Although many anglers think February isn’t a good time for largemouth, a few warm days will turn on big fish.
A scenario replays itself each February across North Carolina.
Bass anglers who have worn calluses on their hands from sharpening hooks, and that have spent more time reorganizing their tackle boxes than they have raking their yard can’t stand it anymore. They hook up their boats and head to the lake at the first sign of good weather only to return with empty spirits … and even emptier livewells.Who can blame these anglers for wanting to get out on the lake? For many, it’s been over two months since they’ve been on the water, and the only thing that’s going to scratch their itch is to go fishing.
The problem is, the fish aren’t as psyched up as the anglers, and they don’t bite. Unlike the anglers, bass don’t respond at the first sign of good weather — it takes them a couple of days to get with it.
Anglers who keep this in mind, and time their trips accordingly, will fare better than those who don’t.
It’s common knowledge in bass fishing circles the best days to fish during late winter and early spring are those near the end of a warming trend. The key is the word trend.
For warm weather to have any affect on the bass, it has to last for more than just one day. A good sunny day with 70-degree temperatures is a bubble buster. Three or four days of sunny weather with highs in the 60s is a warming trend, and you can bet the bass will bite during this balmy weather.
Make no mistake about it. The water is cold during the winter, and even a three-day warming trend isn’t going to be able to do much about it.
However, three consecutive days of warm weather coupled with warm nights can cause the water temperature to jump 5 to 10 degrees. It may jump form 48 degrees to 56 degrees. 56 degrees is still cold, but that eight-degree difference is enough to turn on bass’s appetites.
Jeffrey Thomas is one angler who likes to take advantage of warming trends during February. He has competed at BASS and FLW tournaments across the country and has learned firsthand how warming trends can affect fishing.
Thomas also guides at Jordan Lake and Harris Lake (www.carolinaoutdoors.net), so he has to be able to use the weather to his advantage to put his clients on fish. Thomas broke down his two favorite lakes and offered advice for how to catch fish during warming trends.
Jordan Lake
This 14,000-acre lake is located in Chatham County just 21 miles southwest of Raleigh. It’s not the most desirable lake to fish during the late winter and early spring because of its tendency to fluctuate so much. However, Thomas said anglers willing to give up numbers of fish in lieu of big bass will find Jordan to their liking.
“Jordan can be brutal during February,” Thomas said, “but if we get warm weather, you can have some success.
“Jordan tends to get productive after about three days of unseasonably warm weather. I look for three days in the 60s with no major fronts coming through.
“If we have warm weather and get some fronts that aren’t severe enough to change anything, the fish can really turn on.“
Balmy weather can push the water temperature at Jordan into the low 50s. Thomas said he’s comfortable fishing water warmer than 45 degrees during February, so he plans his trips to Jordan based on sunshine and warm nights.
“Anything that gets the water temperature up,” he said. “I know if the water at Jordan is in the 50s, I can go find a bank on the north side of the lake and generally find an afternoon bite. A good temperature for me during February is 50 to 52 degrees. If I can find that, I know I should be able to catch a few.”
Some of Thomas’s most productive areas at Jordan during warming trends are Bush Creek, the back of Big Beaver and both sides of Little Beaver. He suggested staying around the little cuts and creeks off the main lake while avoiding the Haw River area. Riprap banks get most of his attention.
“One thing I really like to do during February is fish the rocks with a spinnerbait,” Thomas revealed. “I usually throw a 3/4-ounce Hawg Caller spinnerbait and slow roll it around the rocks. It can be a slow bite, but I stay with the 3/4-ounce blade to entice a big fish.
“I believe the fish are looking for a bigger bait in February because they aren’t feeding a lot. They need to make sure that what they eat is going to stay with them a while.”
Another warming-trend rock pattern Thomas tries to keep secret as much as possible is swimming a Berkley Power Jig parallel to the riprap banks. His preferred retrieve is to swim it so that it just touches the tops of the rocks without letting it fall into the crevices.
If Thomas finds the rocks to be unproductive, he moves back into the main pockets and little creeks where he tries shallow diving crankbaits.
“I like something in chartreuse and that has a wide wobble,” he said. “I’ve had some success recently with the Lure Jensen Speed Trap.
“This kind of bait produces maximum vibration while being reeled slowly. That’s a good recipe for lethargic February bass.”
Harris Lake
Raleigh is home to what Thomas considers one of the best early lakes in North Carolina.
“Harris is a better late winter lake for me than Jordan,” he said. “This lake tends to remain more stable throughout the winter, and the fish don’t have to adjust to wildly varying lake conditions.
“One great point about Harris is it generally stays pretty clear. If I’ve got to fish cold water, I’d rather it be clear than muddy.”
Thomas said he typically concentrates more on the grass at Harris than he does other types of cover. He believes grass serves the same purpose as rocks because it absorbs heat from the sun throughout the day and retains it long enough to affect water temperature.
