Winter fishing is a drag

I’ve been winter fishing for years and have learned many lessons through trial and error that have help me progress in my pursuit of river smallmouth bass. One important lesson came many years ago when I was a relative newbie in the winter fishing game. My buddy and I were dragging tubes through a series of submerged ledges in a deep wintering hole. The water temperatures where close to freezing so we knew the cold blooded fish would be very lethargic.

We dragged tubes for literally hours with only several bumps and a few missed hook sets for our efforts. Frustration was setting in for both of us. This was a known wintering area with plenty of fish but we were drawing a blank! In desperation I decided to switch from my usual winter tub offering to a small paddle tail grub rigged on 90 degree lead  jig head. I made the change looking for something with a smaller more slender profile.

I dragged the paddle tail jig slowing along the bottom. Just as I had with the tube, I was focusing all of  my mental energy on feeling the bait moving excruciatingly slow along the bottom ready to spring into action at the slightest “tick” or “bump”. What I found was that I could feel every tap, bump, and grind of the jig dragging along the ledge rock. The difference between the feel of the exposed lead and the internal weighted tube was an eye opener to say the least.

I continued to drag the bait ten or so inches at a time with brief pauses between drags. On one of the first few casts I could feel the lead head jig distinctly grinding over rock when suddenly I felt “nothing”. I knew the bait had not dropped into a ledge trench so I did what any good winter angler would do when they feel something “different”. I set the hook! Instantly, I was rewarded with the heavy head shaking throb of a nice fish on the other end of my line. I brought the beautiful bronze fish to hand, unhooked it and released it back into the ledge system.

At that moment I reflected on my bait adjustment and what had just transpired. It was fairly obvious that the lead head had given me another level of sensory perception that allowed my to feel bites that I was probably missing with the tube. Several casts later my observation was confirmed by another almost imperceptible take and another successful hook set. This was enough confirmation for my buddy. He quickly changed over to similar bait with an exposed lead head jib and got in on the winter action.

Since that cold December day many years ago I have further confirmed my observations that dragging hard lead on bottom allows for a much better feel and opens up another level of perceiving light winter bites. I’ve also expanded my use of simple lead head jigs to include football heads, stand up heads and snag resistant “flutter heads”. Yes, folks winter fishing is a drag.. but that’s a good thing!

 Juan Veruete is owner, ACA certified kayak instructor and licensed guide at Kayak Fish PA, LLC. His home waters are the Juniata and Susquehanna Rivers in Pennsylvania where he provides professional kayak fishing instruction and guide services. Juan is a member of the Wilderness Systems Fishing Team and has over 40 years of fishing experience in the waters or Pennsylvania and beyond.