Thread: Panfish galore in 44 degree water under a cloudy sky!

A couple a days a go was a bust on a lake that was great the day before, at least for YP. This shallow lake I fished usually fishes better under a cloudy sky, but when the water became like glass, it shut down. Time to fish another lake that always produces.

So, I launched my boat on a lake close to home that usually has three patterns going on on any given day. Partly cloudy at first and the bite okay but not great. I was using my usual minnow grub hand pour on a 1/16 oz ball head jig. YP hit nice when I found them. The north end had some wind protection and shallow flats of 5' plus stumps, so I took my time fishing deeper water until I got there.

The sky clouded over completely and the air temperature dropped a few degrees. A warm front is starting to move into the area tonight followed by rain and maybe that's what helped turn those fish on. But one thing I decided to change was jig weight, going from the 1/16th to a 1/32. I wanted the slowest retrieve I could muster in water 6 feet or less.

The leader was already 4# test and the lure dropped nicely and retrieved with little bow in the line. But maybe most important - I switched to a stubby little hand pour grub with no tail. I kind of looks like a bullet in reverse and had a nice waddle when jerked and paused.

Man, I started killing them one after another on small humps that came out of nowhere surrounded by 7FOW! Sunfish, crappie and yellow perch slammed the lure like it was their last meal! After catching about 30 fish, I switched to a modified Strike King grub with a fat body and a slim tail that had a little ball on the end. I cut off the belly so it was flat on bottom; I cut the tail ball to a point. It worked as well as the bullet, but it was getting dark and colder so I called it a day. Now I will find a way to pour the new design.

Lesson learned:
I will never give up fishing in December as long as there is no ice and will always now keep in mind that fish are cold blooded and strike as hard in cold water as they do in warm. Some strikes were repeated on the same retrieve or the fish hit on the second cast to the same spot. Sometimes I caught three to four fish on consecutive casts.

Who knows - the action may not repeat itself, but I will catch fish in the near future!

Be curious if Dec 2015 will be repeated anytime soon. I hoping the lure design ( as well as others I come up with on a daily basis to ward off cabin fever) will catch a bunch once the water temp goes over 40.

As a side note: Ice fishing is a bit dangerous - I measured it on the pond yesterday and it was only 3.5" thick. In January no less! I was hoping to try a few 1" lures on 1/32 oz jigheads.