Midwest Finesse Fishing: January 2024
Midwest Finesse Fishing: January 2024
Jan. 1
Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Jan. l outing.
Here is an edited version of his log.
I elected to enjoy the first day of 2024 by conducting an afternoon bank-walking excursion at two community reservoirs that are situated in two communities north of Dallas. I had both of these impoundments to myself.
The sky was overcast when I drove out of my driveway at 10:30 a.m., then it was completely cloudless by 11:30 a.m. The morning’s low temperature was 31 degrees and the afternoon high temperature slowly climbed to 46 degrees. (The average low temperature in north-central Texas on Jan. 1 is 36 degrees and the average high is 56 degrees.) The wind blew out of the north-by-northwest at 10 to 15 mph. The barometric pressure measured 30.43 at noon and dropped to 30.34 by 4:00 p.m.
In-Fisherman’s solunar table noted that the fishing would be poor. The best fishing would occur from 6:04 a.m. to 8:04 a.m., 11:52 a.m. to 1:52 p.m., and 12:16 p.m. to 2:16 p.m.
I was afoot at the first reservoir from 11:30 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. I was afoot at the second impoundment from 2:30 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.
The water at the first community reservoir was muddy from recent rains and exhibited between six and 10 inches of visibility. The water temperature was 51 degrees. The water level was normal.
The north or upper end of this reservoir consists of a large and shallow mud flat lined with tall stands of cattails. It is a migratory waterfowl nesting area, and it was bustling with a couple of swans, a large flock of Canadian geese, some coots, and several mallards. Therefore, I tried to not disturb them, and I didn’t fish this area. At the east end of the waterfowl nesting area is a small feeder-creek arm, and I fished a pool that is located in the upper end of this creek.
This pool is about 15 feet wide and 40 feet long. The deepest portion of the pool is covered with about four feet of water. There are numerous chunky rocks throughout this pool. There was also a small trickle of current flowing through the creek, and I was surprised to find eight dead gizzard shad floating on the surface of the water at the lower end of this pool. I am not aware of any gizzard shad inhabiting this impoundment, and I contemplated if they had met their demise elsewhere and had slowly floated down to this creek in the slow current. Then again, there may be a goodly population of gizzard shad in this impoundment, and I’m just now discovering it.
The clusters of chunky rocks in the deepest segment of this pool yielded one largemouth bass and nine large bluegill. The bluegill were fun to catch and were slightly larger than my hands. The largemouth bass and eight of the nine bluegill were caught on a slow drag-and-deadstick presentation with a 3 1/4-inch Z-Man’s Junebug Finesse WormZ that was trimmed down from its usual 4.75-inch size. It was rigged on a chartreuse 1/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. The other bluegill was caught on a Z-Man’s molting-craw TRD CrawZ that was matched with a blue 1/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead and a slow drag-and-deadstick retrieve.
From the creek arm, I meandered a short distance to the north end of the reservoir’s east shoreline. This shoreline features a long clay-and- gravel point on its north end, a small ditch that lies just south of the clay and gravel point, a wide sand-and-gravel point that is located in the middle section of this shoreline, and a ditch that is situated on its south end. A long sand-and-gravel ledge parallels most of this shoreline.
This shoreline relinquished one largemouth bass. It was caught in six to eight feet of water and about 25 feet away from the deep-water side of the sand-and-gravel ledge on the lower end of this shoreline. It was allured by a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick retrieve with the molting-craw TRD CrawZ rig. I failed to locate any largemouth bass around the north clay-and-gravel point, the small ditch just south of the clay-and-gravel point, the middle sand-and-gravel point, and the ditch situated on the south end of the shoreline.
I also failed to elicit a strike or catch a largemouth bass from the concrete dam that forms the southern perimeter of this reservoir.
From the dam, I fished northward along the reservoir’s west shoreline. This shoreline possesses a slope that varies from 25 to 35 degrees. Its submerged terrain consists of mostly sand and gravel. A fishing pier adorns the middle portion of this shoreline. A small tertiary point lies about 30 yards south of the pier, and two other tertiary points are situated several yards north of the pier. Another ditch lies on the north end of this shoreline, and it cuts across the large mud flat by the waterfowl nesting area on the north end of the reservoir. To my dismay, I failed to generate any strikes from this shoreline.
After I finished fishing this reservoir, I drove 15 miles to the second community reservoir.
The water temperature at the second reservoir was 48 degrees, which is the coldest I have seen it this winter. The water level was normal. The water was muddy and displayed about 10 inches of clarity.
