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Home > Take Me Fishing Blog > December 2014 > 4 Fishing Tips and Tricks for Fishing Slower in Cold Water
Cold water means a lower metabolism for fish. This does not mean they won’t bite, but some changes in technique are in order, such as learning to fish slower.
One great cold water bass lure is the jerkbait. Mark Zona, host of Zona’s Awesome Fishing Show, casts this lipped, suspending lure all winter. He reels to get some depth, twitches it a couple of times, then gives it a pause. Sometimes this period of inactivity is as long as 30 seconds. He says you have to convince yourself that a bass, a bluegill or even a crappie is slowly investigating that lure and if you let it get close enough, there will be a reaction bite with the next twitch.
I find it extremely difficult to let a hard bait sit that long without reeling, but here are some waiting fishing tips and tricks:
As long as there is still open water, I’ll be out there casting. And if you see me taking pictures of a bird’s nest in my line, while shivering in my neoprene waders, I’m just working a jerkbait.
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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.
The largemouth bass is the most popular freshwater game fish in the U.S. Learn more about how you can identify a largemouth bass, where to catch it and what bait and lures to use.
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