Most anglers are well aware of the slow-down in bass fishing that occurs shortly after Thanksgiving and hangs on until sometime after Valentine's Day across North Alabama. The frosty months dull the appetites of fish, and cold water in the shallows drives them deep, away from the familiar grass beds and points where we find them the rest of the year.
Even when you find a school of fish on your sonar in winter, getting them to bite can be a challenge. Slowed metabolism means they just don't chase artificial lures as they do in summer; fooling the fish can be a real challenge. Last winter the then-new Alabama rig did the job pretty well, but it's proven less effective for most anglers this year.
But there's a way to perk up these piscine winter appetites; feed them meat.
The vast schools of gizzard shad and other bait species that roam all of the TVA lakes are the natural food of the fish. Put the real thing in front of them and even if they're chilly, they can't help but eat.
Mark Collins, who guides on Weiss Lake, reports that both spotted bass and stripers there are devouring shad slow-trolled along the edges of the submerged river channels, particularly in the upper end of the lake.
Captain Brad Whitehead has been using the same tactic on Pickwick, where he's catching everything from 6-pound smallmouths to 20-pound stripers with the baitfish. And Rick McFerrin, who guides Tim's Ford and Nickajack, says he has been whacking the white bass, stripes and largemouths below Nickajack Dam of late on the baitfish.
Bottom line is it's worth taking the time to gather some of these baits before you head out on a chilly December day.
Catching and keeping shad takes some doing, however. A good castnet, typically an 8 to 10 footer, or larger if your skills allow, can cost upwards of $200. And a baitwell to keep any number of shad is also a big extra--it takes at least 30 gallons to hold enough to fish with, plus a powerful flow-through aeration system to keep them breathing.
Shad are easiest to catch directly below the TVA dams, where you can visually see them much of the year. It's also possible, with a heavily weighted net, to catch them by watching your sonar and making a throw when you spot a big school under the boat, then "pursing" the net just after it falls over them. You can also catch them, a few at a time, with a Sabiki rig, a chain of tiny flies dabbled in the schools.
Best size for bass is 3 to 4 inches, for stripers 5 to 7 inches. The baits are nose-hooked on 1/0 for bass, 2/0 or 3/0 for stripe; short shank live bait hooks work best.
This is not finesse fishing--20-pound or heavier braid on a medium spinning rig makes it easiest to cast them, though you can weight them and slow troll them on baitcasters as well.
Simply ease along on the troller, keeping the baitfish down near the contour breaks on creek channels and main lake points; if there are largemouths, spots, smallmouths or stripers around, they'll soon let you know.
It's not as interesting as throwing a frog, a topwater or a buzzbait in fall, but when the drag starts buzzing it's enough to warm up a cold winter day.