December Seminole Tactics

Question
I've enjoyed reading your comments, thanks for all of the advice. Lake Seminole happens to be where I caught my very first largemouth about 25 years ago. I usually make it down around the last week in December, and was wondering if you had any advice for fishing the lake around that time of year.  

Answer
Alex; I had a detailed report for you and then my son wanted to use the computer so I minimized my report and somehow he lost it for me so I will try again.  

Jack

Late December can be good news or bad news depending on the weather. Sometimes late December gets nice warm days with moderate nights and the big females begin moving from winter quarters toward but not up on the spawning flats.  Other times late December is lousy with rain, or even snow (I have seen snow on the ground here 5 times in going on 40 years) but it can be miserable with the cold north wind. So you takes your chances.   If we are lucky enough to have a few warm days and moderate nights and if we can find those big female bass we can have some of the greatest fishing of our lives. (even if we have been to Mexico).  This lake has some really big fish but they as always are hard to catch. From December to around the first part of April is the most likely time to find them.  Not bragging but just for example a few years ago I found a place where the water went from about 18 feet to around 8 feet in a relatively short distance.  Along this drop were bunches of sunken hydrilla with some open water between.  I came upon this spot by seeing small fish jumping on the surface.  It was a calm evening with just a chill after a fairly nice sunny day air temp in 50s.  I tossed a yellow/black stripe Devil's Horse in there and immediately hooked up with a 5 pounder.  In the next few minutes I landed and released 4 more with the first one the smallest.  Just before it got completely dark they quit hitting the surface.  I tried on a medium running crank bait Chrome/blue back and continued to catch large fish.  The biggest was just over 8 pounds.  For the next couple of weeks just at dusk (they would not bite before then) I caught my limit or more every evening with a three pounder being the smallest except for one that had the head of a six pounder but the body of a two pounder.  I do not know what was wrong with her.  I should have kept her and taken her to the Department of fish and game for diagnosis.  This is the second such fish I have caught here.  I caught a pike up north one time like this but it had a fish hook in its gullet with about two feet of about 100lb line on it.  Poor fish.
Anyway the next year about the same time or a little later I went back and found them there again.  The third year had fewer but still some.  The next year the Wildlife peopole had the bright idea of putting a chemical in the water at the bridge upstream of me to kill the hydrilla.  They were completely successful, they killed everything making this area a desert.  The hydrilla gone the fish went with it.  The experiment lasted three years and for three years we had no fishing in this area at all.  We used to catch nice shellcracker and brim off our dock but they all left.  Two years ago they stopped the drip system and now the hydrilla is back and so are the bass.  

So far I have done nothing but brag about my lake.  I will now try to give some ideas about catching bass.  Since I mostly fish between Rattlesnake Point and what was the next landing above Reynolds' landing.  I occasionally travel down to the mouth of Spring Creek or over to the mouth of Fish Pond Drain but mostly near home.  Essentially the Spring creek arm is almost a lake unto itself of just over 3000 acres.  It has everything needed for good fishing.
The creek channel twists and turns through the area much of it through what was standing timber.  If it has been 25 years since you were here it will look much different.  Most of the trees have broken off at the waterline.  There are several methods of fishing that I have found work in Late December if it hasn't been too cold.
Water temp seldom goes below about 54 degrees so it is the air temp and amount of sunshine that affects things.

I like to use crankbaits along and just outside the creek channels.  Often the fish hole up to 100 feet from the channel but generally relate to the bends of the channel.  In late winter and early spring I like to keep my boat in the channel as it winds through the stumps and cast outside the channel bringing my lure back the edge of the channel.  Often I get hits well off the channel but sometimes just as the lure reaches the lip and starts to drop down into the channel it gets bit.  I usually crank the lure down quickly then work it slowly with srarts and stops but not long enough stops for it to float too much toward the surface.  Of  course if I am using a lipless crankbait almost the opposite retrieve is used.  I start it moving toward me as close to the bottom or top of the weeds as possible then letting it fall either to the bottom or just enough to tip the weeds then give it a quick jump and start moving again.  This yo yo method has produced some hard strikes often just as the 'trap makes that jump.  Of course I also try to bump the stumps as well.  

