Cold water lure fishing

[Oldskoolfool]

At last winter finally see.s to have arrived- hard frosts and single figure temps.

For those of us who keep lure fishing what's the best tactic to keep catching?

Looking at my diaries seems a rubber shad/jig hook is best fished slow n low. Also on occasion had success with a spoon jig fly and jerkbait

[Chico 48 PAC]

Usually slowing things down works well but a random faster retrieve should be thrown in, one never knows with pike. Make sure you cover all available water.

[peteren]

Agree generally with low and slow.
Miuras mouse - slow with "a big presence" seems to do well for me with bigger fish.

But, as with all thing luring, does it become self-fulfilling? - catch most that way because you're doing it most?

Two years back, my best fish in a while grabbed a Belly Buster jerk the only time I retrieved it fast and shallow because it had weeded!

[stubbojo]

i normally only fish lures in winter , because deadbaiting can be very slow , i fish the lures in between my deads
last season on a session had a bumper catch of pike on a very cold freezing day , by the time i got back to the car it was -6

and i did not fish them slowly ...too

[Steve Dennington]

Usually slowing things down works well but a random faster retrieve should be thrown in, one never knows with pike. Make sure you cover all available water.

Definitely

[Ratty46]

definetly need to fish them a little slower and deeper, but dont be afraid to go big, big makes decent fish move to hit- big beleiver in this!

depends what you kind of size your targetting? i will happily forgo jacks and low doubles for one decent mid double or meter+, to have the most chance of that, i personally think i have to use a decent size lure, if that negates catching smaller fish im happy to do that.

i really dont want to be unhooking jacks with cold hands had enough of that

[CraigG]

Depends on the day but one of the coldest days I've ever lure fished. Me and a mate were fishing a trout water and we had decent fish chasing quickly retrieved jerkbait in 2-3' of water.

Sometimes you need to go against the grain.

Just to add, it was midday when the sun was hitting the shallower area of the loch. So that incremental change in water temp must have triggered them to push shallow.

[Steve Moore]

I’ve all but given up lure fishing in the depths of winter.
I’d rather sit behind 3 deadbait rods.
I must be getting old.

[chrisdonna]

I’ve all but given up lure fishing in the depths of winter.
I’d rather sit behind 3 deadbait rods.
I must be getting old.

Old age comes with wisdom
Chris Donovan

[Steve Moore]

I’ve all but given up lure fishing in the depths of winter.
I’d rather sit behind 3 deadbait rods.
I must be getting old.

Old age comes with wisdom
Chris Donovan

I do find dead baiting more productive in the colder months

[Jack H]

In the past fishing in the cold I’ve had good success on large curl tail lures like the savage gear real eels. Fished slowly that the tail just ripples and just off bottom. I also believe that larger lures work better as it gets colder. The way I see it is that a large pike won’t want to waste energy on small prey when water temperatures are low. Just my thoughts.

Jack

[stubbojo]

lure fished today in between 3 dead bait rods , not a sniff to the deads 2 fish to the x-rap not big but had a follow right in front of me looked a good one
temp -3 by the time i got back to the car it was -5 and everything was freezing ....dont right off cold water lure fishing you could be missing a few bonus fish
it would have been a blanker if i had not taken a jerkbait rod ..plus it keeps you active on a slow day

steve

[stubbojo]

Depends on the day but one of the coldest days I've ever lure fished. Me and a mate were fishing a trout water and we had decent fish chasing quickly retrieved jerkbait in 2-3' of water.

Sometimes you need to go against the grain.

Just to add, it was midday when the sun was hitting the shallower area of the loch. So that incremental change in water temp must have triggered them to push shallow.

all ways think outside of the box is my motto , my thoughts on it is this ......theres a big pike just sat there all day long on a cold day and you are continually casting that lure in his zone , he will attack it .......more of a get out of my zone attack .....just a thought

20231130_115113.jpg

dont know what happened there went on twice ......ice around the edges of the lake today

[andrew_nagel]

I find the pike are usually tighter to whatever structure they are holding on. Points, inside turns, hard bottom areas, the base of the shelves along the mud line... all worth concentrating on. I tend to experiment with speed based on water clarity and temp. Speed-wise if there's a bit of colour in the water I slow right down and start from there. If it's tap clear I'll start by fishing faster. The temp is more a location factor for me... if I can find a bit of warmer water shallow I'll fish it during the middle of the day when it's likely at its warmest. Find a shallow shoreline with a 1 or 2 degree water temp difference in winter and you can really bag up. If temp has been down for a while I'll tend to look deeper.

[andrew_nagel]

Last winter I found a pattern by chance where the pike wanted the lures midwater but very slow. A few times over a couple of sessions I'd knocked the motor into neutral as I sorted something out. As the boat slowed right down to a drift one of the lures would be taken. So I set started running for a short distance then knocking the motor into neutral. 9 out of 10 takes came as the lure slowed down. If I just ran really slow the whole time I didn't get many takes. The fish had mud and leeches on their bellies, but came up from 25-35' to hit the lures midwater.