The south end of this impoundment is comprised of a decorative concrete and stone dam. The submerged terrain along the base of the dam is covered with fist-size rocks. A small creek channel courses it way from the dam to the northwest end of the impoundment. I dissected the area around the dam and creek channel with the Z-Man’s molting-craw TRD CrawZ combo and a slow-and-steady dragging motif, and I caught one largemouth bass. It was abiding in five to seven feet of water next to the small creek channel.
I failed to entice any strikes from the east shoreline. This shoreline is the steepest of the four shorelines, and it is endowed with three primary points, and four tertiary points.
I also failed to elicit any strikes from a shallow mud flat that occupies 90 percent of the northern shoreline and from a small feeder creek that enters the reservoir at the west end of this shoreline.
After that, I slowly dissected the west side of the reservoir, which is endowed with a submerged clay-and-pea- gravel ledge and three small points, and I was unable to locate or allure any largemouth bass along this shoreline.
In sum, the cold-water temperatures, coupled with the muddy-water conditions, has nearly extinguished the fishing for Florida-strain largemouth bass at these two community reservoirs. At the first reservoir, I caught two largemouth bass and nine bluegill. I could muster only one largemouth bass at the second reservoir, for a total catch of three largemouth bass and nine bluegill in four hours.
What a lousy piscatorial start to 2024, indeed.
Jan. 2
Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, and his cousin Rick Hebenstreit of Shawnee, Kansas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about their outing on Jan. 2 at an 85-year-old northeastern Kansas' community reservoir.
Here is an edited version of their log.
The National Weather Service reported that the morning’s low temperature was 22 degrees. The afternoon's high temperature was 44 degrees. The sky was fair. The wind angled from the southwest, west, and northwest at 3 to 9 mph. The barometric pressure was 30.27 at 12:53 a.m., 30.25 at 5:53 a.m., 30.21 at 11:53 a.m., and 30:15 at 3:53 p.m.
The water level looked to be about one foot below normal. The surface temperature was 39 degrees, and thin patches of ice covered some shallow-water sections of this reservoir that were sheltered from the wind and waves. This reservoir has been periodically bombarded with various kinds of algal blooms in 2023, but to our delight, we did not cross paths with any blooms on this outing. The water exhibited about six feet of visibility. Many of this reservoir's shorelines and points are embellished with fantastic patches of winter-dead American water willows, but most of them are partially out of the water. Several of this reservoir’s shallow-water flats and shorelines are graced with burgeoning patches of Eurasian milfoil, which are in their wintertime wilt. As we have noted many times in years past, these patches of Eurasian milfoil are a godsend to the piscatorial world, and we are hoping the managers of this reservoir will learn in 2024 how to cultivate and manually maintain these patches rather than employing aquatic herbicides to kill them.
In-Fisherman's Solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 3:01 a.m. to 5:01 a.m., 3:21 p.m. to 5:21 p.m., and 9:11 a.m. to 11:11 a.m.
We made our first casts at 12:45 p.m. and our last ones at 3:58 p.m.
This outing was a reiteration of Pat and Ned Kehde’s bass fishing for trout outing on Dec. 30.
We caught 16 largemouth bass, eight rainbow trout, two freshwater drum, and one wiper. Six rainbow trout were caught on a Z-Man’s Canada-craw TRD TicklerZ affixed to a chartreuse 1/16-ounce mushroom-style jig; two were caught on a Z-Man’s coppertreuse TRD TicklerZ affixed to a baby-blue 1/15-ounce Micro Finesse ShroomZ jighead. Our coppertreuse TRD TicklerZ rig caught 10 largemouth bass and two freshwater drum, and the Canada-craw TRD TicklerZ rig inveigled six largemouth bass and one wiper.
We caught two largemouth bass along about a 75-yard stretch of a shoreline inside a small feeder-creek arm in the lower half of this reservoir. This shoreline possesses a 30- to 40-degree slope. Its water’s edge is lined with patches of winter-dead American water willows and two docks. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and a few boulders, which are occasionally quilted with meager patches of Eurasian milfoil. The two largemouth bass and the trout were caught in the vicinity of the patches of Eurasian milfoil in about six feet as we were executing a drag-and-pause presentation around the patches of milfoil with the coppertreuse TRD TicklerZ rig.