Still another winter lure is a spoon.  I like the Johnson Sprite, I believe it is called.  Cast it to a standing stump (the biggest one around is best)and let it fall on a slack line.  The slightest movement of the line calls for a quick taking up of slack and strike almost in one motion.  If there is any line tension as the spoon falls it will swing away from the tree toward you.  You want it to fall straight down the trunk.  The Rattletrap can also be used for this and now there is a new lipless crankbait whose name I cannot recall that wobbles as it falls rather than just diving as the 'trap does.

I also like a small spinnerbait in the cold water.  I fish it mostly slowly along the bottom or just ticking the weed tops.  Mostly I just count it down to the depth desired and then begin slowly reeling steadily just fast enough to keep the blade turning.  Usually I like a Colorado blade about the size of a nickel on a bait with chartreuse/black or chartreuse/white skirt. Or a gold willowleaf blade about two inches long and a silver Colorado blade the size of a dime as secondary blade. Sometimes a short quick jerk of the rod tip just as the spinnerbait reaches the desired depth will be needed to get the blades turning.  Once they are started run it as slow as possible to keep the blades turning.  Work this all the way back  to the boat as strikes may come as the lure begins to rise toward the surface or especially as it caroms off a stump or bursts through a bunch of weeds.

While plastic worms and other plastic critters will often catch fish at this time I do not use them very much.  Not that they are not good but just that I do not enjoy fishing them as much as the other lures.  But at times I do fall back on the plastic worm.  I want a big one at least 9-10 inches.  I prefer to fish it with a modified Carolina rig.  I use a 2/0 or 3/0 hook very sharp and hook the worm Texas style but tie a 20 inch leader to a snap and swivil tied to my main line.  Onto the snap I place a 1/4 oz bass casting sinker. The one that is bell shaped with a wire through it and a loop on one end.
This serves triple purpose.  The bell sinker acts as a a sinker and as a keel and keeps down line twist while tipping up little bits of silt from the bottome attracting the fish's attention.  Of course a lizard or other critter will often work as well.  I like junebug, black or purple colors or in the case of lizards I like watermellon or pumpkin.  I try to actually hit a stump that is sticking above the water letting the bait fall right down the trunk as mentioned with the spoon or Rattletrap.  Soak the worm if it gets to bottom letting it lie motionless for several seconds then take up the slack and shake the rod tip only enough to make the lure wiggle in place.  Try not to move it more than half an inch if possible.  Of course, watch the line carefully as the lure falls and if it jumps or moves or stops falling before it should reel down to just take up the slack and if the line moves set the hook.  I caught two eight pounders off one stump one late winter day.

I read somewhere that especially in the post spawn females tend to pair off in twos or threes.  I don't know if this is true before the spawn but if you catch one good one try casting the same lure back in exactly the same place and do exactly what you did the first time. You may be surprised with a twin of the first one.   It is worth a try anyway.  I know it works in the post spawn because  on at least a half  dozen cases I have caught a good size fish and cast back and caught its double and they were all good size fish.

