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COLD WATER THEORIES
By Dennis Reardon, Pro Staff
Recently, while trying to finesse a bite from the hallowed depths of Lake Quinsigamond in
Worcester I stumbled onto a pattern, which turned a slow relaxing day of fishing into one
of the best days of the season.
Water temperatures were in the high 40's with the air temperature in the low 40's. The
surface was as smooth as ice so windblown shorelines were non-existent. Motoring around
my typical haunts yielded no signs of life on the fish finder so I moved to a shallow
shoreline where weeds were abundant in the summer.
Slight dimpling on the surface increased my anticipation as I tossed a 2" white
pudgie grub on a 1/16 oz. Jig head. After a few casts a slight tap yielded a small crappie.
Well, what the heck, it had gills and it pulled so the day was not a shut out. The next
cast with the finesse rod and 6 lb. Test brought another slight tap. The small crappie I
expected turned into what looked like a 3 pounder, which of course broke the line in
a matter of seconds. Lesson learned here is never assume a slight tap is a slight fish.
On a whim I decided to chuck a larger jerk bait. When I reached into the box another lure
was attached to my favorite. That never happens, right? Thinking this was a message from
the fishing gods I tied this gaudy yellow and white deep diving crank onto 12 lb. Test
and heaved it across the area where the crappies were. Four cranks down then
BANG!!, a 2.5 crushed it. Now I'm giddy. 3 casts later another 2 touched the bait and
ended up next to the boat. Now I am wishing there was a tournament today. After a half
hour and 3 more decent bass I decided to move to another weed bed.
This area was a lot thicker with weeds than the other area so I figured why not continue
with gaudiness. Out came the % oz Picasso, white with a few strands of yellow, which
I pulled off another spinnerbait and added to this one.
Again, I got excited when the dimpling appeared on the surface about 50 feet from
me. First cast, WHAM, a 4.5 pounder crushed this stupid looking thing. 15 minutes
later and 5 more good fish I realized, gee, I think I have a pattern here.
So, my tip for the month is as follows; don't assume finesse is the answer in cold
water and don't assume a light bite is a light fish. Matching the color of the crappies
as best I could basically "matched the hatch."
Good luck and most important, HAVE FUN FISHING.
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