Cold weather and fishing?

[mnhunter2]

How do you think the cold temps will effect the fishing this coming weekend?

[Eric Wettschreck]

It will have less people on the lake and make me real glad the heater I put in my fish house works mint.

[Powerstroke]

As long as there aren't any fronts, the fishing should be fine. Cold temps have never seemed to slow the fish down for me.

We went fishing yesterday morning in -10*F and our fishing action was as good as the previous 2 days. Usually the coldest temps are with high pressure because of the clear skies and low winds.

The only thing that might not cooperate in the cold weather is your gear. Propane doesn't like to flow well so getting your heater going can be tough. Same with the auger. Also the reels on the rods get pretty stiff too. Ever heard the sound of a cold vexilar? Its kinda like starting a cold diesel truck.

If you can find a way to get those things going and keep warm you should have just as good a chance as any.

[Deitz Dittrich]

Its kind of like a catch 22... when the temps drop like that, there is less traffic on the lakes, which can really work to your advantage. IT may slow the fishing some, but sometimes it ends up better because of the lack of pressure. I found fishing to be difficult on saturday as the front hit, but we still caught them, just had to work a bit harder is all.

[Matt Johnson]

I'm with Deitz on this one. Some of my better days on the ice have been during the coldest stretches of the winter. Lack of fishing pressure can actually turn on those finicky pods of fish, when on normal days they would rather just hunker down and play hard-to-get.

I would also keep in mind that we've had a pretty mild winter as far as temps go, so sometimes a little cold snap won't really hurt anything. Granted, the initial front could play havoc for a little while, but I'd say we'll be alright. Fishing is not going to be crazy-fast this weekend, but I'd still expect the fishing to be decent if you can locate an active pod of fish.

It's the large change in pressure that we need to worry about, especially for those of you who have been on consistent bites for suspended fish. Shallow fish can become victim to it as well.

I'd say if you get the chance to go out fishing this weekend then go for it. Hole hopping is going to be tough, but there's nothing wrong with relocating over a spot and flipping the house for a half hour or so before moving on. That's what we did on Saturday, seemed to work well on the first several drops, then the fish got a little skittish.

I do however, think that once this cold spell stabilizes that we're going to see a more consistent fishing pattern. We need a little cold. February should be a good month...