Still another thing that is often overlooked at this time of year is the use of topwater lures.  If a day has been relatively warm and sunny all day the water temp has likely risen a couple of degrees in areas not windblown. About the time the sun gets to the treetops I like to look for a calm  place in medium depth of water.  Here on Seminole that would be in the 5-10 foot range usually with standing stumps or hydrilla beds.  Often the North side of the lake or cove is best because it has gotten more sun than the East,South, or West.
When I find conditions like this it is time to get out the Zara Spook and start very slowly walking the dog among the stumps or over the submerged weeds.  Later in the year I will opt for noisyier lures too but here I think the Zara is best.  If you already know how to walk the dog forgive me for the following but not too many really know how to use it this time of year.   Start by using a six turn improved clinch knot amd pull it down tight either just above center of the tie loop.  This will make the lure tip just a little deeper into the water when it is worked.  If this does not work after 25-50 casts push the knot down below the center of the loop.  This will make the lure tip up when worked and move a bit more to one side. Then try with the knot on dead center of the loop to keep the lure more flat on the surface.  Walking the dog consists of making the cast into a likely area and first allowing at least 5-8 seconds without any movement.  Then with the  rod at about 45 degrees away from pointing directly toward the lure give a slight jerk to only about 60 degrees off center. Try not to move the lure more than an inch foreward and instantly after the jerk move your rod tip to directly pointing  toward the lure.  This will cast slack in your line and the lure will jump to one side or the other.  Next take up slack without moving the lure and repeat the proceedure exactly as before.  The lure will jump to the other side while moving very little foreward.  Let it rest for a 5 count and then repeat the proceedure but with little pause between the first jerk and the second one.  If you have done this correctly the lure will have jumped to one side and then to the other side with very little foreward movement.  Repeat this over and over occasionally giving the lure a 5 count rest.  To make the lure move toward a stump, say three feet in front and two feet to the side watch your lure carefully.  If it moved toward the stump on the last jerk make the next jerk less than half as hard.  The lure will likely jump only a short way to the opposite side.  The next jerk should be hard so the lure moves more in that direction than the other.  If you learn to do this skillfully you can make that lure walk over to that stump and then bump it and then go half way around it and move toward the next stump.  I admit that I am not that good at this as it might sound as I tell it but I can make it do pretty much as I wish.   By bumping several stumps on a retrieve your odds of getting a good fish goes way up.  Next, and this is true of nearly any topwater lure, When you see or hear a fish strike the tendency is to rear back and strike.  Chances are that doing this will lose your fish and scare her away. Always reel down all slack and wait until you feel the fish on the line.  I know this is difficult to do in the excitement of a big fish slamming your lure, but doing so will almost always pull the lure away from the fish.  Wait until you feel the fish and then strike.  If you have done the correct thing and kept your hooks extremely sharp you will likely have a battle on your hands.  Remember use the rod not the reel to bring in the fish.
Normally the reel should be used only to take up line and keep slack out of it while fighting the fish.  Reel in while lowering the rod tip slowly as line comes in.  Always keep tension on the line.  Then bring the rod tip straight up if the fish will allow it.  If not keep the rod as high as possible with a good bend in the upper third of most rods.  Other than wrapping around a stump etc. a fish cannot break a line if the drag is set right and the rod is kept in a bend.
Watch a movie of a fly fisherman fighting a big trout.  He has a tiny tippet on that leader likely two pounds or less yet he can handle a ten pound fish easily in a  current.   He gives the fish line when it is able to take it away from him but he keeps that rod pointing nearly vertical except for the bow put into it by the fish.
If you are not fishing for $$$$ there is no reason to "horse" a fish in.  you are fishing for enjoyment so enjoy the fight.  I used to use six pound line only on my spinning rod and 10 pound on my casting reels but since moving to Seminole I have had to increase my line strength to 8 lb. on my spinner and 14-17 on my casting outfits because the fish have so many stumps around which they can wrap a line and break it off.  In open water I would use 4lb. and 8lb on spinnng and casting respectively but this isn't open water by any means.

Well I have to get some supper so I will stop.  I may have given more information than you really wanted or maybe you wanted more detail on spots to fish more specifically.  If the latter is the case try reading more of my suggestions to other people asking about Seminolel specifically or give me a follow up telling me exactly what more you want.  I will be happy to give some Latitude and Longitude numbers on spots if you like. You can print them out and use your GPS if you have one.  Thanks for calling on me to answer your question.  I enjoy helping people do well on my home lake.  I believe there are plenty of fish to go around and around if most of the time we play catch, photograph, and release.  That does not mean you shouldn't keep a few to eat.  I like the 12-14inchers for that or maybe a 5lb one now and then to bake whole.  Um,um good in wine and cheese sauce.  Go to fishing.about.com and look for my recipie for that.

I am
Jack L. Gaither  (JackfromSeminole)
Lake Seminole, GA.