I totally agree with the "slow down" philosophy.
I would only take exception to doing what you have confidence in. If that isn't working, continuing to do it is....well...
Think outside the box.
The fish are catchable. Just figure out where they are first, and then throw something accordingly.

And I was thinking that I'm the only one......dam, I fish mostly Falcon and a 4 bites day is a beautiful day....normally blank,,!!!!!

DEAD STICK, DEAD STICK, AND DEAD STICK. It wont fail

You just need to find the warmest water you can and slow down and you will catch fish.

a lot of great advice thanks a lot ! if anyone has more I'm sure other anglers are wanting to hear as well me!

Agreed with all of the above on slowing down when fishing each area. Also, I would run up into the North Bosque, Middle Bosque, and Hog Creek area as the weather warms because those fish migrate in and out of the river system at Lake Waco at least they did when I was there attending Baylor and looked for places to spawn in the cover that was abundant. So any area that provides kind of like an ambush point on their way to spawning grounds would be a good place to concentrate right now with a slower presentation. We are at the mercy of mother nature right now when it comes to weather. Good luck and stick with it.

Hi Cesar I admire your persistence.

When my boys were young they had a hard time distinguishing bites short of a fish pulling the rod out of their hands. Let that bait soak a bit then just lift it gently enough to feel if there's anymore weight than your jig. If so set the hook.

Also, relax your hands on the rod and you will be able to detect that tiny little tick when the bass sucks it up. Then slam it.

I think I see some fish in your boat soon.

Just posted this in a thread called "FRUSTRATED".......
It's just the time of year that's all, my advise is take a break from it until you see some consistently warm days and know for sure you are going to see 60 degree water when you go......
That being said I use this time of year to work on my sloooowwww presentation and I catch a few and get blanked a lot. I've caught fish in these conditions rolling a spinnerbait down where the are just fast enough to keep the blade turning, fishing a jig in a spot that I know holds fish and just letting it sit in one spot and twitching it every once in a while, doing the same thing with a Rogue on top, getting vertical with a swimming jig in a 1/4 or 3/8 size.
I also lived through the hay days as well and got to fish some lakes that still had green timber in them in Louisiana and Texas. If you find them schooled up; which young fish tend to, you could catch 30 fish on back to back cast on any lure if you hit the right spot and it didn't matter what the water temp was. I was fishing with a friend of mine about this time of year on one of those "new" lakes several years ago. We both had 5 rods laying on the deck. We bet to see who could catch a fish on every lure we had tied on. We both did it on back to back cast......

Start with the lake. It's 1000+ acres find the warmest water first. If it's a small lake find a good looking cove shaded from a north wind. Look for good spawning flat. Hit every piece of cover around, stumps, grass, and break lines. Look for fish on in-cove points as well. On small lake you will find them at the mouths of creeks and coves as well as into the creek or cove. Fish baits you have confidence in.


The important thing is just to keep on trying different things. Switch colors then try a different bait. Like people said find the fish, then find the bait they want and fine tune the presentation.

On my trip on this last Thursday the 13th I fished for two and a half hours without a bite. Finally patterned them on a jerk bait. It wasn't just the bait though, it was the presentation. I had been fishing it 30 minutes before I got the first fish. I tried a bunch of different retrieves. The ONLY thing they wanted was two hard short jerks, and a two to two and a half second pause. Ended up with eleven with some nice fat females. These fish at this time of year can be hard to pattern. You need just about a full day to allow for trial and error, and find the fish and the right bait. You won't need that kind of time in 3 weeks or so but right now it's still pretty tough.

When you feel like you have exhausted every bait that might work, pick one confidence bait and a worm and fish those the rest of the day.

This spring is a weird one with all this cold. Like already stated the fish seem more lethargic this year. The pre-spawn bite has not been as good, especially for numbers. Every fish I have caught the last couple days have for sure been in a pre-spawn pattern.

Stick with it it's about to get great!