We caught one largemouth bass along about a 100-yard stretch of a shoreline inside a large feeder-creek arm in the upper half of this reservoir. This shoreline possesses a 25- to 45-degree slope. Its water’s edge is embellished with four laydowns, a beaver hut, and winter-dead patches of American water willows. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders, which are adorned with some significant patches of Eurasian milfoil. The largemouth bass was caught on the coppertreuse TRD TicklerZ rig around two of the laydowns and a patch of Eurasian milfoil in about four feet of water on a swim-and-pause presentation.
We caught five largemouth bass, one wiper, and a freshwater drum around a main-lake point and along about a 200-yard stretch of a main-lake shoreline in the upper half of the reservoir. This area possesses a 35- to 90-degree slope. Its underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders, which are occasionally endowed with some patches of Eurasian milfoil. The water’s edge is graced with patches of winter-dead American water willows, many laydowns, and a concrete dock ramp. Two of the largemouth bass and the wiper were caught on the Canada-craw TRD TicklerZ rig with a drag-and-pause presentation in five to six feet of water. Three of the largemouth bass and the freshwater drum were caught on the coppertreuse TRD TicklerZ rig in four to six feet of water on a drag-and-pause retrieve.
Around three main-lake points and along about 300 yards of main-lake shorelines in the upper half of the reservoir, we caught six largemouth bass, eight rainbow trout, and one freshwater drum. This massive area possesses a 25- to 60-degree slope, and the flatter areas were more bountiful than the steeper ones. The water’s edge is enhanced with patches of winter-dead American water willows, many laydowns, some piles of brush, a touch of riprap, and one dock. The underwater terrains of these locales are comprised of gravel, rocks, and boulders, and some of them are enhanced with patches of Eurasian milfoil. Some of the boulders are humongous. Six of the rainbow trout and three of the largemouth bass were caught on the Canada-craw TRD TicklerZ rig, and one freshwater drum, two rainbow trout, and three largemouth bass were caught on the coppertreuse TRD TicklerZ rig. We caught them in four to seven feet of water on or in the vicinity of the patches of Eurasian milfoil. And they were caught as we employed a drag-and-shake or drag-and-pause or swim-and-pause presentation.
We caught two largemouth bass along about a 75-yard stretch of a shoreline inside another large feeder-creek arm in the upper half of the reservoir. This shoreline has a 45- to 90-degree slope. The underwater terrain consists of gravel, rocks, and boulders that are occasionally quilted with a patch of Eurasian milfoil. Both of the largemouth bass were caught on the coppertreuse TRD TicklerZ as we were strolling and employing a drag-and-subtle-shake presentation in about six to eight feet of water somewhat adjacent to some meager patches of Eurasian milfoil.
From a historical perspective, this was a bountiful January outing in northeastern Kansas. We caught 28 fish in three hours and 13 minutes, which was an average of about eight fish per hour and an average of five largemouth bass an hour.
Jan. 3
Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a log about his outing on Jan. 3 at a 64-year-old and heavily fished northeastern Kansas’ state reservoir.
Here is an edited version of his log.
The National Weather Service reported that the morning’s low temperature was 19 degrees, and the afternoon’s high temperature was 46 degrees. The wind varied from being calm to angling out of the northwest, west, and north at 3 to 8 mph. The sky fluctuated from being misty and foggy to fair. The barometric pressure was 30.14 at 12:52 a.m., 30.16 at 5:52 a.m., 30.18 at 11:52 a.m., and 30:15 at 3:52 p.m.
The water level looked to be about normal. The surface temperature was 39 degrees, and I fished around several thin sheets of ice. My nine-foot dipstick indicated that the water exhibited five to seven feet of visibility.
In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar noted that the best fishing would take place from 3:40 a.m. to 5:40 a.m., 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m., and 9:50 a.m. to 11:50 a.m.
I executed my first cast at 1:15 p.m., and my last one at 3:45 p.m. when I caught largemouth bass number 21.
I spent 108 minutes fishing across a massive shallow-water flat in the back of a major feeder-creek arm, where I caught 12 largemouth bass and one crappie.
This flat is about the size of five football fields. Its depth ranges from water as shallow as a foot to as deep as nine feet. The underwater terrain of this flat is embellished with patches of coontail, sago pondweeds, and numerous manmade piles of eastern red cedar trees. A submerged creek channel meanders around the western side of this flat. The coontail and sago pondweeds are in the midst of their wintertime wilt.
On this massive flat, I fished around an area about the size of 3 1/2 football fields.
One largemouth bass was caught on a 1.75-inch Z-Man’s bumblebee Micro TRD affixed to a red 1/20-ounce Micro Finesse ShroomZ jighead.
