Wilks: Frigid-water bassin'

(Editor's note: "Catching Bass with Dustin Wilks" airs four times per week on the Sportsman Channel – 6 a.m. Tuesday, 11 a.m. Wednesday, 10 a.m. Sunday and 4:30 a.m. Wednesday (all times EST). The six-time Bassmaster Classic qualifier provides BassFans with additional insight about each episode in these submissions.)

This week’s show is full of big fish filmed in January in less than ideal conditions for people, but evidently perfect for the fish.

It's windy and the water temperature is in the low 40s on a reservoir. The air temperature was not bad, but the wind made it chilly at times.

Most people simply don’t fish in the winter and believe the fish are sluggish and deep. Often nothing can be further from reality. Winter is my favorite time to fish, with cold weather followed by warm spells often putting fish as shallow as anytime of the year.

Think about this: Warm water floats, but ice also floats. How can this be?

In short, water changes density to allow this. So the warmest water is almost always at the surface except when water hits the high 30s, then it reaches an equilibrium and the surface begins to freeze if the rest of the water top to bottom is 38 or less.

In winter in the South where I’m from, there is constant change from cold to warm and even hot and back again. In my experience, in this region shallow-water fishing can be phenomenal. It is all water temperature- and clarity-related as always.

So the way I approach it is, I don’t overthink it. I start shallow and often I find this is the only thing I need to do to have a fun day.

Many other things dictate where fish will be other than just shallow. Is it shallow everywhere? Not normally.

Sometimes it's shallow on vertical banks, sometimes it is in the back of creeks or pockets, sometimes it is in open water or beside a dock post.

My point is shallow does mean you make a few casts at the bank. You have to fish it all and my recommendation is to still go at a fast pace until you get some bites to clue you in. Don’t automatically assume they are sluggish when the water is cold.

Sometimes fish are indeed deep or under bait, which is fine and a fun way to fish, but don’t overlook shallow. I’ve done it every year for decades.

With all that said, my bait choice this week was a bit surprising to many people who have already watched. I used a bladed jig with Culprit Incredi-Slim, 16-pound Yo-Zuri T-7 fluorocarbon on a Falcon Cara Deep Runner rod.

Once I figured out the fish were shallow, this allowed me to tick the bottom in shallow water and tick old, dead algae and weeds without too much trouble. Often crankbaits are really the No. 1 choice, but this lake had so much muck that it was time-consuming pulling off the slime.

The black muck also absorbs the heat well and fish may be more likely to eat.

If you've already watched, or will watch this Sunday, think about shallow winter fishing in a new way related to water temperature.

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