3 Ways a Polar Plunge Catches Fish: Cold Water Techniques
By Andy Whitcomb
Jan 05, 2015
When retrieved, lures vary greatly in their range of actions such as the tightness of wobble, depth of dive, or amount of flash from a spinning blade.
When retrieved, lures vary greatly in their range of actions such as the tightness of wobble, depth of dive, or amount of flash from a spinning blade. However there are many occasions such as fishing in cold water, where just the drop IS the action. As the lure falls to the bottom or earlier preferred depth, you may find that on your first crank of the reel, a fish may already be there.
One technique for bass anglers where cold water is still open is to slowly hop a bulky jig along the bottom. By lifting the rod tip slowly the jig swims above the rocks but then by dropping the tip of the rod, the jig suddenly dives. This change of direction, along with the wiggling jig trailer or pulsing skirt as it falls, can entice sluggish bass out of their cold water stupor.
Drop-Lipless-Crankbait-Cold-E
Another surprising cold water technique is the lipless crankbait. What is amazing is how quickly this lure can be worked under these conditions. Rather than a straight retrieve, reel as you lift your rod tip, then let it flutter down, just barely touching the top of any remaining weed beds and be ready for a reaction bite. Bassmaster Elite tournament angler, Kevin VanDam, put on quite a show with this technique when he won the 2010 Bassmaster Classic in one small cove that was ice covered only two days earlier.
Perhaps in no other type of fishing is the falling action of the lure more important than with ice fishing. Here, you can’t cast; every lure is limited to just vertical action. Ice fishermen often bounce tiny jigs up and down between target depths where fish may be located. Yellow perch and crappie are caught through the ice at one local lake here in Pennsylvania by using a wide range of spoons which flutter and wobble as they sink.
The drop of a lure is an action that communicates vulnerability to predatory fish. It looks so much like an easy snack that fish may hit, even though not necessarily hungry in cold water, due to low metabolism.
Do you have a favorite polar plunge fishing technique?
One technique for bass anglers where cold water is still open is to slowly hop a bulky jig along the bottom. By lifting the rod tip slowly the jig swims above the rocks but then by dropping the tip of the rod, the jig suddenly dives. This change of direction, along with the wiggling jig trailer or pulsing skirt as it falls, can entice sluggish bass out of their cold water stupor.
Drop-Lipless-Crankbait-Cold-E
Another surprising cold water technique is the lipless crankbait. What is amazing is how quickly this lure can be worked under these conditions. Rather than a straight retrieve, reel as you lift your rod tip, then let it flutter down, just barely touching the top of any remaining weed beds and be ready for a reaction bite. Bassmaster Elite tournament angler, Kevin VanDam, put on quite a show with this technique when he won the 2010 Bassmaster Classic in one small cove that was ice covered only two days earlier.
Perhaps in no other type of fishing is the falling action of the lure more important than with ice fishing. Here, you can’t cast; every lure is limited to just vertical action. Ice fishermen often bounce tiny jigs up and down between target depths where fish may be located. Yellow perch and crappie are caught through the ice at one local lake here in Pennsylvania by using a wide range of spoons which flutter and wobble as they sink.
The drop of a lure is an action that communicates vulnerability to predatory fish. It looks so much like an easy snack that fish may hit, even though not necessarily hungry in cold water, due to low metabolism.
Do you have a favorite polar plunge fishing technique?
Andy is an outdoor writer (http://www.justkeepreeling.com/) and stressed-out Dad has contributed over 380 blogs to takemefishing.org since 2011. Born in Florida, but raised on banks of Oklahoma farm ponds, he now chases pike, smallmouth bass, and steelhead in Pennsylvania. After earning a B.S. in Zoology from OSU, he worked in fish hatcheries and as a fisheries research technician at OSU, Iowa State, and Michigan State.
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