The Mountain Eagle
WHITESBURG WEATHER

Gabby’s fishing fever

Weather heats up largemouth bass


This column is dedicated to the memory of late fisherman William “Paw” Land, a fishing friend of Greg “Gabby” Caudill.

This column is dedicated to the memory of late fisherman William “Paw” Land, a fishing friend of Greg “Gabby” Caudill.

As the weather has warmed back up a spike in activity is occurring in largemouth bass fishing.

When the water temperature cools to 50 and below, largemouth slow way down as their metabolism slows down. On most lakes in our area the largemouth will move to deeper and warmer water. Smallmouth bass will be much more active in colder water and will remain that way all winter.

On many lakes, anglers will fish on the coldest days of the year and catch big smallmouth on live and artificial bait, but the largemouth will slow down some. The recent warmer weather has brought them back to more shallow waters and they are more active on live bait and artificial. Shallow water-running crankbaits, spinnerbaits and slower baits like the jig and tube baits are some of my favorites.

Over the years, baits like those I just mentioned have caught many wintertime bass, smallmouth and largemouth. Live bait will always catch fish, even in colder weather. I have used big chub minnows for bass in very cold water and done well.

So if you are going out bass fishing soon get out and enjoy the nice weather while it last. I would like to dedicate this week’s fishing column to a fishing friend of mine, the late William (Paw) Land.

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