Two largemouth bass and one crappie were caught on a Z-Man’s Canada-craw TRD TicklerZ affixed to a red 1/15-ounce Micro Finesse ShroomZ jighead.
Two largemouth bass were caught on a 1.75-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Tiny TicklerZ affixed to a chartreuse 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig.
Three largemouth bass were caught on a Z-Man’s Canada-craw TRD HogZ affixed to a chartreuse 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig.
Four largemouth bass were caught on a 1.75-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Tiny TicklerZ affixed to a baby-blue 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig.
The green-pumpkin Tiny TicklerZ. rigs are at the top of this photograph. The third one is the bumblebee Micro TRD rig. The fourth one is the TRD HogZ rig. The bottom one is the TRD TicklerZ rig.
They were caught as I employed a slow swim-and-pause presentation, which allowed the rigs to graze across the top of the submerged patches of coontail and sago pondweeds. Two were caught as I was strolling and employing the slow swim-and-pause retrieve. All of them were caught many yards from this flat’s shorelines.
On a shallow-water flat in the back of another major feeder-arm, I found some meager patches of winter-wilted coontail in three to six feet of water. It was partially covered with a thin layer of ice. I fished along the outside edge of the ice for about 10 minutes without eliciting a strike.
I spent the final 30 minutes of this outing fishing a shallow-water flat inside a tiny feeder-creek arm, which yielded nine largemouth bass. This flat is a tad smaller than a football field. Its underwater terrain is endowed with several significant patches of winter-wilted coontail in five to nine feet of water.
The Tiny TicklerZ and the chartreuse 1/15-ounce Z-Man’s Micro Finesse ShroomZ jig inveigled these nine largemouth bass. Eight were caught in seven to nine feet of water as I was using a swim-and-pause retrieve in six to nine feet of water. One was caught accidentally on a vertical presentation in nine feet of water when I used the Tiny TicklerZ rig to accurately measure the depth of the water.
In closing, I was surprised to catch an average of eight largemouth bass an hour, which is a bountiful catch rate in northeastern Kansas during the first week of January.
Jan. 4
Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a brief log on the Finesse News Network about his Jan. 4 outing.
Here is an edited version of his log.
I conducted a solo excursion to a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ hill-land reservoir in the Dallas/Ft. Worth metropolitan area. This was my first visit to a Corps’ reservoir in 2024, and I was eager to check the status of the black-bass fishing here.
The sky was mostly sunny, and there was plenty of sunshine. The afternoon’s high temperature was 57 degrees. The morning’s low temperature was 33 degrees. The barometric pressure measured 30.20 at noon, and it fell to 30.04 by 3:00 p.m. The wind angled out of the east-by-southeast at 15 to 20 mph with occasional gusts that reached 27 mph.
According to In-Fisherman’s Solunar table, the fishing was predicted to be poor. It also noted that the most productive fishing periods would occur from 4:16 a.m. to 6:16 a.m., 10:26 a.m. to 12:26 p.m., and 4:36 p.m. to 6:36 p.m.
I fished from 12:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m.
I fished inside a minor feeder-creek arm on the north end of the reservoir. I shared this creek arm with six other crappie anglers, who were fishing from the bank.
The water in the main-lake area outside of this creek arm was still muddy from the rainstorms that pummeled north-central Texas from Dec. 21 through Dec. 24, and it exhibited about eight inches of visibility. The surface temperature was 47 degrees. The water level was 1.48 feet below normal pool.
The water conditions improved inside the creek arm. The water exhibited 12 inches of clarity at the mouth of the creek arm, and the surface temperature was 53 degrees. As I fished my way back into the creek arm, the water clarity increased to 24 inches, and the surface temperature rose to 56 degrees.
The submerged terrain inside this creek arm consists of clay and gravel. This creek’s shorelines are mostly flat in the lower and middle sections of the creek arm, and they become steeper and bluff-like in the upper reaches of the creek arm. Numerous flooded bushes, submerged brush piles, partially-submerged laydowns, and submerged stumps litter the shallows around the shorelines.
I slowly fished from the mouth of the creek arm to its middle section, and the black-bass fishing was extremely trying. And by the time I executed my last cast and retrieve, I had caught only two largemouth bass.
Both of these Florida-strain largemouth bass were abiding in three to five feet of water next to the deep-water ends of two laydowns, which are situated near the main channel in the center of the creek. The first largemouth bass was caught on a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin-orange TRD TicklerZ rigged on a blue 1/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead that was employed with a slow swim-glide-and-shake presentation. The other bass was allured by a slow-swimming retrieve with a 3 1/2-inch Z-Man’s pearl GrubZ matched with a chartreuse 1/16-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. I also wielded thirteen other Midwest finesse offerings, which is a sign of the lousy fishing, and I was unable to generate any other strikes with them.
