I've seen some excitement from folks about the cold weather months to come. Is the best fishing in cold water? My home lake is very stained and I would call it muddy. Is the fishing different in muddy water vs clear in the cold weather months?

Cold weather, not necessarily colder water, makes for great winter fishing,especially in creeks. The fish migrate, following shad. Creek water warms quicker because it is shallower, relatively speaking, than lakes. Winter sun warms it quicker, making the baitfish active, and the crappie will lay in cover or structure, and as water warms, they venture out to eat.

You find em in a particular location, they won't venture far the whole winter. As an added bonus, the fish already there stay there, but more will migrate up, looking for that "crappie hilton" to spend the winter. Fishing often gets better and better when this happens.

Unlike spring spawn when they constantly move in and out of spawning grounds with passing fronts, which to me, can be very frustrating when you are fishing on limited time(work, school, whatever). In winter you find em, you got em for the duration, with little or hunting for them.

That is the excitement you are seeing on here rt now

great explaination! i cant wait ... shouldnt be long

yep, what Rudy said....

I went last week looking for some but they were not in the creeks yet. Hopefully this front will help some.

i.m goin to fork in the mornin 7:00 am.