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Slow, steady is way to go

Rod Bates holds a 18½-inch small mouth bass taken from the icy waters of the Susquehanna River near Harrisburg.

Going slow, small and steady often is the key for catching smallmouth bass when water temperatures plummet to the frigid zone. Presenting a small, easy-to-eat offering can result in supersized bass.

Fish are cold-blooded creatures with a metabolism that mirrors the water temperature. So when it dips into the mid-30s range, bass become lethargic.

But they still can be caught.

In river situations, smallmouth bass tend to collect in wintering holes, spots that provide depth and low current, which are requirements for the fish to survive the harsh winter elements. A wintering hole can shelter hundreds of bass.

Even if only a small number are active enough to eat a bait, an angler still can have a pretty good day. This was the situation when I joined Dave Neuman of Koinonia Guide Service last week for a day on the Susquehanna River near Harrisburg.

A short trip from the boat launch had us on a slackwater pool the size of a football field. Neuman anchored the boat on the bottom edge of the pool, in about 12 feet of water, while explaining the layout.

"The pool drops down into the 20-foot range in spots," he said. "There are rocky ledges that create current breaks. Often, more active fish will hold along the downstream edge, the 'tail-out,' of the hole."

I picked up a rod rigged with a three-sixteenth-ounce olive green bucktail jig, tipping it with a 3-inch Berkley Gulp Alive minnow. Dave opted for an 1Z\x-inch portion of a 3-inch Yum Dinger worm on a leadhead jig. Downsizing to just the tail half of the worm increases strikes in ultracold water, he explained.

Neuman and I pitched our jigs out into the slow current, allowing them to sink to the bottom. Then a super slow drag/crawl was used to work the bait back to the boat.

About 10 minutes into the session, I felt a sluggish weight on my bucktail. A sweeping hookset connected me to the first bronzeback of the day, a 2Z\x-pounder. Soon after I boated my bass, Dave's finesse-sized sinking worm found the jaw of another one.

Throughout the morning, Neuman and I hopscotched our way around the edges of the large hole, anchoring the boat on specific spots where Dave had enjoyed success under similar conditions in the past. Fish came to the boat steadily, though we only had to move our jigs slightly along the bottom. We tweaked our presentations a bit.

To show a smaller lure, I fished with the bucktail only, but dipped it in the bucket the Gulp minnows came in to add some flavor and scent. Neuman sprayed Yum attractant on his jigs, reflecting on other times when scent equaled more bites, particularly when the water was cold.

Around lunchtime, Koinonia Guide Service owner Rod Bates met up with us. Rod rigged up with one of his favorites, a Yum Craw Papi (crawfish imitation), on a leadhead jig. Putting three bass in the boat in short order, I quickly duplicated Rod's setup with a Warrior Caiden Craw on a quarter-ounce Gopher Mushroom head jig. The move led to a quick hookup.

Meanwhile Neuman picked up a rod with a modified twister-tail jig. Most of the sickle tail of the grub had been cut off. About three-eighths of an inch of the tail remained. Dave had split this stub-of-the-tail, resulting in two tiny tails.

"I can fish this thing super slow," he explained. "With a slight twitch of the rod tip, those little tails will quiver. It often triggers a reluctant bass to strike."

To prove his point Neuman proceeded to conduct an on-the-water seminar, popping at least a half-dozen fish in less than a half-hour.

Despite the cold water temperatures, he ended the day with 30 smallies, including a day-best 18Z\x-incher that weighed in just shy of 3½ pounds. Fishing slow and small produced some steady fishing.

Jeff Knapp is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle.

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