willard

[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]I have caught UL cats in the past in water temps as low as 40-45 degrees. But their metabolism and their attitudes change. Try moving slower and using smaller pieces of bait. And you sometimes have to cover more water to find the ACTIVE fish. With slower metabolisms catfish are not the round-the-clock eating machines they are during warm water months. That means not all the fish you find will be ready to dine at that particular time. But they do continue to feed all winter...even under the ice.
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[#0000FF]One thing that has worked for me is fishing a "bobber jig" rig...with a piece of bait on a jig head...dangled a foot or two off the bottom. And in cold water the bobber will just slowly sink below the surface on a take...no wild races across the surface or shooting a water jet skyward as it plunges down.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]I am attaching a writeup I did on fishing bait on jig heads below a bobber. I have my own style but you can use anything with enough weight to keep it below the bobber in a breeze. And a head from a small white bass is a good bait. Ditto for chub heads or small strips of carp meat.[/#0000FF]
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[#0000FF]The key is to try to keep the weighted bait within a couple of feet of bottom. The cats will come up to get it. I had a session in November one year off the springs at Lincoln Point. Water was 7 feet and I was setting the bait down at 5 feet. The first time the bobber just slowly descended I thought it was a snag, until I reeled tight. Ended up with a half dozen more nice cats that all wanted it hanging and motionless.
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