I would consider using a soft plastic bait ring fry, fluke, finesse worm, on real light line 6-8 fluorocarbon. use a insert lead weight if you have to keep it down and be able to get some feel off what is going on. A light tip rod 6'6' or 7' feet would help quite a bit. What is really hard this time off year is to feel the bite and stay in touch with the bait as you are throwing a light lure to a slow biting fish. The challenge is to remember that the lure has to get down to the bottom on the bed as you are retrieving through the grass Lilly pad etc so focus on allowing the lure to fall to the bottom. A tight line on the top part of a Lilly pad etc will not get you a bite. The bait has to get to the bottom and stay there long enough for the fish to pick it up and spit it out off the nest. Light line will be your most helpful tool as you are trying to feel a light bite on a light non weighted lure in windy conditions, heavier line 10 to 20 weighs a lot and you are going to not feel the pick up as well as the line will pull the lure by its shear weight away from the bottom. If you look at guys catching fish they will rarely have a long bending line out. they are fishing close and slow or holding the rod tip low after allowing the lure to fall. Tying up helps a ton as it takes the trolling motor noise and wind out of the equation. Try using your trolling motor on high speed and looking for fish. When you see darting fish pull away a little and stop and tie up. Now that you are sure their are fish in the area go after them with the dead stick slow type technic. Your chose off chatter baits square bills etc is an advanced search bait technic for finding active staging fish in a little deeper or darker water that are not on the spawning beds yet or deeper spawning bass and cruising females ready to get on the beds. This may confuse a lot off fishermen when they hear that fish are being caught on these lures. Yes they are being caught but they are generally not in the clear shallow water that most guys cast to shallow to deep bank type cast. A parallel cast could help you with these bait or fishing two boat length out in a the entrance to a big spawning flat where the fish are likely to stack up before entering the spawn areas. The fish that are on beds will be harder to catch with these bait unless you remember that the beds are made next to cover and you fish the deeper spawning fish accordingly. Power fish to find fish in big open flats and slow down your retrieve and action in the bedding areas. Good luck and God Bless, Rudy

I played back last weeks show; Honey Hole All Outdoors filmed at Lake Welch round #2, just mainly to listen to the audio and what Bill was saying about the conditions he was fishing in and getting bit.....I think his key was being on power plant lakes and leaving the normal reservoirs be. Even that said his trip to Welch found him fishing an area with mid 60's temps and moving just a few 100 feet beyond that and being in water 10 to 15 degrees colder which would probably have an almost non-existent bite vs what he filmed which by my standards would be an awesome day for a winter bite.
He talks about filming a show @ FORK and catching one fish which he had video, a drop shot bite on a bridge piling while trying to stay out of the rain and I want to say even talked about goose egging another lake as well which was a normal impoundment. His key to getting bit was finding places where there was always warm water available or fishing areas like he did on Lake Bonham where he and his fishing partner fished the rocks which heat up when the sun hits them. I think taking a lesson from Bill and fishing the warmest water you can find in the cold weather is awfully good advise.

I've learned a lot this past winter, my second in Texas since moving back, after 25 years fishing the salt in south Florida. Generally speaking, bass fishing for me on cold water lakes in the coldest months is not nearly as fun as during the other months of the year for one reason, lack of action. I like a challenge as well as anyone but after a couple of rough outings, cold fingers, and long drives home, I decided to fish mainly power plant lakes this winter. I'd leave the cold water fishing to the experts, guides, and tournament folks. Went through the same thing in Florida trying to fish for bonefish when the waters turned cooler (low 70s), its not as fun. I'd rather spend my time catching and if that meant fishing for other species or traveling further to other areas, I was determined to have fun and have my pole bent.

Luckily, I live within a hundred miles of several power plant lakes. Instead of dreading winter and the cold, I look forward to it. Instead of beating myself up after a bad day, I'm excited about which power plant lake next. I still mixed in a cold lake trip every now and then but usually nearby or with idea I'd fish for crappie other species if the bass bite wasn't working. What I've learned this winter is that the same slow retrieve on cold water lakes during the coldest months can work great year round on power plant lakes. Keeping your confidence up and having a positive outlook works wonders for any type or conditions for fishing.

Also learned that when the bite is slow to nonexistent the best way to fish even slower is to continue fishing while you eat. Can't tell you how many times my first bite of the day came while I was eating myself, especially that noon time bite when it's getting warmer.

Also learned that when the bite is slow to nonexistent the best way to fish even slower is to continue fishing while you eat. Can't tell you how many times my first bite of the day came while I was eating myself, especially that noon time bite when it's getting warmer.



I learned a lot of my winter techniques while digging backlash out of a reel when I first started bass fishing in cold weather........

guys thanks a lot for all the information! ive got some studying on the water i need to take on! i appreciate all the helpful advice