[MLG]

Depends on the day but one of the coldest days I've ever lure fished. Me and a mate were fishing a trout water and we had decent fish chasing quickly retrieved jerkbait in 2-3' of water.

Sometimes you need to go against the grain.

Just to add, it was midday when the sun was hitting the shallower area of the loch. So that incremental change in water temp must have triggered them to push shallow.

all ways think outside of the box is my motto , my thoughts on it is this ......theres a big pike just sat there all day long on a cold day and you are continually casting that lure in his zone , he will attack it .......more of a get out of my zone attack .....just a thought :thumbs:20231130_115113.jpg

dont know what happened there went on twice ......ice around the edges of the lake today

A reason why people that use livescope can trigger lethargic fish, they aggravate them to take a lure even if they are sat on the bottom.

[Steve Dennington]

I do find dead baiting more productive in the colder months

It's water dependent I suppose. A couple of places I fish, lures will consistently catch a lot more than deadbaits, even with ice on the water. The deadbaits do have an uncanny tendency to produce the biggest ones though...

[stubbojo]

I do find dead baiting more productive in the colder months

It's water dependent I suppose. A couple of places I fish, lures will consistently catch a lot more than deadbaits, even with ice on the water. The deadbaits do have an uncanny tendency to produce the biggest ones though...

its a fact steve ....all my biggest have come to deads but it can be the only bite of the day in coldest of weather , but fishing lures too you just might raise a good fish ...
i dont mind catching pike of all sizes , its just what comes along on the day and if its jacks so be it ........

easily pleased face

[stubbojo]

does anybody know are these still available

20231201_192506.jpg

think there savage gear ......could be wrong
its my last one and thats give up the ghost had a few of these .....good lure


steve

[stubbojo]

I’ve all but given up lure fishing in the depths of winter.
I’d rather sit behind 3 deadbait rods.
I must be getting old.

i am beginning to use lures more in winter .................steve
still have the deads out , but fish close to them in case of any action .......a few metres no further

steve

[Steve Moore]

I’ve all but given up lure fishing in the depths of winter.
I’d rather sit behind 3 deadbait rods.
I must be getting old.

i am beginning to use lures more in winter .................steve
still have the deads out , but fish close to them in case of any action .......a few metres no further

steve

I can’t lure fish and deadbait Steve.
I used to and always ended up packing away the deadbait gear.

[Steve Moore]

does anybody know are these still available 20231201_192506.jpg

think there savage gear ......could be wrong
its my last one and thats give up the ghost had a few of these .....good lure


steve

Savage gear lip skulls.
Think they are hard to obtain these days.
Someone else is after some in the wanted section.

[stubbojo]

does anybody know are these still available 20231201_192506.jpg

think there savage gear ......could be wrong
its my last one and thats give up the ghost had a few of these .....good lure


steve

Savage gear lip skulls.
Think they are hard to obtain these days.
Someone else is after some in the wanted section.

thats the name steve ,......couldnt remember the name ...lip skull used them with a joey mackerel in them or a good sized sardine ...
seen a vid of a guy using them to good effect trolling ......
the action it good even with a dead bait ......

steve

[Graham Benyon]

does anybody know are these still available 20231201_192506.jpg

think there savage gear ......could be wrong
its my last one and thats give up the ghost had a few of these .....good lure


steve

Savage gear lip skulls.
Think they are hard to obtain these days.
Someone else is after some in the wanted section.

[andrew_nagel]

Lip Skulls - Still find them over here.

[andrew_nagel]

My biggest handful of fish have come to lures and the cold doesn’t seem to put them off.

[Paddy_R]

A good sized, slow trolled lure works well in winter. You probably catch less than during the warmer weather but you get a better average size in my experience.

[Tony McTaggart]

Depends on the day but one of the coldest days I've ever lure fished. Me and a mate were fishing a trout water and we had decent fish chasing quickly retrieved jerkbait in 2-3' of water.

Sometimes you need to go against the grain.

Just to add, it was midday when the sun was hitting the shallower area of the loch. So that incremental change in water temp must have triggered them to push shallow.

Yip never ever ignore the shallows

[Tony McTaggart]

I find the pike are usually tighter to whatever structure they are holding on. Points, inside turns, hard bottom areas, the base of the shelves along the mud line... all worth concentrating on. I tend to experiment with speed based on water clarity and temp. Speed-wise if there's a bit of colour in the water I slow right down and start from there. If it's tap clear I'll start by fishing faster. The temp is more a location factor for me... if I can find a bit of warmer water shallow I'll fish it during the middle of the day when it's likely at its warmest. Find a shallow shoreline with a 1 or 2 degree water temp difference in winter and you can really bag up. If temp has been down for a while I'll tend to look deeper.

Spot on buddy They ain't long in moving away from the stinky dying decaying weed beds up here.

[paintman]

does anybody know are these still available 20231201_192506.jpg

think there savage gear ......could be wrong
its my last one and thats give up the ghost had a few of these .....good lure


steve

Quick google comes up with this & shows them as being in stock.
www.fishingmegastore.com/swim-baits/sav ... ~9035.html