There’s a very odd and certainly unpleasant feeling that comes with having something you desire be in sight but just barely out of reach.  No, I’m not talking about a promotion, a new car, or a vacation that you just can’t quite afford. If you’re a real bass fisherman, this means so much more than that.  I’m talking about those perfect green or brown specimens that lurk in lakes, rivers, and reservoirs across the country, ambushing preyfish, smashing lures, and ultimately capturing the hearts of millions of people who pursue them.  I’ve been utterly obsessed with bass and bass fishing for over a decade, and the deeper I get into it the more I fall in love with these tough, stocky fish and the thousands of different ways to catch them. However, where I’m from, they are all but out of reach for four, five, or sometimes even six months of the year.  A solid sheet of ice and water temperatures that dip into the lower 30s drop bass metabolisms significantly, and they become as elusive and difficult to catch as they can be. Ice fishing, you say? Sure, but if you’ve ever knelt by an 8-inch hole in ice over a foot deep and had wind-chills in the negative double-digits blast your back while miniscule panfish peck waxworms off of tiny tungsten jigs, you would start to fantasize about 7-foot rods and 4-pound largies too.  Let’s go over some of what I do, as a certified bass addict, during the long winter months to get my fix of these incredible fish.

Tackle Maintenance

I’m sure some of you hear “tackle maintenance” and cringe, picturing tangled crankbaits and dusty rods.  While this can be a side effect of this process, systematically going through tackle, organizing and reorganizing baits, line, terminal tackle, and storage systems is one of the main ways I keep my sanity when there’s ice over my beloved bass.  Also, this process, while tedious at times, absolutely will improve your overall fishing experience as soon as you can get back out on open water. On any given day during the winter months you could find me in my garage, sitting in my boat (sad, perhaps, but I like my boat so leave me alone), doing any number of small tasks that will prepare me for the upcoming season.  Reels are typically stripped of old line, disassembled, cleaned thoroughly, and reassembled. Rods are analyzed for damage and cleaned as well. Hardbaits often receive a new set of treble hooks, while softbaits are grouped by body style and packs are allotted to large zip-lock bags. Hooks are banded together by size and style (off-set worm hooks, flipping hooks, wacky-rig hooks, etc.) and weights are sorted by size and color.  As a reward for hours of dedicated tackle organization, you get to hop online or drive to your local tackle shop when you’re done and restock with tackle, lures, or that shiny new Shimano that will finally replace grandpa’s trusty old baitcaster with the 4:1 gear ratio. I think this offseason has officially been in my area for less than a month and I’ve already bought three new reels and enough tackle to last me through the entirety of next year.  Not great for the wallet, true, but a pretty fun way to prepare for the season.

Boat and Engine Care

I will admit, I don’t like this one as much as the tackle thing.  Call me a fishing geek, but I honestly love sitting in my boat sorting through lures and rod combos, reminiscing about fish caught on this jig or that reel and looking forward what’s to come.  Hauling out old batteries that weigh a ton and sticking your head into the bottom of the boat to check wiring and gas connections just isn’t as fun to me, but completely necessary nonetheless. I can’t tell you how rough it is to rig up rods and sort tackle for hours in anticipation of a fishing trip, only to get out on the water and realize that you forgot to charge the trolling motor battery or fix the wiring for your sonar unit.  The hard-water months are a perfect time for maintenance on your boat or engine, as proper winterizing and offseason care is the only way to really ensure that it will carry you through another season blasting across lakes and rivers and smashing the trolling motor on trees and rocks.

Planning Trips

Yes, not everyone can afford to fly across the country every other week to hit Lake Fork and Toledo Bend and Chickamauga and Santee Cooper.  But planning even one trip for the average fisherman is hard enough, and the anticipation that comes with looking forward to finally feeling a bass bite again when there’s two feet of snow back home is enough to keep me going for weeks.  Maybe someday I’ll reach the point where I’m able to jet back and forth across the country from fishery to fishery, but for now I’m fine to settle for one or two big winter trips down south each year. This year I’ll be heading down to the Big O, Lake Okeechobee, in Florida for a day of guided fishing.  What better way to convince a reluctant spouse or buddy than to tell them that you’re going to Florida, or Texas, or even California? Then when you’re finally there you can just sneak off while they’re at the beach and get your fix in hauling in big Florida strain largemouths. Trust me, making these plans ahead of time is critical, as guided trips book up incredibly fast, especially for well-known area guide services.  As an added bonus, fishing in many southern waters peaks in late December and January, as seasonal patterns cause fish to feed aggressively prior to the spawn, often all hours of the day.

Ice Fishing

I know, I bashed ice-fishing earlier in this article, but don’t call me a hypocrite just yet.  While it’s an entirely different world from bass fishing, ice-fishing has its merits, and some days can quite honestly be almost as fun as being on a boat with a baitcaster in hand.  Now, I’m not talking about grandfather’s style of ice-fishing here. The days of smashing holes in ice with spuds and dropping down Marmuska jigs with a wooden stick are gone. Today there are electric augers that drill holes in seconds, graphing units that are dual sonar and camera in one, and ice rods that are sensitive enough to tell you when a fish breaths on your tungsten jig.  Of course, I’m not saying you need to go drop a fortune on ice-fishing equipment, but being prepared and having the proper gear can absolutely improve your experience. Having a decent ice rod, a gas or electric auger, and a quality fish-finder are essentials in my opinion. If you can buy top-of-the-line Marcum or Vexilar fish-finders or the latest and greatest Strikemaster lithium-battery auger, by all means do that.  However, some research will show you that these companies, along with St. Croix Rods, VMC Fishing, and others simply don’t produce low-quality products, so purchasing any of their products will most likely be a good start. Ice-fishing can be a downright chore at times, but watching a solid red bar on my flasher slowly slide up to my jig and feeling that subtle tap is a hell of a way to help my addiction. While crappies, bluegills, and perch with the occasional walleye or pike don’t quite match up with a big bass, feeling that rod bend and maybe putting a few fish on the table for a top-notch meal is a darn good surrogate in my opinion.

Go Fishing

If my odd passion for tackle organization or punching holes in the ice hasn’t convinced you I’m obsessed, this definitely will.  I know it may be hard to believe when it’s 20 degrees outside and you can’t get to work because of the snow, but somewhere near you, regardless of where you live in the US, there is open water, and you can fish it.  Where I’m from, in December there will be about a foot of solid ice over any given lake. But the Mississippi River, at least in certain areas below hot-water discharges, will be open and absolutely swarming with big brown bass.  One of my favorite things to do in the winter, and one that I will probably do multiple times a week this year, is to grab chest waders and a couple rods and fish these select sections of the river. A Ned rig, suspending jerkbait, and maybe a light jig does just fine most days, and I think many of you would be shocked at how well bass eat when there’s not ice over their heads.  This is not only a blast and a great way to catch some fish, some truly giant smallmouths are caught this way every year. Bottom line is, if you’re a true bass addict, there’s always a way to find them and catch them. Some days, you just gotta buckle down and figure out a way to feel that thump.

- H.R. Alwin

Photos: Mike Brown