There are several patterns Thomas tries near Harris’ grass. However, one pattern stood out above all others last year.
“The soft deadsticks were extremely hot,” he said. “It almost got the point that if you weren’t throwing it you weren’t getting bit.”
Thomas said most of his fish last February smacked a Berkley Sinking Minnow.
“All you had to do during the warming trends last February was to rig a Sinking Minnow wacky style and throw it to the edges of the grass where it had kind of died back a little in 5 to 8 feet of water,” he said. “That was about as close to a guarantee in bass fishing that I’ve ever seen.
“But, if the Sinking Minnow didn’t work for some reason, a 1/2-ounce chrome and blue Rat-L-Trap usually did the trick.”
Another excellent technique to try during warming trends is a jerkbait fished across main lake points with dormant hydrilla. Thomas recommends using a suspending jerkbait that will stay put when you pause your retrieve.
“You want to almost deadstick it,” he said, “and let it sit for a painstakingly long time. Bass will eat it when it’s sitting dead still.”
Thomas said fishing Harris during the warming trends can be a little frustrating for anglers that aren’t patient. He recommended anglers stay with it until they get a few bites.
“You can go for a while with nothing,” he said, “then stumble into a little pod of fish and work on them for a while.”
Kerr Lake
FLW and EverStart pro Joel Richardson is a professional guide (www.joelgrichardson.com) when he isn’t trying to catch a tournament limit.
He points to the 50,000 acres of water just 45 miles north of Raleigh, Kerr Lake (a.k.a. Buggs Island), as one of the best February lakes in North Carolina.
“Buggs Island has always been a good cold-water lake,” said Richardson. “If we get two or three nights in the 40s coupled with daytime temperatures in the lower 60s, the bass will move right to shallow water. They’ll get in small coves off the main lake.”
Richardson said he loves fishing the 10-mile stretch of the lake from Butcher’s Creek to the dam after the water warms up a little. He focuses at rocks and stumpy points with a variety of lures but has found it’s hard to beat a local favorite.
“They don’t make it anymore,” he said, “but a Bomber Speed Shad can’t be beat when the bass first move up.
“However, the bait is so famous at Bugg’s Island that the tackle shops around the lake can special order them. Bobcat’s Lake Country in Clarksville has more than anybody in the world. This bait is so good that it is all I’ll throw — even if the water is still high.”
Richardson said he fishes the Speed Shad with a 5:1 ratio reel around the rocks and stumps in 6 feet of water or less. He works the lure with 10-pound test original Stren line and baitcasting tackle, but sometimes switches to spinning gear to make it easier to throw if the wind is blowing.
“This is the best fishing of the year of Buggs Island,” Richardson stated. “It’s incredible what kind of fish you can catch, and they’re all coming from shallow water.
“I’ve seen plenty 10-fish limits that weight 40 pounds or move. When you see that kind of stringer at Buggs Island, you know the fish are up and the Speed Shad is working.”
Lake Gaston
Richardson said another of his favorite February lakes is this 20,000-acre lake just southeast of Kerr Lake.
“Gaston does pretty much the same thing as Kerr,” he said. “The bass will really turn on when we start getting those warmer nights during the second half of February.”
The Bomber Speed Shad is just as productive at Gaston as it is at Kerr, but Richardson said there’s another bait that will out-produce it at Gaston.
“One thing I use a lot here is a little crankbait called a DJ2 made by On The Line Crankbaits,” he said. “This plug is a copy of the old Bagley KB II that we used to use so much here. It has a few little modifications from the KB II to make it better, and it runs about 6-feet deep on 10-pound test line.”
Richardson revealed he fishes the DJ2 around rocky area on the north side of the lake. The fish over there prefer red clay points with stumps, and most of these stumps are in a perfect depth for the DJ2.
“The middle section to the dam has lots of good stumpy points and rocks,” Richardson said. “I’m a firm believer the best fishing late in the winter is at the northern bank because that water tends to be more stable than the rest of the lake. It also warms up quickest too.
“Overall, I prefer the Pea Hill Creek area. They’ll be on the points a lot more there than they will in other areas. I guess that creek has a little more current running through it than some of the others.”
Richardson summed up Gaston by saying February’s a really good time of year to catch a big bass.
“You’re more likely to catch an 8- to 10-pound fish from Gaston than you are Buggs Island,” he said.
Make Up Your Mind
According to Thomas, the key to catching bass this time of year is understanding you’re fishing for fewer bites from bigger bass.
“They don’t feed a lot when they move up,” he said. “The get up shallow and look for a big meal, and they don’t want to use a lot of energy to catch it. That’s why big baits fished slowly will produce big bass.
“In fact, the fish you catch on the balmy days of February are going to be some of the biggest you’re going to catch all year.”
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