I was also unable to fish the upper end of the creek arm because a large tree had fallen across the creek and blocked my path.
Local meteorologists have forecasted rain for the late-evening hours of Jan. 4 and the early-morning hours of Jan. 5, and I’m hoping it doesn’t cause more havoc with the waterways of north-central Texas.
Jan. 11
Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a brief log on the Finesse News Network about his Jan. 11 outing.
Here is an edited version of his log.
The fishing in north-central Texas has been horrid this January. For example, I struggled to catch three largemouth bass and nine bluegill at two community reservoirs on Jan. 1, two largemouth bass at a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ hill-land reservoir on Jan. 4, and only two freshwater drum on Jan. 5 at the same Corps’ reservoir I fished on Jan. 4. Since then, it has been too windy to safely venture out on the water. When the wind subsided a tad on Jan. 11, I opted to conduct a solo bank-walking outing at a community reservoir in north-central Texas.
It was sunny, and there was not a cloud in sight. The morning’s low temperature was 33 degrees. The afternoon’s high temperature was a pleasant 68 degrees. A brisk wind blew steadily out of the south at 15 to 20 mph. The barometric pressure measured 29.68 at 11:00 a.m. and 29.52 at 2:00 p.m.
In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar indicated that the best fishing periods would occur from 3:59 a.m. to 5:59 a.m., 10:10 a.m. to 12:10 p.m., and 10:41 p.m. to 12:41 a.m. The calendar also indicated that the fishing would be excellent.
I fished from 11:15 a.m. to 2:15 p.m.
The underwater terrain of this reservoir is composed of gravel, red clay, and some sand. Numerous tree limbs, bald-cypress trees, exposed bald-cypress roots, and other wood debris litter the shorelines and shallow-water areas. There is also a shallow ledge that parallels the entire shoreline, and it extends from three to 10 feet from the water’s edge. The slopes of the shorelines vary from 10 to 45 degrees. The north and west shorelines are the steepest of the four.
The water exhibited about 14 inches of clarity. The water temperature was 47 degrees. The water level appeared to be normal.
The black-bass fishing was extremely slow. Therefore, I was surprised and delighted to catch nine Florida-strain largemouth bass in the sub-50-degree water.
Four largemouth bass were caught in four to six feet of water near the deep-water side of the shallow ledge along the west shoreline. Along the windblown northern shoreline, I caught another four largemouth bass that were extracted from five to seven feet of water and 15 to 25 feet from the deep-water side of the shallow ledge paralleling the shoreline. The last largemouth bass was caught from the south shoreline in about four feet of water near a cluster of partially submerged bald-cypress tree knees near the water’s edge. The east shoreline was fruitless.
Four of the nine largemouth bass were allured by a 2 3/4-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin TRD TubeZ matched with a chartreuse 1/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Two largemouth bass were enticed by a Z-Man’s green-pumpkin TRD CrawZ affixed on a chartreuse 1/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. Two more largemouth bass were attracted to a 3 1/4-inch Z-Man’s Junebug Finesse WormZ, which was trimmed down from its original 4.25-inch size, and rigged on a chartreuse 1/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. And the ninth largemouth bass was tempted by a Z-Man’s hot-craw TRD BugZ rigged on a blue 1/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. I failed to garner any strikes with several other Midwest finesse rigs.
I experimented with several of the six standard Midwest finesse retrieves and variations of those retrieves. Ultimately, the only effective one was a slow drag-and-deadstick presentation. The deadstick portion of the retrieve lasted from five to 10 seconds.
Local TV meteorologists are forecasting a major cold front that will arrive in north-central Texas during the early evening hours of Jan. 12. This cold front is expected to bring wind, freezing-cold temperatures, and possibly a wintry mix of snow and ice. Air temperatures will range from single digits at night to the mid-20s during the day. Fortunately, this cold spell is expected to be short-lived, and we should begin thawing out on Jan. 17. Thus, we’ll be off the water for the next few days.
Jan. 18
Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Jan. 18 outing.
Here is an edited version of his log.
A major cold front lambasted north-central Texas during the early evening hours of Jan. 12. This cold front brought blustery winds, freezing-cold temperatures, and a wintry mix of snow, sleet, and ice. Air temperatures failed to climb above freezing until the afternoon of Jan. 17, when the afternoon high reached 41 degrees. Fortunately, the warming trend continued into Jan. 18, which provided me a window of opportunity to ply a community reservoir in north-central Texas.
