to make up stories when it comes to why lures worked or didn't. The problem with that is there aren't many anglers near them where they can compare catches - not that many local anglers would share. If there was, their stories would fall short such as what colors to use and what lures to cast that simulate particular prey animals, etc.
My numbers usually exceed 50 fish/ day to over 100 only because I know the patterns in different lakes that help me find accumulations of fish where they range in size from 4" - 5 lbs. Most are panfish, but all attack certain action-shapes predictably just like sunnies attack bread and bass go after cookies.

* Funny though, two 4" turtles swim over to join the fun when fish are smacking the top for bread. Guess both species have a thing for starch.

 

[Hawnjigs]

Nice pics SM, your pond looks like reasonably clean fertile water creating a thriving ecosystem.

Speaking of bread & cookies, our trout river here has a carp aggregation area, so we've been thinking of chumming and latching a few. Bread might work or Gale suggests canned corn which was a fave of Jigger John targeting both trout and carp in his neighborhood ponds in PA. The carp here run up to 20-30#s and are quite a (usually accidental) tussle on trout jigs.

 

[SPOONMINNOW]

Reminds of this 10# white sucker I caught on a Crappie Magnet tail/ grub body hybrid.

Man do I miss John. We had some great discussions via email and he loved catching fish on my innovations.
Shot of a catfish he caught:

 

[Hawnjigs]

That is a huge sucker, occasional bycatch here but not that big. Pretty good fight ?

Is that John's hidden in the woods pond near Lake Arthur ?