Winter Redears

Last week was cold for Tennessee. We had a week of single digit and below zero temps. Then we had a "Then Suddenly" like in the bible, things changed. Weather of biblical proportions! It went from ice and -5 and a high of 13 to 71° in a week. The snow and ice melted and then on the warm days we got a slow steady rain. I didn't know what it was going to do to the fishing, but I figured I would take my chances. Even if the fishing was slow, it beats sitting on the couch.

I used an array of lures. If I had been bass fishing today they would call it junk fishing. I used the spoon method, fishing no more than 2 ft off the bottom. And I used a vibe bait made by Euro tackle that Mike Borovic sent me as a gift. I got to tell you Mike, I knew that it was probably going to be a winter time thing. And also a bottom oriented tactic and I was right. Thank you so much for the gifts.

I enjoyed learning a new technique, well a technique that I knew but had never used on Redears or any other panfish. Strikes on the Carolina rig were very subtle, usually just a little weight on your line like you had hooked a sock or a wad of leaves. However, strikes on the Z-Viber were aggressive to say the least. In fact the strikes were so light on the Carolina rig that the fish would swallow it before I knew to set the hook. I kept a few for supper, only one was hooked too deep to save, but I kept a few others under 10 in just to make a decent meal that I look forward to.

The spoon worked too but I didn't have the ones that work the best with me. I only have two left and they are discontinued. So, Swedish Pimples and KastMasters had to fill the bill, though they don't flutter near as good as a Slimfish spoon.

I don't know what the water temperature was but it felt like ice water. The current was strong and it was high, but the water color was perfect. Fish were in about 10 to 12 ft of water and not very active. Again, better than sitting on the couch. Have a good evening my friends and don't wait for spring. They're biting fish out there right now. Troy Seal