As I was driving to the community reservoir, I drove over the north end of a local U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ reservoir that I frequently fish, and I was surprised to see ice completely covering the water in the shallow-water areas. And upon my arrival at the community reservoir, I was even more disheartened to see that about 25-percent of this reservoir’s surface was also covered with a thin sheet of ice. This is a very rare phenomenon in this part of Texas. And fishing around this much ice was going to be a new and unexpected experience for me.
The sun was intensely bright in a cloudless and powder-blue sky. The morning’s low temperature was 36 degrees. The afternoon’s high temperature peaked at 60 degrees. The wind blew out of the northwest at 10 to 15 mph. The barometric pressure measured 29.94 at 11:00 a.m. and dropped slightly to 29.92 at 4:00 p.m.
The best fishing, according to In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar, would take place between 4:24 a.m. to 6:24 a.m., 10:36 a.m. to 12:36 p.m., and 4:48 p.m. to 6:48 p.m. The calendar’s fishing forecast also noted that fishing would be great.
I fished from about 11:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and the black-bass fishing was quite a challenge.
The underwater terrain of this reservoir consists of sand and clay. Several bald-cypress trees, their partially-flooded knees, and other wood and leaf debris clutter the shorelines and shallow-water areas. There is also a long shallow sand-and-clay ledge that extends from about two to five feet from the water’s edge along the entire shoreline. The slope of the shoreline varies from 10 to 35 degrees.
The water level was normal. The water exhibited about 14 inches of clarity. The water temperature was a frigid 39 degrees, which is the coldest water I have ever fished. (Prior to this outing, the coldest water I had fished was 41 degrees, and I caught one largemouth bass.)
I was expecting to zero in water this cold, and I was astonished to catch two Florida-strain largemouth bass.
Ice was covering most of the northern and southern portions of the impoundment, and it seemed odd casting my lures onto the outside edges of the ice before dragging them off the ice and letting them settle to the bottom in the open water next to the ice. And I failed to garner any strikes around the ice.
Both of these largemouth bass were caught many yards away from the ice in six to eight feet of water and 20 to 30 feet out from the deep-water side of the shallow ledge in the midsection of the reservoir. One was caught from the east side of the reservoir, and the other one was caught along the west side.
The first largemouth bass, which was 15 3/4-inches long, was bewitched by a shortened four-inch Z-Man’s black-neon Finesse WormZ that was fastened on a red 1/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. The second largemouth bass, which measured 14 1/2-inches long, was allured by a 2 3/4-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin TRD TubeZ affixed on a chartreuse 1/32-ounce
Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. I failed to garner any strikes with 13 other Midwest finesse rigs.
Though I employed several of the six standard Midwest finesse retrieves, the only effective presentation was an agonizingly slow drag-and-deadstick presentation. The deadstick portion of the retrieve lasted from 15 to 20 seconds.
Jan. 25
Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Jan. 25 outing.
Here is an edited version of his log.
It has been windy, wet, icy, and chilly in north-central Texas since Jan. 12, but Jan. 25 provided a nice break from the winter doldrums of the past 13 days. The recent rains have left the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ reservoirs in this area a bit muddy. So, I conducted a four-hour bank-walking foray at two community reservoirs that lie on the northwest side of the Dallas metropolitan area.
The sky was overcast. The morning low temperature was 47 degrees at 5:00 a.m. By 4:00 p.m., it was 56 degrees. The wind was light and variable throughout the day. The barometric pressure was 30.11 at 11:00 a.m. and 30.01 at 3:00 p.m.
According to In-Fisherman’s solunar calendar, fishing would be great, and the best fishing periods would occur from 3:51 a.m. to 5:51 a.m., 10:03 a.m. to 12:03 p.m., and 10:28 p.m. to 12:28 a.m.
I fished from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. at the first reservoir, and from 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. at the second one.
These two impoundments are finicky venues, and the black bass fishing is very difficult this time of year. Nonetheless, their water conditions were the best I could find and offered me a good chance for garnering more than one or two strikes during an afternoon outing.
At the first reservoir, the water exhibited about 12 inches of clarity. The water temperature ranged from 45 degrees in the main-lake area to 52 degrees inside a small feeder-creek on the northeast end of the reservoir.
Along the reservoir’s east shoreline, I dissected the sides of a long clay and gravel point, a steep sand and gravel point, a ditch, and a fairly long and shallow sand and gravel ledge close to the water’s edge, and I failed to elicit any strikes.
