By Capt. James McManus
You never know what Old Man Winter is going to bring come the New Year. If there are several stable, relatively warm days, those can be some of the best fishing days imaginable, other times, you need an icebreaker just to launch your boat. I remember one January on Glenville with Marty Jones, we had been killing the big rainbows and walleye out of his dads old wooden boat. His boat sat outside and freezing and thawing had filled the drain hole with ice to where we couldnât put in the plug. I was so nervous it would thaw and fall out, filling the Queen Mary with icy water and taking us to the bottom, that I didnât enjoy even the catching that we had that day.
Another friendâs dad, again on Glenville, had gone out with a buddy and they were night fishing over lanterns for walleye, again, also in a wooden boat. Late into the freezing night they poured a little gas into a metal sheetrock bucket to warm their hands [that tells you how long ago this was], all was well, hands warming until a big fish was being landed, causing a stand up net job which resulted in a rocking trip overboard. Naturally the bucket tipped over and the flaming gas floated back and forth in the bottom of the leaky boat. As my buddyâs dad tried to pull himself back into the boat, the rush of flaming water and gas would greet him and so he had to tread water until the conflagration ceased. I bring up these stories to remind you that winter fishing is different from summer fishing; a trip over the side is not only embarrassing, it can be deadly. So first off, do your due diligence by checking out your safety equipment, and wearing it, letting folks know your schedule and area to be fished, and with cell phones, checking in occasionally with other boaters that may be on the water.
Once on the water I look for breaking fish first. There may be some and there may not be, but that is an easy first sign for locating bait and fish. If you donât see breaks then scan for baitfish. Fish, like turkeys, gang up into huge schools for the coldest periods, find some and you have likely found a bunch. Fontana now has a well established crop of bluebacks, this will likely improve the bass size over time but there is a downside in that, what once was a school of bass or walleye marked down say 60 to 80 feet, now may be a school of 10 to even 12 inch bluebacks.
If you are marking schools and not getting any bites, you may be fishing bait schools instead of gamefish schools. Check around the edges and try and find marks just a little larger or a little higher in the water column. Typically the bait schools will be hugging bottom with roving bands of bass working through the schools. Areas close to the river entries have typically been hotspots for winter but any point off of a feeder creek can hold fish. The good thing is that barring otters or too much pressure, you may find the same schools for weeks on end close to the same spots. As always, use whatever lure you prefer based on the depth of the fish. Hereâs to hoping for a good topwater bite, which has been relatively weak so far. Hereâs also hoping that global warming will give us some really pleasant fishing days this winter. It has been explained to me that global warming doesnât necessarily mean warmer, but as my mom used to say, âI know the difference between warmer and colderâ so I am all in for some 60 degree January days. Be safe, thank God for our beautiful mountain lakes and enjoy time on the water. Later, Capt. James.
Capt. James McManus is the Owner of 153 Charters. Give him a call for a great day of boat fishing!