I also failed to generate any strikes along a concrete dam on the lower end of the reservoir.
Along the west shoreline, I failed to enticed any strikes from the remaining stubble of a patch of submerged winter-dead aquatic vegetation, which is situated about 25 feet from the water’s edge in six feet of water, around two tertiary points, along the area around a fishing pier in the midsection of this shoreline, and in a ditch at its upper end.
I didn’t fish across a large mud flat on the upper end of the reservoir. It is a protected migratory fowl nesting area, and portions of it was occupied by 16 Canadian geese and 21 mallard ducks.
I dissected a small section of the feeder-creek that flows into the reservoir from the east end of the north shoreline. Its underwater terrain consists of mostly clay, gravel, and some softball-size rocks. There was a light current flowing through this creek.
The only productive area in this creek was a relatively large pool in the upper end of the creek, where the water temperature was a bit warmer at 52 degrees. This pool surrendered two largemouth bass and seven large bluegills. This pool is the largest one in this creek, and it is about 15 feet wide and 30 feet long. These fish were extracted from a cluster of rocks in three to four feet of water that lie near the west shoreline of the creek. They were coaxed into striking a 3 1/4-inch Z-Man’s Junebug Finesse WormZ that was trimmed down from its original 4.75-inch size, which was matched with a chartreuse 1/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. This rig was slowly dragged then deadsticked for about 10 seconds around the cluster of rocks.
At the second community reservoir, the water was muddy with less than 10 inches of visibility. The water temperature was 48 degrees, and I failed miserably to generate any strikes from five points, two submerged ledges, a creek channel in the upper end of the impoundment, a clay-and-gravel flat in its lower end, and around a decorative rock dam and spillway that form the lower boundary to this impoundment.
In conclusion, the black-bass fishing remains slow and difficult in north-central Texas. I could barely muster two largemouth bass, and inadvertently caught seven large bluegills, before this four-hour endeavor came to an end. And struggling to catch one or two Florida-strain largemouth bass in four or five hours in water this cold will be a normal outing for us until water temperatures begin to rise significantly in March.
Jan. 29
Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Jan. 29 outing.
Here is an edited version of his log.
The snow and ice that fell on north-central Texas from Jan. 12 through Jan. 16 melted several days ago. Now, the weather is much more pleasant, and north Texans are relishing a spring-like warming trend that is forecast to continue for the next few days.
It was sunny on Jan. 29, and there was not a cloud to be seen for miles around. The morning’s low temperature was 38 degrees. The afternoon’s high temperature soared to 75 degrees. A light breeze ambled out of the west at 5 to 10 mph. The barometric pressure measured 30.30 at 11:00 a.m. and 30.17 at 2:00 p.m.
In-Fisherman’s Solunar calendar indicated that fishing would be poor on Jan. 29, but the best fishing would most likely occur from 12:51 a.m. to 2:51 a.m., 7:01 a.m. to 9:01 a.m., and 1:11 p.m. to 3:11 p.m.
I took advantage of the unseasonably warm afternoon and fished at a community reservoir in north-central Texas from 11:45 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. It is a different one than the two community reservoirs that I fished on Jan. 25.
Small gravel, red clay, and some sand make up the underwater terrain in this reservoir. Besides the gravel, clay, and sand, scads of tree limbs, bald-cypress trees, exposed bald-cypress roots, and other wood debris clutter the shallow-water areas and shorelines. A shallow ledge also enhances and parallels the shoreline, and it protrudes about three to five feet from the waters’ edge. The shorelines have 10- to 45-degree gradients. The north and east shorelines are the steepest ones.
The water level was normal. The water exhibited about 14 inches of clarity. The water temperature was 49 degrees.
The fishing was better than I expected, and I caught nine largemouth bass.
Seven of these nine bass were caught in six to eight feet of water and about 25 to 30 feet from the deep-water side of the shallow ledge along the west shoreline. Six of them were allured by a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick presentation with a 3 1/2-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Trick ShotZ affixed on a chartreuse 1/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. The seventh one was enticed by a slow drag-and-deadstick retrieve with a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s pumpkin-chartreuse ZinkerZ matched with a black 1/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead.
The other two largemouth bass were caught many yards apart in about five to seven feet of water and 10 to 15 feet from the deep-water side of the shallow ledge that extends from the north shoreline. Both of them were tempted by a slow drag-shake-and-deadstick presentation with the 3 1/2-inch Z-Man’s green-pumpkin Trick ShotZ rig.
I spent quite a bit of time probing the partially submerged cypress tree knees and roots along the flatter east and south shorelines, but they were fruitless.
Jan. 30
Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, posted a log on the Finesse News Network about his Jan. 30 outing.
Here is an edited version of his log.
The black-bass fishing in north-central Texas was quite a disappointment this January. I fished for Florida-strain largemouth bass six times this month for a total of 24 hours, and my best efforts could barely scrounge up 27 of them. This tallies out to only one bass per hour and four bass per trip.
I decided to take advantage of another unseasonably warm winter day and conducted a solo outing at a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ hill-land reservoir in north-central Texas. This time, I opted to pursue white bass instead of the lethargic Florida-strain largemouth bass.
The sky was partly cloudy on Jan. 30, and there was no shortage of sunshine. The afternoon’s high temperature peaked at 74 degrees. The morning’s low temperature was 43 degrees. The barometric pressure measured 30.21 at noon, and it fell to 30.12 by 4:00 p.m. A mild-mannered breeze quartered out of the northwest at 4 to 8 mph.
According to In-Fisherman’s Solunar table, fishing would be poor on Jan. 30. It also noted that the most productive fishing periods would occur from 12:51 a.m. to 2:51 a.m., 7:01 a.m. to 9:01 a.m., and 1:11 p.m. to 3:11 p.m. I fished from noon to 4:00 p.m.
I spent these four hours reveling in the warm sunshine while fishing inside a minor feeder-creek arm on the north end of the reservoir. I soon discovered that I wasn’t the only one enjoying the spring-like weather as I shared this creek arm with another boat angler and a dozen or so bank anglers. And when I took a few moments to speak with the boat angler and couple of the bank anglers, they reported that the white bass fishing was slow. They had caught a total of four white bass between the three of them.
The submerged terrain inside this creek arm consists of clay and gravel. The creek’s shorelines are steep and bluff-like in the upper reaches of the creek arm, and they become flatter in the middle and lower sections. Countless numbers of flooded bushes, submerged brush piles, partially-submerged laydowns, and submerged stumps adorn the shallows along the shorelines.
The water in the main-lake area outside of this creek arm was muddy with less than a foot of visibility. The surface temperature measured 45 degrees. The water level was 0.93 of a foot below normal.
Inside the lower end of this creek arm, the water clarity exhibited about 12 inches of visibility, and the surface temperature increased to 54 degrees. In the midsection of this creek arm, the water displayed 18 inches of visibility, and the water temperature was 60 degrees.
During the first 1 1/2 hours of this outing, I slowly and meticulously plied the laydowns, brush piles, flooded bushes, and submerged stumps that adorn the lower section of this creek arm. The white-bass bite was slow, and I struggled to catch two white bass.
In the midsection of this creek arm where the water clarity increased to 18 inches and the water temperature increased to 60 degrees, I enjoyed catching 39 white bass. I didn’t have time to fish the upper end of this creek arm.
I employed several Midwest finesse offerings and the six standard Midwest finesse retrieves during this outing, and all 41 of these white bass were allured by a steady-swimming retrieve with a 2 1/2-inch Z-Man’s pearl Slim SwimZ matched with a red 3/32-ounce Z-Man’s OG Mushroom Jighead. These fish were abiding in five to nine feet of water near the deep-water ends of the laydowns and the edges of the main creek channel that courses its way down the center of this feeder-creek arm.
In sum, this was my first white-bass outing in 2024, and it was a delightful and bountiful diversion from the godawful wintertime black-bass fishing.
Jan. 31
Ned Kehde of Lawrence, Kansas, posted a few words and two photographs on the Finesse News Network on Jan. 31.
Old Man Winter's frigid, icy, snowy, and windy ways allowed us to fish only twice in January. All of our reservoirs in northeastern Kansas looked like the ones in these two photographs for many days in January. Ninety-nine percent of the snow melted by Jan. 30, but the ice was still covering all of our reservoirs on Jan. 31.
This is a photograph of a community reservoir on Jan. 15 by Karl Gridley of Lawrnece, Kansas.
This is a photograph of a federal reservoir on Jan. 26 by Karl Gridley.
Even Steve Reideler of Denton, Texas, who is a talented and veteran Midwest finesse angler, was confounded by the wintery weather that made the reservoirs in north-central Texas unusually cold and sporting a tad of ice at some locales. Those conditions hindered his grand abilities to inveigle the Florida-strain largemouth bass that inhabit the reservoirs that he fishes.